Schools
Leading article: History lessons
Published: 08 June 2006
The Government's decision to enhance the profile of history in secondary schools is to be welcomed. Ministers see their decision to set up an inquiry into how history can be used to teach 14- to 16-year-olds about British cultural and social values as essential in promoting understanding in an increasingly multi-ethnic society. They are right to do so. It is wrong that, for many youngsters, history lessons stop at 14 with no requirement for them to learn even about recent British history.
Education Quandary
Published: 08 June 2006
Jailed for a crime he didn't commit
Published: 08 June 2006
Christopher Price: Blair's complicated ideas should get the KISS-off
Published: 02 June 2006
The best management advice I ever received consisted of four capital letters - KISS ("keep it simple, stupid"). It is the Government's failure to follow this advice that has got its policy on schooling into such a mess. Ministers have made the system far too complicated - too many school brands, too many fancy ideas, and far too much legislation.
Leading article: No boycott and no bullying, please
Published: 01 June 2006
Setting in motion a boycott of a country's institutions is not a decision to be taken lightly and Israel is a very different country from apartheid South Africa. It is a democracy, for a start and, as Ronnie Fraser, delegate for Natfhe, the National Association of Teachers of Further and Higher Education, and chairman of the Academic Friends of Israel, said at last weekend's conference, academics at Israeli universities have not been silenced or sacked for criticising their government's policies towards the Palestinians. To that extent, therefore, we disagree with the motion passed at the Natfhe conference calling on all members to examine their consciences and consider whether to boycott both universities and their staff in Israel.
Leading article: Reform schools
Published: 01 June 2006
The Prime Minister's Academy programme has come in for a good deal of flak, as Hilary Wilce points out on page 4. Tony Blair must have expected a big dose of opprobrium, because what he was doing was so ambitious. You cannot set out to make over some of the worst schools in the country - those with the worst exam results and the least motivated pupils - and expect fast change. Improvements, if they come, will be slow and painful. These were schools that local education authorities had failed to improve over decades. If they can attract dynamic new heads and teachers, the reform will have been worth it.
The Academy programme: Another failure for the PM?
Published: 01 June 2006
Education Quandary
Published: 01 June 2006
Bringing cricket to the inner cities
Published: 25 May 2006
Education Quandary
Published: 25 May 2006
Juliana Otter: Why coursework casts a shadow over family life
Published: 18 May 2006
aking at 2 am this morning, I found my 16-year-old son still at his desk, finishing his music coursework. Like many parents, I believe the toll that coursework takes on family life is intolerable. Widespread public concern with all aspects of coursework prompted the Government to ask the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) for a review into its role.
Creationism debate moves to Britain
Published: 18 May 2006
Leading article: There is no quick fix for extremism
Published: 18 May 2006
Bill Rammell, the higher education minister, this week launched a review of whether "core British values" should become a compulsory part of the curriculum for all 11- to 16-year-olds in England. In response to last year's London bombings, Mr Rammell also announced a review of the teaching of Islam in universities to combat extremism on campus.
Leading article: Going green
Published: 18 May 2006
Schools must become more environmentally friendly by 2020, reduce pollution and encourage pupils to walk or cycle from home, the Government announced this week. Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Education, called for schools to reduce water and energy use, urging them to lead the way with solar panels and wind-turbine technology. School meals should be made on site to cut transport use, and head teachers should act as "ethical purchasers".
Education Quandary
Published: 18 May 2006
Painting with pixels
Published: 18 May 2006
Log on to the future of reports
Published: 18 May 2006
Why more people from ethnic minorities need to enter teaching
Published: 11 May 2006
When Saqib Chaudhri walks into a classroom of students he hasn't taught before, they almost always have preconceptions about him. "It's the colour of my skin and my beard. They see I'm a practising Muslim and they make presumptions," says the 25-year-old teacher at Dunraven School in Lambeth, London. Surprisingly, perhaps, it's the very reason he loves teaching so much.
Leading article: The Bill is just the start for Johnson
Published: 11 May 2006
While much of Alan Johnson's time as the new Education Secretary will be taken up with trying to steer Tony Blair's education legislation through the House, there are other pressing priorities he must address.
Alan Johnson: The return of Mr Smooth
Published: 11 May 2006
Survival tips from a veteran crammer
Published: 11 May 2006
Do put your children on the stage
Published: 04 May 2006
Leading article: Best effort yet to tackle selection
Published: 04 May 2006
The trouble with trying to outlaw selection by stealth is that every time you take action to stop one abuse of school admission procedures, you open up another potential loophole for heads to exploit. Such is the case with the draft code on admissions drawn up by Ruth Kelly, the Education Secretary, in a bid to placate rebel Labour MPs who believe that the Government's trust schools will bring back selection via the back door.
Questioning time: why students are turning to philosophy
Published: 04 May 2006
Education quandary
Published: 04 May 2006
