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Recent Posts
- Zola : a political reading. August 13, 2023
- Hotter than July? August 5, 2023
- Rethinking work July 30, 2023
- Educating for political literacy in an age of crisis. July 21, 2023
- Savoirs et valeurs : pratiquer et conjuguer July 21, 2023
- ‘Transformative Teaching and Learning in Further Education – Pedagogies of Hope and Social Justice’ July 18, 2023
- Dilemmas of Growth June 14, 2023
- A broader view of skills? June 7, 2023
- 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
- Posts on Corsican themes. August 10, 2022
- When Corsica welcomed thousands of Serb refugees (1916) August 9, 2022
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Category Archives: Politics
Roberto Unger on school as the ‘voice of the future’
In his excellent book ‘The Left Alternative’ the Brazilian philosopher and politician Roberto Unger proposes a new way for progressives to think about the future and start creating the good society. Unger suggests we should not give up on the central promise … Continue reading
Which public service?
All 3 major parties are trying to outbid each other in pledging to increase spending on a key public service. They clearly recognise the vital importance of investing in this service for our future economic and social well-being. They also know … Continue reading
Time for a new Great Education Reform Act
27 years ago, Kenneth Baker’s 1988 Education Reform Act changed the direction of travel of English education. It introduced an element of school choice and Local Management of Schools, established more autonomous City Technology Colleges and Grant Maintained Schools as … Continue reading
Education 2020: market or system?
What will education in England be like in 2020? As the 2015 general election approaches, what are the possible futures for education in England? An election is a democratic moment where we are offered a choice of futures and we … Continue reading
Posted in Education policy, Politics
Tagged competition, Democracy, Education, elections, England, Equality, future, marketisation, National baccalaureate, selection, Social cohesion
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Resisting selection
Thanks to the prime minister, it seems that educational selection is back on the agenda again. The grammar school issue in Kent and elsewhere is one aspect of the debate but it’s worth remembering that the segregation of learners by ‘aptitude’, ‘potential’, test … Continue reading
Posted in Education policy, Politics
Tagged Clyde Chitty, comprehensive education, David Cameron, Education, Equality, grammar schools, Jane Addams, selection
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‘Useful work v. useless toil’ by William Morris
Introduction: This lecture from 1884 is a clear and powerful statement of Morris’s political and economic manifesto, which also informed ‘News from Nowhere’ (1890) his visionary fable of life after a revolution. His critique of the waste and inequality inherent in … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, History, Politics
Tagged capitalism, class, economy, employment, labour, technology, William Morris, work
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Labour’s disappearing National Bacc
Has Labour ditched its commitment to a National Baccalaureate for 14-19 year olds? According to the party’s Education and Children statement, Labour will ‘establish an overarching National Baccalaureate framework for all post-16 students which would include high quality academic and … Continue reading
A sixth form college manifesto for 2015
The Sixth Form College Association has published its manifesto for the 2015 general election. It will join the manifestos of many other organisations in politicians’ in-trays, no doubt prompting many warm words but few cast-iron promises. This was evident in … Continue reading
The fruits of democracy
Reclaiming Education (Nov 15th 2014) The theme of the excellent Reclaiming Education meeting in Birmingham on 15th November was ‘priorities for the next government’ and one of the key questions raised was: how do we ensure that our education system responds to … Continue reading
Learning and xenophilia.
Xenophobia is the fear of difference or the dislike of foreigners. Across Europe we have seen the rise in support for parties espousing xenophobic views. In difficult times, these parties play the blame game and tap into people’s suspicion and … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Politics, Teaching and learning
Tagged Education, Equality, learning, Solidarity, xenophilia, xenophobia
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The oath and the compass
It sounds like the title of a medieval thriller; the brotherhood of educators send their top monks out to roam the world having sworn to serve learning and they solve all sorts of intractable problems with the help of a … Continue reading
How can we reduce educational inequality?
Meeting organised by “working towards a national campaign for education” at the Mechanics Institute, Manchester on 23rd September 2014 during the Labour Party conference. Many thanks to Sarah Williams for her work in organising and promoting this meeting. Speakers: David … Continue reading
The forgotten 50% need a one nation education system.
A dialogue between Simplex and Sapiens, two education policy commentators: Simplex: You don’t need to be a historian to know the value of education. Sapiens: And history shows that we cannot achieve ‘one nation’ goals with ‘two nation’ policies. Sim: No … Continue reading
Finding Labour’s Education Mojo
Less than a year before the general election, has the Labour Party developed winning education policies? Tristram Hunt’s latest speech ‘The Choice in Education’ was a bit like a pre-tour band rehearsal. A range of material was tried out, some … Continue reading
Labour’s vocational vision: two-nation thinking wrapped in one-nation talk?
The Labour party wants to position itself as the party of skills and vocational education. Party leader Ed Miliband and shadow minister Liam Byrne have both made recent major speeches on this issue. Clearly, any party standing on a ‘one … Continue reading
Eddie Playfair 