Evidence. It is something that we teachers encourage our students to find and weigh-up before coming to a conclusion. In science, if the evidence does not back the theory, the theory is wrong. Pretty basic stuff, you’d imagine. But not for our Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson. She came into office with left-wing education theory, having…
Danny Finkelstein, writing recently in the Times, correctly reported on the improvement in schools in England. He noted how we had risen up the league tables in reading and maths – so much so that we are ‘attracting admiring visits from foreign policymakers keen to see what England is getting right.’ He praised the efforts…
Summer ‘reading lists’ are an annual conversation piece amongst politicos and thinkers. Self-appointed authorities set these lists to show what direction they think policy should be taking. I don’t have a list to publish – I have just one book to recommend. And I am hoping that our Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson will have it…
A report from parliament’s Communications and Digital Committee has addressed the issue of ‘media literacy’. It describes what an important issue it is and how social cohesion and democracy itself is threatened by ‘inadequate media literacy’. The phrase is an import from the US and means ‘having the skills to think critically about the content…
The Government has appointed Becky Francis to review the National Curriculum. She was recently the subject of a Telegraph article that delved into her past and her pronouncements to try and understand what it might mean for education. She comes from the progressive direction which always sends shivers down my spine having had to deal…