Ed Waller

For the taste or the semi-rhyme? Although must admit that I, too, prefer Costa! See you there!

There's a caffe nero and costa 'after security'... My coach is meant to arrive about 8.30... and I might be in serious need of a coffee after 2 hours with national express... Ed W

If you were part of a revolution in the situation the Bolsheviks found themselves in 1917-1923, how would you defend your gains? On another tack, it's quite a relief that the Right Wing again find it necessary to attack comunism/socialism. It suggests they are worried...

If this kind of thinking is widespread in the educational community we are indeed doomed. How anyone can say the the state of the modern education system is "our fault" when that implies any notion of blame to education professionals in schools or colleges or universities. In doing so they are repeating the mistakes of Blair, Kelly and a host of other Tories who have been meddling with something they had no experience of when younger. Yes, teaching is tough, made a heck of a lot tougher by the diminishing resources social welfare of all kinds have been suffering for 30 years. Yes, students are less motivated/disciplined than in the 1970s, and this is not difficult to understand. What careers are there for young people (not saying that there were exactly tons in the 60s and 70s either): Forces (various), call centres, retail, sales.... For the record on languages... I loved grammar, in the same way I later loved logic. But when I had a German partner at uni I suddenly found all the motivation I needed to learn a language and speak it. Admittedly this is an extreme situation, and I was reasonable at A Level. If you want to understand the 'it's got to appeal and be easy' approach to education (primary through tertiary), all you have to understand is the introduction of market forces to the process (Was that by teachers or other people?). Making the parent the consumer of education, however perverse that is, when the real consumer of the product in its present guise* is the eventual employer, has led to enormous change in how things are done, the de-professionalisation of teaching, endless nonsensical league tables, inspections and performance related pay. All of these have contributed to the growth of managerialism, and consequently the diversion of resources from the 'chalkface'. * I know it shouldn't be like that, and it should be 'capital E education' not exam passes we're after....

Although a non-believer, I feel it fair to make a small point here. Some of the more recent posts have begun to merge the god/no god debate with religion. Just about any religion (an organised set of beliefs and behavoiur to match) has been created by men of privilege in their own image. Hence it has often led to war. We shouldn't let a crap (can I say that before 10.00?) invention get in the way of a good debate. I was in a pub last night discussing this issue with my RE colleagues following an Inset on Catholic Ethos. I am struggling with a response to the 'primary cause' argument. This suggests that in Physics, each event has a (set of) cause(s). We can trace these back to the Big Bang, or, if you'd prefer, a series of Big Bangs and expanding and contracting universes. If you trace back through all of them, there was a start somewhere, some 'primary cause'. How does Science explain that (without the use of faith??). Interesting that the first post was by Adam. Shame the second wasn't by Eve....

Said fan might do well to change watering hole: A shocking half that leaves a bad taste and then offski. But I think Dan's right about v Persie....

Have you been advertising Shell, too??

An interesting and important debate... A few comments... When it comes to family eating habits, the issue is not just who’s around the table. The pressure on parents themselves to perform, as employment has tended towards demands for increased output, has meant that students’ diets have deteriorated. Processed food has replaced ‘ingredients’ in most household shopping trolleys, with noticeable effects on behaviour, attention and tiredness. Of course teachers have adopted ‘goal-seeking behaviour’. Most human beings do in similar circumstances. In similar fashion, many in the non-prestigious universities have endured pressures aimed at reducing unit costs. ‘Unitisation’ and ‘Semesterisation’ have had similar impact on university courses – ‘thinner’, grade inflation, clearer criteria, teaching to test. Significantly, these developments were initiated by the Tories at a time when to many they seemed (and probably felt) invincible. The lack of effective response by trade unions and the Labour Party as Kinnock and then Blair tore the remnants of a conscience from most of both. The results are as John notes. The number of ‘good’ students who overuse ‘you know’ and ‘like’ in oral contributions, and the written ‘could of’ is indicative of the fundamental linguistic problems. There’s a further debate to be had about ‘what matters’ and another about how to test it. However, I’m intrigued about how every state scores above the average.

It is a Snickers and not a Mars, but.... on the basis of one point per team 'in the frame' and an extra point for correct position, Simkin, Waller and Lyndon joint 1st with 7 Walker, still with it all to do on 3.

It may not have appeared crystal clear from my earlier post that I am in the fullest agreement with the concept of collegiality. Its absence from the public sector has its origins in Thatcherism (and the 3 years before Hilda) and persisting with this absence goes to the core of what is wrong with New Labour - its lack of trust in the people and in their abilities.

The things that make a difference: smaller class sizes, bureaucracy limited to what is functional, decent resources, non-stressed teachers. If it is the case that students learn best when teachers use their skills and resources to facilitate this, it surely follows that good 'management' is that which enables teachers to develop their practice. The recently published contextual value added figures that show how wonderful (sic) independent schools are vcompared to their state 'rivals', have no indicator for class size and resources and similar 'extraneous' factors. And when it comes to looking at management, it's always a heartening thought to consider the Peter Principle tha 'in a hierarchically structured administration, people tend to be promoted up to their "level of incompetence" '.

Of course Iran shouldn't have 'the' bomb. Of course nobody should. Similar arguments could be made about nuclear energy. No country should feel that it's government is and always will be able to resist the temptation to use them. And if they weren't willing to use them, there's no point in having them. If all coutries currently with them signed a 'no first strike' agreement, we could dismantle them, save billions and send the dangerous materials somewhere in space where they'll make no impact, like into the sun. We could then spend the money saved on researching alternative energy sources and world health programmes. Oddly, most socialists already know this.

Only very jealous at this point... For my A level stuff, it's an ICT lesson if I bring the laptop!

Mr Bitter... Mr Angry... ? Good that the BBC is using it's money to this purpose, although note there's no history on the Beeb site yet... No doubt it will come. Perhaps the complaining companies could use the Business Studies section to guide them as they improve the service they offer.

To be honest, given what might happen, that particular academy might be preferable! The Daily Mail Reader Bomb Them Now Academy of Britishness is the one that gets me....

Cynically one might suggest that the aim is to show how wonderful public schools are and thus preserve the privileges of that class of person in Oxbridge and all the plum jobs that follow these illustrious academic careers. It must have been pretty irksome for them to be eating cucumber sandwiches in Laura Ashley prints and Saville Row suits [i presume they come in sandwich size ] and be subjected to people with 'accents' on graduation day. SO much easier to know that the upper classes produce the upper children and be able to prove this through academic achievement. If it can't be done fairly, cheat. Forget 'taking part' it's results that matter.

Whilst it is conceivable that the orginal 'judgement' to allow the person to teach in a school was based on a correct assumption that no offence would occur, it was a deeply misguided judgement to allow that possibility to influence the decision. Nobody worth their salt would consider it an appropriate political act. Naivety at its best or arrogance at its worst? ( I know what my money is on!)

Lordy lordy... it would be difficult to pick a more anodine bunch of wrong-doers. Where in the list is Thatcher of greater significance in the 20th Century than O M. Jack the Ripper??? Responsible for so few deaths he hardly warrants a mention, even if it is an intriguing (set of) case(s). I'd much rather see Major Trafford or Colonel L'Estrange to name but two contenders, and that before even thinking about factory or mine owners and their 'safety' records. I could go on, but it's clear that in the BBC list only certain kinds of 'evil' count.

Ahhh one good Tory deserves another. Surprised that all the combined intelligence of DfES etc in its various guises, the treasury, Secs of State, MPs and all the policy advisers, spin doctors and all the king's horses couldn't work out a simple bit of economics - when the real price rises, demand will fall. How long until an HEI closes? George Galloway for PM, anyone?

Might I suggest a slight clarification, as Cameron's apparent move to the left. The rhetoric sounds more left wing than the detail. It would be worrying if people felt there was clear red water between Cameron and Blair in that direction... And no I haven't a Damascene Revelation about Blair recently, he's still a s***e.

I've often thought this to be a necessary part of a very different education of the future. Not just him, of course... You're right about the way he is portrayed in the books - the saviour of the British Empire (as if this were a good thing?) I've seen something on him on the Heroes and Villains section of Learning Curve. Would love to be part of some deeper analysis of him...

Although not necesarily - Gallipoli... Return to the Gold Standard... General Strike... Dresden... He was a thoroughly nasty piece of work, and thoroughly deserved the humiliating defeat of 1945.

I couldn't agree more, which, as you can imagine, is slightly irksome! Our 'colleagues' in NASUWT at one time seemed to acknowledge imperfections in the old system. If some of us were less underpaid than others, I don't have problem with that, outside of us all being underpaid and undervalued, with which I have a HUMONGOUS problem.

As they might agree with many sentiments expressed by other revolutionary atheists like Tom Paine.

As somebody who dropped history in the equivalent of year 9, I appreciate how far history teaching has come since the 'bad old days'. It wasn't actually that bad - the people teaching it knew their stuff, and matched their strengths to the requirements of the exams, which was pretty much about knowing the relevant debates which sides were the prefered versions. In many ways the goal-seeking behaviour of modern teaching methods (and here i would include AfL) is less new than one might suspect, but certainly has been taken to centre stage by developments like league tables. Teaching is much more engaging in the modern environment, partly because of these developments. While it may be possible (and inviting to believe) that these changes would have occured 'naturally' they have been hastened by recent developments. The well-rehearsed debate on Hitlerisation and Henrification of the curriculum tends to ignore that this is a further consequence of these developments. Any narrowing is to the detriment of the subject and the students. However, the (perceived?) need to improve results year on year has to take its place in the equation. One of the teaching developments that can be noted here and elsewhere is the increasing intervention of ICT, and the requirements that teachers improve their ICT capabilities. Whilst there are several 'young guns' out there, like Doug Belshaw (but by no means is he alone), whose ICT skills are probably sufficient to run most schools' networks, there is a growing discrepancy between what is possible and what is done. It's not just because teachers don't have the skills (although this is admittedly an issue) it's more often because History doesn't command the ICT budget in the same way other subjects do. Interactive Whiteboards remain a rarity; wireless enabled classrooms with laptops even more scarce. We are in danger of developing two Histories - one will be stuck with Hitler and Henry thanks to resourcing issues and the other increasingly 'whizzy' and adaptive. If there is a solution, it is presumably in focusing on advancing as many as possible to the first rung of the ICT ladder, and climbing one at a time. The 'pioneers' remain important; in similar fashion assistance to the first rung (etc) hass become essential.