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- In praise of ‘low value’ subjects. February 27, 2023
- Frigga Haug and the mystery of learning December 6, 2022
- Debating Growth. November 29, 2022
- Code red for human survival November 8, 2022
- The politics of silence. September 4, 2022
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- When Corsica welcomed thousands of Serb refugees (1916) August 9, 2022
- Climate justice, heat justice and the politics of resilience August 5, 2022
- Nancy Fraser’s eco-socialist common sense. August 3, 2022
- Education, social justice and survival in a time of crisis. July 18, 2022
- A political education. May 10, 2022
- Redistribution and recognition should go hand in hand. April 17, 2022
- French presidential election: could Mélenchon make it? April 10, 2022
- Owning our crises March 26, 2022
- French elections 2022 January 29, 2022
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Category Archives: Politics
Rebecca Solnit on Hope.
In a crisis, it is easy to despair. ‘Don’t mourn, organise!’ is a good mantra in such situations. Mourning has its place, but our response should be neither blind despair nor blind hope. We need to understand the objective reality … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Reviews
Tagged Coronavirus pandemic, crisis, hope, Hope in the Dark, learning, optimism, pessimism, Rebecca Solnit, Thinking Global, utopianism
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An A-Z for a world which has to change.
In the midst of a global coronavirus pandemic which threatens many lives, we need to remember that this is just one of several global crises we face which will change our world in profound ways. All these challenges require us … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Tagged Anti-war, basic income, co-operation, Coronavirus pandemic, Democracy, Equality, global citizenship, inclusion, inequality, knowledge, marketisation, mutuality, poverty, rationalism, resilience, Solidarity, state, Sustainability, Thinking Global, trust, universalism, wealth, xenophobia, young people, zeitgeist
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Decarbonising education.
The climate emergency is a global reality and the large scale catastrophic weather events we face on a regular basis remind us that it is affecting us in the here and now, while also threatening far more serious impacts in … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Education policy, Politics, Students, Teaching and learning
Tagged AoC, citizenship education, climate change, climate emergency, Climate Emergency Education Bill 2020, global citizenship, Nadia Whittome MP, NUS, student activism, Students Organising for Sustainability UK, Teach the Future, UK Student Climate Network
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The mighty pencil
The mighty pencil It’s just a pencil Making a mark in a specific place On a specific piece of paper On a specific day. It only takes a second or two, No time at all. Such a simple thing. But … Continue reading
The promise of a National Education Service
The proposed creation of a National Education Service (NES) for England offers us the possibility of a decisive break with the market model, where education is treated as a commodity and where individual and institutional competition are regarded as the … Continue reading
Easing student debt won’t cut it.
Apparently, the prime minister is considering ways to ease the burden of student debt (story here). That sounds like a good idea; she might also take the opportunity to consider how the tuition fee and loan system has changed the … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Education policy, Politics
Tagged Education, Labour party, marketisation, politics, student debt, student loans, Universities, university fees
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Edgar Morin on ‘Thinking Global’.
How do we understand the difference between the behaviour of an individual and that of a society, between a small group of like-minded people and a political movement or between the ecosystem of a few acres and that of a … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Politics
Tagged complexity, Edgar Morin, emergence, global citizenship, Hegel, Penser Global, reductionism, thinking, Thinking Global
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Giving young people a stake in their future
In the wake of the general election there’s been a lot of talk about the youth vote and young people’s renewed commitment to the political process. At the same time, there is evidence of young people’s pessimism about their future … Continue reading
Reconstruction in an age of demolition
A national project is always a ‘work in progress’ as implied by the title of Carol Ann Duffy’s brilliant performance piece based on the words of people across the country during the EU referendum campaign. So what sort of work is … Continue reading
Education 2022: market or system?
What will education in England look like in 2022? An election is the decisive moment where we are offered, and can select from, alternative futures. Following an inconclusive general election outcome which has delivered a hung parliament, we now await … Continue reading
The habits of democracy.
For educators, elections are a great opportunity to teach our students about the democratic process with all its strengths and limitations. We rightly emphasise the need to register and the importance of voting (”people fought for this…you can’t complain if … Continue reading
Citizens of somewhere, citizens of anywhere.
Speaking at the Conservative Party conference in October 2016, the prime minister said: “If you believe you’re a citizen of the world, you’re a citizen of nowhere. You don’t understand what the very word ‘citizenship’ means.” This sounded like a … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Tagged anywheres, David Goodhart, Giles Fraser, global citizenship, Solidarity, somewheres, Theresa May
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Education and the French presidential election.
This Sunday, 23rd April and then on Sunday 7th May, French voters go to the polls to elect a new head of state. This will be followed shortly afterwards by parliamentary elections on the 11th and 18th June. All the … Continue reading
Shaping an alternative education policy.
The Labour Party National Policy Forum Consultation 2017. Labour is currently consulting on its Early Years, Education and Skills policies and the consultation document merits the attention of anyone who is interested in developing alternatives to the current direction of … Continue reading
More fictional dystopias
Reading Dystopias offered an introduction to the genre of dystopian fiction through 4 classic dystopian novels. Here are four more which are also well worth reading. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953) [211 pages] Fahrenheit 451: The temperature at which … Continue reading
Eddie Playfair 