Tag Archives: inequality

‘Transformative Teaching and Learning in Further Education – Pedagogies of Hope and Social Justice’

Professor Vicky Duckworth and Professor Rob Smith From a conversation the authors had with Eddie Playfair as part of the Association of Colleges Quality, Teaching and Learning conference in December 2022. Eddie Playfair: I’m delighted to welcome Vicky and Rob … Continue reading

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In praise of ‘low value’ subjects.

The English education system is built on value judgements. Measures of provider quality, qualification currency and student achievement create a web of rankings which shape our view of the system, and the resulting hierarchies impact how everyone feels about where … Continue reading

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Debating Growth.

Conway Hall recently hosted a public debate about the proposition “The pursuit of growth is a disaster for our country and our planet” sponsored by the ‘How To Academy‘. Supporting it were Ida Kubiszewski, Associate Professor at UCL’s Institute for … Continue reading

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Code red for human survival

The United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide us with a global agenda for human survival. From poverty to peace and justice they list the urgent challenges we face and set a broad direction of travel towards a fairer … Continue reading

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Climate justice, heat justice and the politics of resilience

Lethal heat and climate justice. The increase in extreme heat events around the world shows that the impact of climate change is increasingly lethal. Any climate justice strategy needs to include ‘heat justice’ and a politics of resilience. More than … Continue reading

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Nancy Fraser’s eco-socialist common sense.

Nancy Fraser’s ‘Climates of Capital’. In the essay ‘Climates of Capital’ (2021) Nancy Fraser argues that we need to see the various major crises we face as systemic and connected, resulting from capitalism. If we are to survive and flourish, … Continue reading

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Redistribution and recognition should go hand in hand.

Reading Nancy Fraser’s critique of progressive neoliberalism. Continue reading

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French presidential election: could Mélenchon make it?

Today’s French presidential election. Today’s first round of the French presidential election comes at a time of shifting political assumptions, although the line-up of leading candidates looks familiar, with the top 3 candidates this time round all having been in … Continue reading

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Owning our crises

The climate emergency and environmental degradation, the Covid-19 pandemic, the injustices of systemic racism, wars and their humanitarian consequences, the sharp rise in the cost of living… As one crisis succeeds another in dominating our thoughts, it’s easy to see … Continue reading

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Resisting classification

The way we use categories doesn’t do justice to the multi-layered complexity of the world. It’s often a short cut to sweeping assumptions and flawed policy. Continue reading

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A manifesto to end educational inequality?

The challenge We urgently need to address inequality and the human damage it causes, in education and across society. So, any programme with the aim of ‘eliminating educational inequality’ merits serious consideration. The eleven proposals in the Teach First ‘manifesto … Continue reading

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Learning, earning and the death of human capital.

Is there a clear predictive relationship between the amount of education ‘received’, as measured by qualifications achieved, and future earnings? The idea is strongly held by many policymakers and it plays a part in the public debate about investment in … Continue reading

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Tsitsi Dangarembga’s ‘Nervous Conditions’.

The personal is political, and this wonderful book is both entirely personal and deeply political. Nervous Conditions (1988) is the story of Tambudzai, a young woman growing up in rural Zimbabwe (then known as Rhodesia) in the late 1960’s, told … Continue reading

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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

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From Toynbee to TELCO via Chicago.

The evolution of responses to urban poverty and inequality. Part 1. From settlement to social activism Living and working in East London, I am interested in how our part of the city has been shaped by its past, how today’s … Continue reading

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