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Education articles
listed in reverse chronological order
Subject index
An alphabetical index to the subjects covered in these articles.
Never mind the evidence: Blair's obsession with faith schools
May 2007. 8500 words. The Blair governments have sought to increase the number of schools controlled by churches and other religious groups despite a mass of evidence about the dangers of faith-based education and in the face of widespread professional, political and public concerns. This piece recounts the history and analyses the motives behind the policy.
Axes to grind: the first five years of Blair's academies
April 2007. 5100 words. Academies - effectively private schools funded by the taxpayer - were the brainchild of Blair's education adviser Andrew Adonis. This piece recounts the history of the first five years of a very controversial experiment.
The Hadow Reports: an introduction
September 2006. 10,700 words. After some brief notes on the historical context and the membership of the Consultative Committees chaired by Sir WH Hadow, I summarise each of the six reports produced between 1923 and 1933 and conclude with some observations on the extent to which their recommendations were implemented.
Tricks of the trade: whatever happened to teacher professionalism?
May 2005. 10,400 words. Why are teachers not taken seriously as professionals? In this article I survey the history of teaching in England, argue that teacher professionalism was a short-lived phenomenon which has been in decline for thirty years, and make some suggestions for rescuing the profession.
Food for thought: child nutrition, the school dinner and the food industry
July 2003. 7100 words. Health experts are now seriously concerned that the diet of our children is unbalanced, with too much salt, sugar and fat and not enough fruit and vegetables. New Labour has sought to address the problem with a raft of 'healthy-eating' initiatives and nutritional standards for school meals. But is it doing enough? In this article, I recount the history of the school dinner and offer some suggestions for future government policy.
The supply teacher's lot
March 2003. 3000 words. Ever thought of doing some supply teaching? Read my account of an actual afternoon's supply work first, and then think again! Every word is true - only the names have been changed to protect the guilty.
Creationism: bad science, bad religion, bad education
April 2002. 6200 words. In March 2002 it was reported that at least two state-funded schools in the UK were teaching their students 'creationism', a phenomenon previously limited to the US. In this article I outline the origins of such teaching, survey the criticisms of it and ask whether it is the inevitable outcome of Labour's love affair with religion.
Glass in their snowballs - the faith schools debate
December 2001. 7500 words. Churches and other religious groups already own about a quarter of England's state-funded schools. Tony Blair's New Labour government wants them to run even more. In this article I survey the background, analyse the arguments for and against and conclude that England needs more faith schools like a hole in the head.
Time to rethink religious education?
September 2000. 1950 words. What is the purpose of Religious Education? Is it a means of teaching children about right and wrong, good and evil? Is it a suitable vehicle for developing tolerance and respect? And is there in fact a fundamental contradiction between education and religion?
King's Manor School - an experiment in privatisation?
June 1999. 3860 words. King's Manor School in Guildford, Surrey, was the first state school in the UK to be handed over to a private company. In this article I outline the events which led to Surrey County Council's decision and question the political motives behind the Labour government's support for the move.
New Labour - new values?
June 1997. 3070 words. Written a few weeks after Tony Blair's 'New Labour' Party won the UK General Election in 1997, this piece was an early attempt to assess the party's education policies.
Thought for the day
March 1997, revised July 2005. A list of more than 200 useful quotes for classroom assemblies, with indexes of subjects and sources.
The Bible story finder
April 1996. A simple way to find well-known Bible stories. A subject index is provided.
Children's needs and interests and the National Curriculum
June 1995. 2280 words. Is there value in basing the curriculum on children's needs and interests? If so, can it be done with a National Curriculum which demands that six-year-olds learn about Florence Nightingale and the Crimean War?
Educational philosophy: does it exist in the 1990s?
September 1992. 2050 words. In their report Curriculum Organisation and Classroom Practice in Primary Schools: a discussion paper the so-called 'Three Wise Men' (Robin Alexander, Chris Woodhead and Jim Rose) called for more specialist teaching and ability setting in primary schools. This article was my response to the report.
Rewriting Oxfordshire's Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education post 1988
June 1992, 25000 words (in six files each of approximately 4000 words, plus a Bibliography). My MA thesis is an account of the process of rewriting Oxfordshire's Agreed Syllabus (I was a member of the Working Party) and an analysis of the result.
Facing the problem of bullying in schools
January 1992, 4350 words. An account of the work on bullying undertaken at Marston Middle School Oxford between 1989 and 1997. Includes the Rules and Procedures of the School Bully Court, the text of the Bullying Questionnaire and a list of useful addresses and suggestions for further reading.
Deconstructing the Bible
August 1991. 4030 words. A consideration of the interpretive possibilities inherent in deconstructionist readings of the biblical text such as those offered by feminist hermeneutics.
The multi-faith society: problem or opportunity?
August 1991. 3230 words. Does the presence of a variety of religions in a modern society present a problem or an opportunity for Religious Education?
Changing aims - changing content?
January 1991. 6640 words. Between the major Education Acts of 1944 and 1988, (both of which included sections on Religious Education) the aims of the subject changed dramatically. But did the content change to reflect the new aims? I analyse the aims and contents of a number of Agreed Syllabuses for Religious Education.
On being beaten about the head
June 1989. 1800 words. An account of my feelings as a Head Teacher on the receiving end of the relentless criticism of teachers by the Tories and the press, and having policies - of which I disapproved - forced on me by the then Tory government.
Some principles for school managers
March 1988. 2000 words. Taking 'manager' to mean Head Teacher, I draw on my own experience to suggest seven basic principles which should underpin a successful school headship.
The National Curriculum and the role of the primary teacher in curriculum development
March 1988. 2230 words. It seems extraordinary now to recall that teachers once actually had a say in what they taught. Written just before the introduction of the National Curriculum, this piece attempts to assess the likely impact of the imposed curriculum on the primary teacher's role as curriculum developer.
Whatever happened to the integrated curriculum?
October 1987. 1470 words. Anything which breaks down the traditional subject barriers and makes knowledge more meaningful, relevant and stimulating for children must be in the interest of effective education, mustn't it? So what happened to the integrated day? I assess the arguments for integration and note that the imminent introduction of a subject-based National Curriculum looked set to kill off the concept. (As indeed it has).
Is the core-curriculum ideal valid and feasible?
April 1987. 2060 words. Prime Minister Jim Callaghan's speech at Ruskin College on 18 October 1976 set in motion the 'Great Debate' about the school curriculum which culminated in the imposition of the National Curriculum twelve years later. Here I present some of the views about the curriculum which circulated during the period and attempt to analyse the arguments.
Plowden and the primary curriculum: twenty years on
March 1987. 2020 words. 'The Plowden Report has been misquoted, misunderstood, over-simplified, torn to shreds by academics and used by a few schools to justify some fairly mindless practice.' (TES 6 March 1987) Written on the twentieth anniversary of the report's publication, this piece assesses the impact Plowden had on primary education in England. (The full text of the Plowden Report, articles about it and links to related websites can be found on this website in the Documents section).
The management of selecting, appraising and developing staff
September 1987. 1630 words. An outline of the elements which need to go into an effective school policy for the selection, appraisal and development of staff.
School governing bodies - a clear role?
June 1987. 1680 words. How did schools come to have Governing Bodies and what was their role? Tory Education Acts in the 1980s gave parents a much greater say in the running of schools, but did they make the role of the governors any clearer?
The Chief Education Officer - the real master of local educational provision?
March 1987. 2080 words. It used to be claimed that the real master of local educational provision was the Chief Education Officer. Was this ever true? And how did the many changes in educational administration during the 1970s and 80s affect the situation?
Book reviews
listed in reverse chronological order
Faith Schools: consensus or conflict?
edited by Roy Gardner, Jo Cairns and Denis Lawton (2005)
There is widespread concern about Blair's faith schools policy and about the fact that there appears to have been no consideration of its implications. This book aims to present 'a balanced debate and evaluation of the issues involved in the continuing and expanded provision of faith based education in our present society'.
The Professionals: better teachers, better schools
Phil Revell (2005)
The training of teachers - through a multiplicity of different routes - is now an extraordinary mess. What should be done to sort it out and establish a coherent scheme for training tomorrow's teachers? That is the question which Revell seeks to answer in this very readable book.
Education policy in Britain
Clyde Chitty (2004)
Chitty's book is a fitting continuation of the work of Brian Simon, who sought to illustrate the inseparability of history and practice. It seeks to provide information for those who want to understand how we got to where we are now, and to stimulate an informed debate about where we go from here.
Who controls teachers' work?
Richard M Ingersoll (2003)
Ingersoll sets out to answer three sets of questions: Are schools centralised or decentralised? Do schools have the means to control the work of teachers and hold teachers accountable? Does school centralisation or decentralisation matter?
Faith-based schools and the state
Harry Judge (2002)
This book concerns the development of the relationship between the church - mainly but not exclusively the Roman Catholic Church - and the state's provision of education in three countries - England, France and the US - over the past two hundred years. It aims to be 'comparative, and not simply expository'.
The best policy? Honesty in education 1997-2001
Paul Francis (2001)
Written over two years and completed in the run up to the 2001 General Election, Paul Francis's book is an analysis of the way the Labour government's policy on education during its first term was undermined by dishonesty.
Love and chalkdust
Paul Francis (2000)
Like JL Carr's The Harpole Report (1972), this novel follows a year in the life of a school, documenting the inter-personal tensions, the institutional crises and the bureaucratic nonsense with which schools and teachers are bombarded, now on a daily basis. Like Harpole, too, it does so with great humour and humanity.
State schools - New Labour and the Conservative legacy
Clyde Chitty and John Dunford (1999)
Chitty and Dunford have assembled a series of essays which examine the situation in the country's schools mainly from the perspective of the head teacher but also from a variety of viewpoints. This is a thoroughly readable account of the depressing effects of government education policies on schools and teachers.
Experience and education: towards an alternative National Curriculum
edited by Gwyn Edwards and AV Kelly (1998)
Edwards and Kelly remind us that there really was a time before the 1988 Act when teachers actually discussed the aims and purposes of education. But this isn't just nostalgic yearning for the past. They plead for a genuinely open debate to identify the essential components of a national curriculum for a democratic society.
Bullying: home, school and community
Delwyn Tattum and Graham Herbert (1997)
The book is in three parts, dealing with Home, Home and School, and Home, School and Community. The fourteen chapters, by twenty-four contributors, include interesting accounts of a wide range of projects run by schools and other organisations. There is much valuable information here presented in a very readable style.
Bullying in schools and what to do about it
Ken Rigby (1996)
Rigby's huge research base gives this book an authority that inspires confidence. He attempts to understand what bullying is, why some children bully others, and why some children are bullied, and he gives very practical advice.
A community approach to bullying
Peter Randall (1996)
Randall takes a broad look at bullying and suggests ways in which communities can tackle it. He gives detailed description of the sort of project which could be set up in and by local communities, based on projects with which Randall himself has been involved.
Teacher education and human rights
Audrey Osler and Hugh Starkey (1996)
I cannot imagine a book less likely to be read by most of those engaged in education. Which is a shame, because, while the new government actively pursues the same dreary path worn by its predecessor (standards, basic skills, incompetent teachers etc), it is a timely reminder that education is about more than this.
Troubled and vulnerable children: a practical guide for heads
Shelagh Webb (1994)
Forming part of Croners' The Head's Legal Guide, this book covers family difficulties and bereavement; homeless families, travellers and refugees; child protection and children in care; children as carers and poor attenders; children in need and children with special educational needs; working in partnership with parents; and children's rights in education.
School policies
written by the staff of Marston Middle School Oxford
Behaviour in school March 1996
Equal opportunities March 1987
Gifted pupils January 1994
Special needs June 1993
Staff development September 1990
Fiction writing
Here are the five books I wrote after I retired from teaching in 1997. Family Values was written for adults, Wrights and Wrongs for teenagers, Billy's Bikers and Danny and Gaz for boys in the 8-13 age group, and Toni and Friends for younger children.
Family Values
153 pages (1999)
Carol Hill's idyllic life begins to crumble around her. The happy-clappy vicar at her local parish church leaves. Her husband's business goes to the wall. Karen, her daughter, gets mixed up in drugs. And as for her beloved son, Justin ... well, she can't bear to think about it. But her Christian faith will see her through life's difficulties. Won't it?
Billy's Bikers
97 pages (1999)
Billy Wallace wants the silver mountain bike he's seen in a shop window but his mum says she can't afford it. How will he get it? Will he find out what's going on at Deadman's Tower? And why has his friend Andy gone missing? The answers to these questions - and lots more - are to be found in the eight Billy's Bikers stories.
Wrights & Wrongs
104 pages (2000)
When his father buys a farm, Martin Ostler makes friends with Tim Wright, the younger son of the farmer next door, and discovers that Mr Wright is planning to grow a genetically modified crop - which would wreck his dad's plans to go organic. He soon realises that this isn't the only problem they face. As he tries to discover the truth behind a series of mysteries, Martin finds himself caught between his loyalty to his family and his friendship with Tim.
Toni and Friends
50 pages (2001)
Toni gets back from her summer holiday and wants something interesting to do. In this set of six short stories for 7-11 year olds - each based on a colour - we meet Bridgette (her new best friend), Gordon (who always seems to need cheering up), Emmie (who has her own house at the bottom of the garden), and Darren (whose only interest in life is finding someone to fight). Oh, and Brownie, the cow.
Danny and Gaz
59 pages (2001)
Like many of the kids at Cromwell Road School, Danny Wilson is fed up with Bruce Miller throwing his weight around. Most of the time, Danny can give as good as he gets, but when Bruce and his gang force him to break into a house, he's had enough. With the help of his older brother Gary, his best friend Kaz and Nelson the bulldog, he devises a plan to catch the Miller gang red-handed next time they go house-breaking.
 
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