Shakespeare is Better than Emojis
May 27, 2018
Here is my post for the TES from earlier this week: https://www.tes.com/news/dont-simplify-complex-shakespeare-emojis
Category: High Culture
Dumbing Down the Arts
March 3, 2018
The Guardian gushes: At a time when arts are squeezed in some schools, teachers are embracing them as a tool to teach the environment without realising it is this insidious belief that the arts are merely a pedagogical tool that is leading to a paucity of engagement with great art. The tragic figure of the starving … More Dumbing Down the Arts
Knowledge Belongs to the Many, Not the Few
September 27, 2017
Angela Rayner’s speech to the Labour Party conference contained many interesting ideas. The National Education Service, of course, echoes the UK’s beloved NHS: The next Labour Government will create a National Education Service, a cradle-to-grave system supporting everyone throughout their lives. It would start in the early years, where we know it has the most … More Knowledge Belongs to the Many, Not the Few
The Dangers of a Personalised Curriculum
August 26, 2017
Trying to fit a personalised curriculum around the desires of a child is a dangerous idea. If we only ever follow the extreme individualisation where the child’s own innate tastes are paramount we might never move out of McDonalds. The argument for personalisation goes hand in hand with the idea that much that is studied … More The Dangers of a Personalised Curriculum
History of Thought
July 28, 2017
In these days of very little time or space on a timetable it is still heartening to know that some schools are trying to make a space where children can be taught in a way that celebrates education for its own sake. Paradoxically this approach might have benefits beyond education, as Stefan Collini puts it: … More History of Thought
You Can’t Teach the Best That Has Been Thought and Said
July 2, 2017
Here are the slides in PDF format from my talk at the Telegraph Festival of Education at Wellington College on 22nd June 2017: You Can’t Teach The Best That Has Been Thought and Said
Academic Education For All
May 28, 2017
German players seemed to have more to draw on as people than English counterparts; greater all round resources that helped them navigate tournaments and pressure points Jonathan Northcroft: interview with Frank Lampard, Sunday Times, May 28th 2017 In our great debates about education: vocational vs grammar, 21st Century skills for the jobs that don’t yet … More Academic Education For All
Going on Holiday During Term-time Can be a Good Thing
April 7, 2017
Parents who have children at independent school must wonder what the fuss is about, what with their two week half term break in October, their three week holiday at Easter and eight week summer break, they are used to being able to get good deals from holiday companies. Children at independent schools have more time on holiday, … More Going on Holiday During Term-time Can be a Good Thing
Don’t Educate the Working Class
January 2, 2017
Not all working-class children want to be middle or upper class. says Garth Stahl, the author of Identity, Neoliberalism and Aspiration… emphasising that education is about changing people and not everyone wants to change. We are defined by where we are in the rat race and that is where we feel most secure. This fear that … More Don’t Educate the Working Class
Shakespeare’s Schooling
April 24, 2016
Shakespeare’s Trivium, ‘The whining schoolboy …creeping like snail unwillingly to school’ It is not too hard to see Shakespeare in the schoolboy creeping snail-like to school – but thank goodness he didn’t play truant. The education he received at Stratford Grammar School is reflected in his plays. The aim of the school would have been … More Shakespeare’s Schooling
