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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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Tag Archives: Equality
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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The selection debate
The launch of ‘The Ins and Outs of Selective Secondary Schools’ a collection of essays on selection published by Civitas was an opportunity for advocates and opponents of selection to revisit familiar arguments. The debate was mostly good natured but … Continue reading
The multilingual citizen in a multicultural society
I want to speak about the experience of being bilingual and bicultural and its educational benefits. I am not an expert or an academic and I have no research findings to share. I have worked in diverse communities for over … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Education, Teaching and learning
Tagged bilingualism, Corsica, Cultural heritage, diversity, Education, English, Equality, French, language, Tagore
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Unlimited potential (part 2)
Unlimited potential (part 2) Part 2 of my chapter from The ins and outs of selective secondary schools (Civitas, March 2015) 5. Selection at 16 and beyond There is a strong case for extending the comprehensive ideal beyond 16, even … Continue reading
Unlimited potential (part 1)
Unlimited potential (part 1) Part 1 of my chapter from The ins and outs of selective secondary schools (Civitas, March 2015) Summary: In this brief chapter I have tried to make a moral, philosophical, political and pragmatic case against educational … 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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Investing in 16-19 education
Labour’s promise to maintain education spending from nursery to 19 year olds and increase it at least by inflation is very welcome. No such protection is on offer from the Conservatives who are promising ‘flat cash’ for pre-16’s and apparently … Continue reading
Posted in Education policy
Tagged 18 year olds, aspiration tax, Education, elections, England, Equality, Labour party, Post-16 funding, Sixth form, young people
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Which counts most 16-18: disadvantage or prior achievement?
What are the respective impacts of socio-economic disadvantage and prior achievement on student success post-16? We now have measures which help us to understand and compare both. These data are very useful at institutional level to establish the difference between … Continue reading
Posted in Education
Tagged achievement, disadvantage, Education, Equality, Sixth form, Sixth form college, Social mobility, success, value added
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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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Learning to love liberal education
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
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
‘Hindering’ subjects and ‘bad’ universities
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
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
Eddie Playfair 