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Recent Posts
- 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
- 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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Tag Archives: Democracy
Boswell in Corsica.
The Scottish lawyer and writer James Boswell (1740-1795), famous for his Life of Samuel Johnson, was also a great supporter of Pasquale Paoli and Corsican independence. Boswell met enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire and Rousseau and was encouraged by Rousseau to … Continue reading
Posted in History
Tagged Corsica, Democracy, enlightenment, Equality, James Boswell, Pasquale Paoli, Samuel Johnson
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The social origins of human thinking.
What is thinking? Where does human thought come from? How did it evolve? These are important questions for us if we want to understand what makes humans different from other living things and to make the most of our abilities both as … Continue reading
W.E.B. DuBois, black liberation and liberal education for all.
The great African American academic, socialist, peace and civil rights activist William Edward Burghardt DuBois (1868-1963) wrote about philosophy, sociology, history, race equality and education as well as writing fiction. He is best remembered for his The Souls of Black … Continue reading
Developing Labour’s vision for education
The heady summer campaign is over and a new leader has been elected. It’s time for the party to turn its attention to policy development as well as effective opposition. Across the whole spectrum of public policy, the party needs … Continue reading
Keri Facer and the future-building school
In her brilliant book Learning Futures – Education, technology and social change (2011) Professor Keri Facer suggests that we should be creating what she calls future-building schools rather than future-proof schools based on equipping young people to compete in the global economy. Keri … Continue reading
‘Not for Profit’ by Martha Nussbaum
In Not for Profit (2010), the U.S. philosopher and academic Martha Nussbaum argues that we are in the midst of a global crisis in education. Why? Because we are too willing to neglect the skills we need to keep democracy … Continue reading
For a pragmatic idealism
We all have a range of perspectives on education arising from our various roles: professional, personal and political. In those roles, whether as teachers, learners, parents, governors or trade unionists we need to find ways of dealing with the world … Continue reading
Posted in Education policy
Tagged Democracy, Education, Equality, marketisation, National baccalaureate, Post-16 funding, SEA, Solidarity
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Market madness: condition critical
Market madness: condition critical From Forum vol.57, no.2, 2015 The condition of English education is critical. It has been weakened by pathological marketization and is in desperate need of treatment to restore it to health. In this article, I try to … Continue reading
Posted in Education policy
Tagged aspiration tax, competition, comprehensive education, Democracy, Education, elections, Equality, Forum, marketisation, selection, Solidarity, young people
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Snatching hope from the jaws of despair
What we say and do about post-16 education, like everything else, has to be seen in the context of the outcome of the recent general election. Elections are the great democratic moment when the people ‘speak’ and all our individual choices … Continue reading
A better future for London?
The political parties are currently in the process of choosing their candidates for the 2016 London mayoral and Greater London Assembly elections. For Labour, this means that members in London are pondering who is best placed to help win back the … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Tagged Changing London, Christian Wolmar, David Lammy, David Robinson, Democracy, Diane Abbott, elections, Equality, inequality, Labour party, London, London mayor, politics
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Listening to our post-16 conscience.
Frank Coffield is the conscience of the post-16 sector. When faddishness or instrumentalism threaten, he is there to remind us of our values and our purpose. A decade ago, Coffield was one of the first to question ‘learning styles’ and … Continue reading
Tribalism or pluralism?
With no single party likely to win an overall majority in next week’s general election, they are all finding ways of answering, or not answering, the questions about what they will do in hypothetical post-election scenarios. So we are learning … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Tagged coalition, Democracy, diversity, elections, pluralism, political parties, politics, tribalism
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Young people and the election
Are young people turned off politics? Will they vote? Do they care who wins the election? Are all parties the same? Are the candidates just hacks mindlessly parroting their parties’ approved slogans? This week’s general election hustings at Newham sixth … Continue reading
Posted in NewVIc, Politics
Tagged Democracy, elections, Newham, Newham Sixth Form College, NewVIc, political parties, politics, young people
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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
Democratic emotions in the face of barbarism – Philippe Meirieu
In the aftermath of the massacre of 147 people at Garissa University College in Kenya on 2 April it is difficult to find any positive emotions to draw on. The slaughter of young people in their place of learning shocks … Continue reading
Posted in Education
Tagged Democracy, Education, Equality, Garissa, hope, Martha Nussbaum, Philippe Meirieu, Solidarity, violent extremism
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Eddie Playfair 