Internal and web-based

Why is school reform difficult and frequently problematic

Battling for the Soul of Education

The publication of Diane Ravitch’s “The Death and Life of the Great American School System” might not immediately appeal to an English readership, but its ... Read on

Open letter to the nation’s newspapers

In response to the wide national coverage on Britain’s ever-declining “educational standards” as measured by the OECD, John Abbott has sent this letter to half ... Read on

What the 21st Century Learning Initiative is all about

Societies worldwide are undergoing massive economic, environmental, technological, social and political changes that challenge traditional values, beliefs and institutional arrangements.  Here in England, these stresses ... Read on

Schools in the Future: What has to Change, and Why

An explanation of why, in the light of recent research on the nature of human learning, the present Western, essentially Anglo, system of schooling is both upside down in terms of its distribution of resources, and inside out in terms of its excessive dependence on school-as-place; on formal as opposed to informal learning, and on the teacher as instructor rather than as facilitator.

Who will take Education where?

Like many others in recent weeks I have become something of a ‘party policy watcher’, comparable to those who watch the fascinating antics of dolphins so as to try and understand how their brains work. As the General Election gets ever nearer, the behaviour of these policy wonks seems to have become ever more erratic, eccentric and represents apparently hopeless organisation behind the scenes.

A Briefing Paper for Parliamentarians on the Design Faults at the Heart of English Education

With a General Election in England to be held sometime before June 2010 the Initiative has just produced A Briefing Paper for Parliamentarians on the Design Faults at the Heart of English Education. This will be circulated for all Members, hopefully before the Summer Recess. At the same time the Initiative will do everything it can to stimulate wide popular discussion of the Ten Actions as set out in the Paper by encouraging all Parliamentary candidates to consider the significance of these issues.

Occasional Pieces: All Hands to the Sink

For the dishwasher or the microwave to breakdown just before the family descends for a long Bank Holiday weekend can be a disaster.  An older ... Read on

Occasional Pieces: Education: A Question of Democracy

To send your child to the local school, or decide to go private, is a question that splits families apart.  Is education primarily for private ... Read on

Occasional Pieces: Teachers Good and Bad

Pupils can often be the best judges of the quality of their teachers – not necessarily immediately for who likes to be told that they ... Read on