I was listening to Broadcasting House this morning on Radio 4 when the Beeb decided to do its bit for ‘reading for pleasure’.They had Daisy Milligan, aged nine, reading from Joyce’s Ulysses. Later her sister Lotte read from Melville’s Moby Dick, and, finally, Daisy again, this time from Hawking’s A Brief History of Time. Melville,… Continue reading Reading for pleasure
Here’s the latest news on the Campaign for the Book, which is being driven by Alan Gibbons, author of Shadow of the Minotaur.In his latest campaign newsletter, Alan tells us that the Department of Culture, Media and Sport has finally published its review and that ‘there is no attempt to dilute the 1964 Libraries Act,… Continue reading Campaign for the Book
Following up on my posting on the teaching of classics, I note that Boris is going to launch a campaign to try and convince more schools to start teaching them. Graeme Paton in the Telegraph is reporting that the charity ‘Friends of Latin’ have produced new research in which it has been found that ‘pupils… Continue reading Friends of Classics
I don’t know what you think about Boris Johnson. Whether you like his politics or not though, you have to admit that he’s a fine journalist and that he’s very, very funny at times. He’s also been for I don’t know how long a tireless campaigner for encouraging the teaching of Latin and Greek in… Continue reading Boris blasts Balls, or et tu Boris
Returning to my previous posting, a poll commissioned by the Newsnight programme was shocking in a number of ways. According to Newsnight, despite current spending reaching £86 billion a year – a 72% increase since 1977 -, two thirds of people ‘don’t think the government has invested our money on education in the most effective… Continue reading Read my lips, LibLabCon: it’s the basics wot count!
The TimesOnline was two days ago reporting the recent spat between Michael Gove, the shadow education secretary, and Ed Balls, the education secretary, at Education Questions in the House of Commons. The point at issue was why, according to Michael Gove, in a year, only forty-five out of a possible eighty thousand pupils eligible for… Continue reading Balls’ Commons gaffe forces apology
Diane Ravitch, a giant within the education establishment in the USA and former Assistant Education Secretary to George Walker Bush, has just announced a change of heart on the USA’s ‘No Child Left Behind’ programme.Why the change of heart? Because of standardised testing. Testing has become ‘a strategy for measuring and punishing,’ she is reported… Continue reading ‘We are lying to our kids,’ says Diane Ravitch
Some news in from Australia: Kevin Rudd seems to have done a John Major in promulgating a ‘back to basics’ approach to education.It all sounds very laudable. The aim has partly been to get the different states to agree a national curriculum, partly so that pupils moving between states will still be following the same… Continue reading Rudd steers Aussie boat back to basics
Something I missed way back in December but which might be of some small interest to readers comes from the Indie (Dec. 09) and was sent me by a well-wisher.It’s entitled somewhat hopefully ‘Don’t knock blogging – it’s the answer to our literacy problems’ and claims that blogging is at least one of the answers… Continue reading The Write Path
The Independent was reporting yesterday that a group of experts set up by the government is demanding ‘tougher maths and science exams’ at GCSE.Graeme Paton has two pieces in the Telegraph: one on the ‘social engineering’ controversy, claiming that ‘Labour’s mission to “socially engineer” university admissions is built on flawed evidence, according to independent school… Continue reading News in brief