I was running late, grabbed some toast, said goodbye “good luck!” came the reply and with that I set off, no worries I thought, the school will offer me coffee… I arrived at the school on a drizzly summer day and pressed the buzzer, the door opened and in I went. Reception was packed with … More My Worst Job Interview
Managerialism is the idea that quantifiable administrative approaches are the correct way to run institutions. Efficiency is all and it can sometimes be value free in that what works becomes more important than what’s right. Employees become pawns in the game of delivery and the idea of management as neutral and post-ideological holds sway. The sociologist Max … More Remove Managerialism from the Classroom
In her Essay on the Banality of Evil Hannah Arendt wrote that: The nature of every bureaucracy, is to make functionaries and mere cogs in the administrative machinery out of men, and thus to dehumanize them. Now, I’m not meaning to imply that bureaucrats are evil, but looking at this quote, away from its context, … More The Banality of Character Education
“Princes should devolve on others those matters that entail responsibility, and reserve to themselves those that relate to grace and favour.” ― Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince It is useful to surround oneself with people to do thy bidding, especially if the bidding be somewhat awkward or controversial. Sometimes, jobs are awarded to staff for very … More The Leaders, The Hydra and Managerialism
Over a hundred years ago, the German poet Heine warned the French not to underestimate the power of ideas: philosophical concepts nurtured in the stillness of a professor’s study could destroy a civilisation. Isaiah Berlin Yesterday I read a post by @teachertoolkit about a measure he employs in his school called ‘book look’. In his … More When Things Go Mad: The Destructive Power of Ideas
Trivium 21c 