The Lantern Bearer: A Personal Tribute to Nick Gibb
The first thing anyone who spends any amount of time with Nick Gibb will notice is how much he cares about teaching children to read. The second is just how…
Tag: Education
Are Human Rights for Everyone?
There is a classic debate around human rights, which can be exemplified by converation below between the fictional avatars of the readers of two thinly disguised publications: Torygraph: Human rights…
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Social Conservatism and the Arc of History
"The arc of the moral universise is long, but it bends towards justice," said Martin Luther King in a speech given over half a century - a phrase given new…
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Answers to Questions
Last week I invited people to 'Ask me Anything' and got some great questions in response, from 'If you lived in America, where would you stand politically?' to 'If you…
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Raptors, Racial Profiling and Religion: Adventures with ChatGPT
Song battles for and against racial profiling, angry letters to the Daily Mail, preprepared government responses to new reports, a new parable in the style of Jesus of Nazareth and…
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On Luxury Beliefs
I read a fascinating article recently comparing so-called 'luxury beliefs' to Veblen goods. The definition is as follows: " Luxury beliefs are ideas and opinions that confer status on the…
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School funding per pupil over time
I've been wanting for a while to get to the bottom of what's been happening to school funding. Headteachers and campaigners argue that schools are on the edge of bankruptcy;…
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Wonkhe: A Cap and Trade Mechanism for Student Numbers
In my latest article for Wonkhe, I explore the idea of a cap and trade mechanism for student number control, as an alternative to an attainment threshold or centrally-controlled number…
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Initial thoughts on the Augar Review
The Augar Review of Post-18 Education was published today. Excellent summaries can be found on Wonkhe and elsewhere. My initial thoughts on its recommendations are below. Overall, it's a highly…
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Wonkhe: In Defence of Academic Freedon
In my latest piece for Wonkhe I defend academic freedom and the importance of allowing those who would challenge orthodoxy to speak out without being silenced. I also set out…