Blog

Open classroom; open society

In Berlin in 1945 a soldier planted the Soviet flag on top of the Reichstag signalling the victory of one totalitarian state over...

Teachers – training? education? learning?

When I lived in the countryside many years ago, I felt the need for dogs, so I acquired a German Shepherd pup and a Border Collie. Like...

School-University partnership exemplified: Dear Michael….

Dear Michael, It has been many years since we last spoke, but I found myself talking about you recently. I had been asked to give a...

Critical scholarship for teachers

Another reminder of the impermanence of life was the recent news that Henry Kissinger died. Forgive me if I don’t dwell on his dubious...

Palestine, education and emancipation

BBC Radio 4 has a programme which features discussion about listeners’ comments and complaints about BBC output. A big issue when I last...

Who are the change agents?

I decided long ago to avoid commenting on party political matters. Like many students in the late 1960s and early 70s, I got caught up in...

All education reform initiatives end in failure: discuss

All political careers end in failure. This aphorism is commonly attributed to Enoch Powell, the British politician who, in the late...

A comic take on dialogue in learning

I am interested in how professional knowledge can be created, refreshed and cultivated. The recent HertsCam Annual Conference was a good...

Weaving a learning community from silk in Almaty

People often travel to Kazakhstan to discover the ancient Silk Road, the trade route that linked China to Europe between the second...

Scholarship and action in the third space

I am currently very excited about my upcoming trip to Almaty in Kazakhstan to celebrate the publication of a new book ‘Teacher Leadership...

Hope, change and organising

I have never been attracted to the sort of politics that Sarah Palin has been peddling for many years. She was a prominent member of the...

Neurodiversity, inclusion and pedagogy for all

I am ashamed to admit that Random Acts of Kindness Day (17th February) came and went without my noticing. However, I am looking forward...

Inspiration and networking

Mae West was a legendary playwright and movie star in the 1920s and 30s. She was also a salacious wit who once quipped: “keep a diary and...

A pedagogy for empowerment

3 minute read It was good to learn recently that Paulo Freire’s ideas are still discussed in Brazil. My colleague Rony Medina and I were...

The power of narrative

In February 2020, I was spending a lot of time at the British Library, researching for a book I was writing. The BL is a great...

Working with unions to empower teachers - learning circles

In 2010, I was invited to speak at Education International’s Research Network conference. For those who are not yet familiar with...