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
Tag: Education
What is Neo-liberal Education? On Zuckerberg and Personalisation
April 20, 2018
In a piece for the Guardian the esteemed educationalist Sir Tim Brighouse writes: “Margaret Thatcher’s neoliberalism underpinned Baker’s 1988 reform bill, which meant a prescribed national curriculum and tougher accountability, along with diversity in school provision and autonomy.” This seems to uncover a contradiction at the heart of neoliberalism – on the one hand it … More What is Neo-liberal Education? On Zuckerberg and Personalisation
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
The Narrowing Curriculum
February 8, 2018
Today’s identity politics has another interesting feature: it teaches students to think in a way antithetical to what a liberal arts education should do. When I was at Yale in the 1980s, I was given so many tools for understanding the world. By the time I graduated, I could think about things as a Utilitarian … More The Narrowing Curriculum
Drama in Decline
January 6, 2018
Apparently there are now 1,700 fewer drama teachers teaching in UK schools than there were in 2010. I don’t have any information as to how accurate this figure is and what the figures are in the constituent nations of the United Kingdom nor how it compares to other subjects, suffice to say it adds to … More Drama in Decline
Lenin and Rand: Why the Need to Disrupt Our Schools?
November 18, 2017
When I was growing up a significant number of people on the left were intent on destroying capitalism. They loathed its focus on the individual and extolled the virtue of the collective. They were suspicious of new technology, worried that it would take away jobs. They were protective of their own and were intent on … More Lenin and Rand: Why the Need to Disrupt Our Schools?
STEM and the Narrow Curriculum
August 2, 2017
An article in Schools Week reports: A free school in Newcastle that does not teach humanities, arts or foreign languages has been branded ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted in its first inspection. The education watchdog singled out the “unacceptable” absence of subjects at Discovery School, which also omits physical education, … More STEM and the Narrow Curriculum
The Conversational Classroom
July 2, 2017
Here are the slides in PDF format from my talk at ResearchEd Rugby on July 1st 2017: The Conversational Classroom #rEDRugby
Democratic Education is no Utopia
March 13, 2017
Don’t say goodbye to Mr Chips!!! Maybe its because I’ve read Lord of the Flies but I’m not sure putting children in charge of education is the best thing for them, our schools, or, indeed, all of our futures. In her ‘Utopian Thinking’ piece in the Guardian, Rachel Roberts argues: There are a few things … More Democratic Education is no Utopia
Ofsted and the Development of a Rich Curriculum
March 11, 2017
In her first major speech as the new HMCI Amanda Spielman said: And that is why I’m announcing today that I have chosen the curriculum to be the focus of the first big thematic Ofsted review of my tenure. From early years, through to primary, secondary, sixth form and FE colleges, this will explore the … More Ofsted and the Development of a Rich Curriculum
Trivium 21c 