June 2011

  • Like the poor, will the Fafferati always be with us

    A new neologism (tautology, perhaps) this morning.  Catching up with Simon Carr over breakfast, I came upon his coining of " fafferati " which he defines as that "wide conspiracy of over-educated, self-soaping professionals who don't know what to do...

  • School Food Mistrust

    The taxpayer, generous to a fault, has just wished £4.3m on the non-departmental public body the School Food Trust [SFT] for its work in 2011/12.  The detailed remit letter from Mr Gove is worth a read, especially if you were...

  • Discussion Groups in the Neolithic

    As I noted in the last post, during my couple of days on the Isle of Wight last week, there was some discussion of ARUP's 10 Winning strategies for the ecological age.  These were written to stimulate a consideration of...

  • Lets hear it for Edgy Co-existence

    Another stimulating couple of days with the Ellen MacArthur team on the Isle of Wight working with a richly diverse group of people from across interests, disciplines and sectors, all of whom are working with the Foundation on the idea...

  • History made today

    A question for you: When was the last time that anyone interested in sustainability and learning was invited to do anything as significant as this: A visit to the Paris studios of RTL - France’s most listened-to radio station -...

  • And so to Glastonbury

    Well, not quite.  On Westbury station early this morning for the London train, but just for a micro second the thought occurred to me, maybe I should join the throng on the platform and go to Glastonbury instead — and...

  • Science in the Formal Curriculum – and Sustainability – 3

    This is the last of 3 postings about the relationship between the school science curriculum and sustainability.  The story begins here. As I have argued, this linkage between science knowledge, understanding and sustainability does not need to be forced as...

  • Science in the Formal Curriculum – and Sustainability – 2

    This is the second of 3 postings about the relationship between the school science curriculum and sustainability.  The story begins here. A rationale for why the study of science needs to be a core aspect of young people’s experience at...

  • Science in the Formal Curriculum – and Sustainability – 1

    This is the first of 3 postings today about sustainability and the science curriculum.  They are designed to be read in sequence.  Any literature cited will be set out at the end of post 3. It seems very evident that...

  • Make them customise that email

    In the hugely unlikely event that I ever become a government minister, I'm sure I'd find myself impressed if hundreds or thousands of people had bothered to send me an email saying I should do / not do / start...