http://blogs.independent.co.uk| Blogs from the Independent newspaper - news, views and features from the world's most free-thinking newspaper| Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:00:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2| en hourly 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/27/the-english-language-should-be-cherished/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/27/the-english-language-should-be-cherished/#comments Thu, 27 Sep 2012 12:12:42 +0000 Josh Barrie http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=28708 For me, there is little worse than a bellowing rendition of Rule Britannia, or a mention of past empirical ‘greatness.’ That said, there is one thing that seemingly does grant us first prize in the lottery of life. That is our language. ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/27/the-english-language-should-be-cherished/feed/ 29 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/11/industrial-action-does-teachers-no-favours/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/11/industrial-action-does-teachers-no-favours/#comments Tue, 11 Sep 2012 13:21:56 +0000 Susan Elkin http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=28324 So teachers intend to strike later this term. Except that it won’t be a strike as such. They are just planning to refuse to attend meetings, fill in forms, invigilate, cover for absent colleagues or lead extra-curricular activity because, they say, they don’t want to disrupt children’s education – which is, of course a contradiction in terms. ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/11/industrial-action-does-teachers-no-favours/feed/ 33 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/07/does-michael-gove-really-know-what-he-is-doing/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/07/does-michael-gove-really-know-what-he-is-doing/#comments Fri, 07 Sep 2012 10:49:38 +0000 Jane Smith http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=28246 Having taught Key Stage One (ages six to seven) for six years, I would like to challenge a few of the ‘changes’ that have been made to the English curriculum by the education secretary and share a few of my trade secrets that get children interested in reading and writing – many of the things that Gove seems so keen on phasing out.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/07/does-michael-gove-really-know-what-he-is-doing/feed/ 184 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/29/its-not-the-school-you-go-to-that-determines-how-well-you-do-its-the-class-system-stupid/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/29/its-not-the-school-you-go-to-that-determines-how-well-you-do-its-the-class-system-stupid/#comments Fri, 29 Jun 2012 10:09:06 +0000 Owen Jones http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=25805 If we’re going to improve educational results in this country, it means less of an obsessive focus on the schools – and more attention to the grotesque broader inequalities of modern British society.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/29/its-not-the-school-you-go-to-that-determines-how-well-you-do-its-the-class-system-stupid/feed/ 188 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/17/tackle-behaviour-so-teachers-can-do-their-jobs/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/17/tackle-behaviour-so-teachers-can-do-their-jobs/#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:47:58 +0000 Liam Don http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=20490 The news last week that underperforming teachers could face the sack under new measures seems incredibly ruthless and draconian. Teachers are too often judged on a narrow range of statistics, without being given enough support to deal with the specific problems in the classroom that prevent them from doing their job to the best of their ability.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/17/tackle-behaviour-so-teachers-can-do-their-jobs/feed/ 14 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/16/scrapping-ict-is-just-the-start/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/16/scrapping-ict-is-just-the-start/#comments Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:08:17 +0000 Rich Martell http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=20432 I was excited to hear that ICT in schools will be replaced by an open source curriculum in computer science and programming. Still, the more I read about it, the more the doubts crept in.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/16/scrapping-ict-is-just-the-start/feed/ 6 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/10/24/campus-confidential-the-group-of-death/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/10/24/campus-confidential-the-group-of-death/#comments Mon, 24 Oct 2011 08:00:05 +0000 The Professor http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=17715 Group 2 is my Group of Death - do all lecturers have one? Oh – just me, then. Of all my groups, group 2 are the only ones who don’t do their writing exercises, don’t do any homework, and still stare at me each week like I’m completely (as opposed to only occasionally, slightly) demented. Despite the fact that some of them apparently want to be journalists, none of them actually reads a paper; not even the Indie or the 20p “i”, for God’s sake.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/10/24/campus-confidential-the-group-of-death/feed/ 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/10/13/teaching-ambivalence/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/10/13/teaching-ambivalence/#comments Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:09:17 +0000 Mary-Ann Ochota http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=17461 There's a real ambivalence towards teaching, learning and young people in our society. It's a psychological and social conflict that starts young, and is costing us all.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/10/13/teaching-ambivalence/feed/ 3 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/10/03/campus-confidential-my-first-week-as-a-professor/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/10/03/campus-confidential-my-first-week-as-a-professor/#comments Mon, 03 Oct 2011 05:00:43 +0000 The Professor http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=16901 Our new mystery columnist is a freelance journalist as well as the author of several novels, none of which have sold quite as well as he hoped. Now, in the hope of paying the rent until his agent can sell his latest masterpiece, he has taken up a new position: lecturer at a prestigious University...]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/10/03/campus-confidential-my-first-week-as-a-professor/feed/ 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2010/11/26/clinical-teacher-preparation-will-not-make-better-teachers/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2010/11/26/clinical-teacher-preparation-will-not-make-better-teachers/#comments Fri, 26 Nov 2010 12:31:22 +0000 Dr Alex Standish http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=6547 Presenting his Education White Paper to the House of Commons last Thursday, Education Secretary Michael Gove announced that he would be shifting teacher-training from HE institutions into schools as part of his “radical reforms” of the education sector.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2010/11/26/clinical-teacher-preparation-will-not-make-better-teachers/feed/ 3