Education is always in the news; Teachers are doing too little. Students are underachieving. The government has closed a 'failing' school. The government has opened a new school. Exams are too easy. There are too many exams. Our young people are aimless. Schools should do more. Subjects aren't being taught properly. And so on ad nauseum. But what is education? What do we want it to do? What do we need it to do?
We are currently trying to prepare students for a new world and new challenges with an old institution. The most significant global and local problems of the modern age need access to all areas of knowledge for their solution. While boundaries are disolving all around us, we are pulling the boundaries ever tighter around academic disciplines. We need specialists, of course. But specialists who have a broad knowledge of their context and an understanding that what they do will not remain in their limited sphere.
I am currently a teacher and the Head of Wellbeing at an inner-city London school. I have written more about the development of Wellbeing in the curriculum in another section of this website. The education community - teachers, school staff, students, parents, local institutions and organisations - can be a powerful force for change. We can help people to realise their potential, to have a voice and to make a difference to the world. However, we also work in an institution that was built to maintain the status quo and to train people for a specific place in society.
I have always believed that education has the power to change people's lives. Not just in an individual way, through an inspirational teacher. But as an idea. The passing on and evolution of knowledge, the construction of ideas, the sharing of experiences. This website provides a commentary on my own current work and experiences in education, case-studies, published and unpublished papers, templates, schemes of work, lesson plans, presentations, assemblies, book reviews, courses and organisations, stories and much more.