Tag Archives: Education

Education and skills coming together?

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

The appointment of Peter Lauener as the chief executive of the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) while remaining as chief executive of the Education Funding Agency (EFA) has prompted speculation that the two agencies could soon be merged, although this has … Continue reading →

Posted in Education policy | Tagged 18 year olds, aspiration tax, BIS, citizenship education, Colleges, DFE, Education, EFA, liberal education, marketisation, Post-16 funding, SFA, Sixth form college, skills, vocational education, young people | 2 Comments

Learning and xenophilia.

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

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 | Leave a comment

Debating the Liberal Arts

Posted on October 18, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

The Future of Liberal Arts conference: The Liberal Arts and Schools I was delighted to be asked to contribute to the panel on ‘The Liberal Arts and Schools’ at the ‘Future of Liberal Arts’ conference organised by Martin Robinson (author … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Education, Teaching and learning | Tagged Critical thinking, Cultural heritage, Education, interdisciplinarity, knowledge, liberal education, problem solving, skills, vocational education | 1 Comment

Learning to love liberal education

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

Talk given at the The Future of Liberal Arts conference at King’s College London on 14th October 2014. A video of this talk is available here: http://www.newvic.ac.uk/futureliberalarts/ (select ‘Liberal Arts in Schools’ starting at 3:33) I want to start by saying that … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged comprehensive education, Cultural heritage, Education, Equality, liberal education, National baccalaureate, research, student r, Trivium, vocational education | 1 Comment

The oath and the compass

Posted on October 12, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

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 →

Posted in Education policy, Politics | Tagged competition, comprehensive education, Democracy, Education, Equality, Labour party, marketisation, National baccalaureate, one nation, Tech Bacc, Tristram Hunt, vocational education | 2 Comments

‘Hindering’ subjects and ‘bad’ universities

Posted on October 12, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

The way we talk about subjects and universities has changed dramatically over the last few years, and not for the better. The English Bacc with its favoured GCSE subjects has led to a secondary school subject hierarchy which appears to … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Education policy | Tagged Education, English Bacc., Equality, facilitating subjects, Informed choices, marketisation, Russell group, Universities, university progression, young people | Leave a comment

Reading the education manifestos

Posted on October 4, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

What is the point of manifestos, whether for education or any other policy area? Are they even worth the paper they’re written on given that we are fairly desensitised to parties straying from their election pledges in the name of … Continue reading →

Posted in Education policy | Tagged accountability, curriculum, Democracy, Education, elections, inspection, Labour party, local authorities, local democracy, manifesto, marketisation, National baccalaureate, National Union of Teachers, Stand up for education, standards, Tech Bacc | 3 Comments

The forgotten 50% need a one nation education system.

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

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 →

Posted in Education policy, Politics | Tagged Colleges, Education, Equality, Labour party, liberal education, National baccalaureate, Tech Bacc, university progression, vocational education, young people | Leave a comment

Market madness #6 Students as commodities: premium, discount and remaindered

Posted on September 9, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

Enrolment is always a challenge. We come back from our holidays to an empty college. Like someone organising an open house, we’ve stocked up on a range of snacks and drinks for our guests but we can’t really be sure … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Education policy | Tagged 18 year olds, aspiration tax, Colleges, commodity, competition, consumer, Education, marketisation, Post-16 funding, tertiary education, young people | 1 Comment

London loses out in Headteacher Board elections

Posted on September 4, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

There was a national election before the summer to “improve the education of pupils across England” and “shape the future of the education system”. Missed it? You might be forgiven for this because only academy headteachers had a vote. Also, … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Education policy | Tagged Democracy, Education, elections, England, Headteacher boards, London, Regional School Commissioners | Leave a comment

Promoting a sixth form student research culture

Posted on September 2, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

Good news: Extended Project qualification (EPQ) entries were up again this year. The qualification which is equivalent in value to an AS level accredits a substantial piece of research on a topic of a students’ choice, usually culminating in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Teaching and learning | Tagged citizenship education, Critical thinking, e-learning, Education, extended project, liberal education, London, research, Sixth form, Sixth form college, Trivium | Leave a comment

Careers guidance: failing to inspire

Posted on August 31, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

This month has seen the publication of new guidance to FE and sixth form colleges on careers. This aims to help us implement the requirement to provide independent careers guidance. There’s nothing in here which good colleges aren’t already doing. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged careers education, Colleges and Universities, Education, inspiration, university progression, young people | Leave a comment

Comparing like with like

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

There’s been a lot of hype about the A-level results of our neighbouring 16-18 free school and there’s no doubt that their students have achieved some very good outcomes. But their claim to have the “best ever results by a … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, NewVIc | Tagged 16-19 free school, competition, Education, Newham, Newham Sixth Form College, NewVIc, performance tables, selection, Sixth form college, university progression | Leave a comment

Finding Labour’s Education Mojo

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

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 →

Posted in Education, Education policy, Politics | Tagged comprehensive education, Democracy, Education, elections, Equality, Labour party, liberal education, Tristram Hunt, vocational education | Leave a comment

Trivium 21c by Martin Robinson

Posted on August 24, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

I am so glad to have finally got round to reading Trivium 21c. I was expecting a treat and I wasn’t disappointed. This is an important book which should be read by anyone interested in the purpose and practice of … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Reviews | Tagged citizenship education, Critical thinking, Dialectic, Education, Grammar, liberal education, Martin Robinson, Rhetoric, Trivium | Leave a comment

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