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Theme : learning
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Parent Power
With an election drawing closer, there?s been an ever?growing clamour over the last year or so for more ?parent power? in education. Often this debate has boiled down to squabbling as to which party offers the most ?choice? for parents and children. It?s good, then, to see the government adopting a posture towards parents which begins to see them less as consumers of their children?s education and more as active partners in it. The use of ICT to provide parents with information about their...
from : duncanoleary
15th March 2005
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Policing by the book
Great story on BBC news this morning about a new directive in Mexico City ? the mayor of one of the city?s districts has decided that police officers must read at least one book per month or forfeit the chance of promotion. Apparently they will be regularly tested to make sure they haven?t just been reading the Letts Study Guides rather than the real thing. The programme is designed to increase general levels of literacy, although there are some suggested titles for reading. I haven?t seen...
from : duncanoleary
10th March 2005
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How teachers learn
If only we knew what we know. For the last 18 months, Demos has been working in partnership with colleagues at the University of Sussex to understand how good educational practice travels around the system. The results have now been published on the website of the Department for Education and Skills. For me, the findings show that the principles of buzz and conversation preached by bloggers and advertisers have always, given the chance, been practiced by professionals. This was the basic...
from : johncraig
11th February 2005
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What not to teach
Teachers' TV, the DfES-funded television channel for the teaching profession, is due to be launched next week, as reported in today's Education Guardian. The article looks closely at our report on the possibilities of TTV, Switched On - especially the need for the channel to emulate shows such as What Not To Wear and Queer Eye For the Straight Guy in adopting a mentoring, rather than a hectoring, approach. Andrew Bethell, TTV's director of programmes, seems to have heeded this message,...
from : samhintonsmith
1st February 2005
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Mastering sustainability
Our friends over at Forum for the Future run a Masters Programme in Leadership for Sustainable Development, which a couple of us here at Demos have been through. I reckon it's one of the most interesting postgrad courses going in the UK so, as applications are currently open, thought I'd post a link.
from : paulmiller
20th January 2005
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Networked Learning Communities enter the blogosphere
The Networked Learning Communities programme, which aims to facilitate the spread of good practice across the education system, has got itself a weblog [registration required here]. The second of the two postings so far seems a good example of how it might be used ? it looks at how Local Education Authorities will be configuring the 1000 or so Primary networks that will be created following the Primary Strategy. The next posting will be used to share some of the learning from International...
from : duncanoleary
6th January 2005
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Vote K
Our friends the Kaospilots have made the run-offs for this year's Fast Company Fast 50. Instead of surviving 2004, a year when they saw their funding cut by conservatives in the Danish government, they've thrived with new schools now set to open in Oslo and Malmo. And clickety-click, the government has just announced a change of heart: funding is set to be restored in time for Christmas.Now they need a little boost to take them over the top and secure themselves a fresh spot in FC's hall of...
from : petermacleod
5th December 2004
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It's all in the Mindlines
This article in the BMJ from a few weeks ago (please don't ask me why I'm reading the BMJ) suggests that primary care clinicians (ie GPs and practice nurses) rarely explicitly or directly access and use evidence from research to inform their practice, relying instead on so-called 'mindlines' - collectively reinforced, internalised, tacit guidelines derived from interactions with colleagues, patients, pharmaceutical reps, opinion-formers and so forth and morphing over time. Word is, if you want...
from : helenmccarthy
16th November 2004
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From schools out
Today the Hay Group published Schools Out, our report about extended schools and the challenges they pose. The Guardian is carrying a news item about our 'voice vouchers' proposal, which is aimed at encouraging parents to participate in school budgeting and decision-making. While vouchers have been a rallying call for neo-liberals, my comment piece, also in the Guardian, tries to present a very different approach to vouchers, as a way in which parents and schools can work together for the...
from : johncraig
14th September 2004
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Civitas go back to school
Our former office 'buddies' Civitas (we were based on the same floor in our old Waterloo offices) have decided to open a school.Read the Guardian story here.
from : paulmiller
31st August 2004
