In a time of political darkness – when the ugly power of racism rears up – it is good to remember that we all stand on the shoulders of giants in the long struggle for human dignity and justice. Sarah Parker Remond lived in the 19th century. We need to know her story. She challenged the forces of evil on…
It seemed to them that they were to go on living like that, and writing like that, for ever and ever. Then suddenly, like a chasm in a smooth road, the war came. – Virginia Woolf from The Leaning Tower, A paper read to the Workers’ Educational Association, Brighton, May 1940. Writing and speaking in 1940 – as another war…
“I hate poetry and all its fucking ambitious son-of-a-bitches who call me a showman because I act myself”. Gregory Corso letter to Lawrence Ferlingetti, September 6th 1957. My poor life is so fucked up, what’s the meaning of it all? I don’t yet know, when I do find out i fear it will be too late.” Gregory Corso, letter to Allen…
There’s a cat sanctuary in the grounds of the Pyramid in Rome. This rather incongruous Egyptian style pyramid was built in 30 BC as a tomb. It was later incorporated into the section of the Aurelian Walls that now border a cemetery designated by one guidebook as being for “non-Catholic cults’. The graveyard is also known as the Protestant.cemetery or the English cemetery although…
My uncle – Geoffrey Nicolls – served with the 16th West Yorkshire Regiment in WW1 and in the same week that he was attached to his battalion this line appears in the official War Diary: July the 14th 1916 – less that a fortnight after the first day of the Somme offensive that had devastated the battalion and put the…
It’s been wet this August and last week was topped off by a cracker of a thunderstorm storm that dropped torrential rain and knocked out the power for a few hours. The routine stroll around the lake at Innisfree Garden was more of a squelch. Many paths were waterlogged and you could hear the roar of the waterfall from across…
I like the title of this book about how to do school right: Timeless Learning. The launch date is August 7th but from what is available – and from the published work of the authors on which it’s based – you just know it’s going to be good. Very good. The focus is on modern learning, innovative practices, change leadership…
We’re happier when we chat to strangers, but our instinct is to ignore them https://t.co/ExmL3GSCWw via @researchdigest — Tina Seelig (@tseelig) July 19, 2018 A tweet from Tina Seelig led to this interesting piece of research: It’s become a truism that humans are “social animals”. And yet, you’ve probably noticed – people on public transport or in waiting rooms seem…
Not bird not badger not beaver not bee Many creatures must make, but only one must seek within itself what to make from Lament For the Makers Frank Bidart Choosing what to make, with what, where, with whom and why makes us human. What to make? Where? And With What? But then there are so many choices:
Dulane Upshaw Ponder of NY and Hope, Alaska died at her home in Hampton Bays last evening, June 18th. She was 70. Dulane was born in Atlanta Georgia in October 1947 – the only child of Burke Dulane Ponder and Ruth Embry Upshaw Ponder. After Westminster Schools in Atlanta, Dulane attended Hollins College in Roanoke, Virginia. She later studied at Brown…
When I was ten or eleven my primary school class was taken on a trip to Blenheim Palace. Big excitement as it included a boat trip on the Thames. I don’t remember too much about the trip but I did have this Brownie Box camera and a whole twelve picture roll of film. The camera has a now cracked leather…
There’s a current craze for teaching coding in schools and computer science classes are back in fashion in a big way. (I don’t know what schools are squeezing out to make room for this but it’s probably the usual suspects). A 2016 Gallup report found that 40% of American schools now offer coding classes – up from only 25% a few years…
Rhubarb, Rhubarb Words A definition of rhubarb – the noun – is meaningless background noise. This meaning is attributed to the mid 19th century practice of the theater company of Charles Kean at the Princess Theater, London. In crowd scenes actors repeated the word “rhubarb” to mimic the sound of indistinct conversation. Rhubarb was chosen because it has no harsh-sounding…
From the orphans of Flanders to the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School – four photographs with an uncanny and chilling similarity. Keep your eyes forward, your hands on the shoulders of the person in front of you and keep quiet. – instructions during a high school shooter drill. We’ve come to accept that the only thing we can…
Education thought leader takes a deep dive into learner agency and direct instruction. Image: Banker by Jason de Caires Taylor