"If you tell people not to think about elephants, they will think about elephants. And, in US schools, Jesus is the elephant." Last Friday, the TES published my longest US feature yet: "The Godless Delusion". The piece muses on the fact … Read More
Over the summer my main research project is on the biographies of education secretaries. I'm planning to apply the framework from Dean Simonton's Greatness: Who Makes History and Why, to see if the best remembered among the group conform to his theories. … Read More
On Saturday I presented at the Research & Creative Activities Forum here at the University of Missouri. It's a competitive forum for graduate students to present their research and the whole day was mind-blowing. Quite unusually I was presenting a … Read More
I note the Daily Mail has led on the story of the new National Curriculum with a triumphant gloat that Churchill is back on the agenda. I am also chuffed that Churchill is back, but not for the same reasons as … Read More
One of the things guaranteed to annoy me is when people assume that poor children all have low aspirations, and that 'choice' is something only preserved for the 'middle and upper class' children. Life just isn't that simple. Reviewing more works … Read More
One of my first projects here at the University of Missouri is reviewing historical documents of the 'Progressive School' movement, particularly the 'famous' schools of the 1920s advocated by celebrities (or people who went on to become celebrities). The intial … Read More
Reading the Hansard publications of education debates from the past is a glorious habit to get into (the best links are pointed to via the Living Heritage website). Not are the debates frighteningly like those ongoing today, but they provide … Read More
When answering the question: "Which was harder, O-Levels or GCSEs?" there are two different answers depending on what precisely you are asking about. If you are asking: "Was it harder to get an A on O-Levels compared to GCSEs?" the answer … Read More