December 2016

2017 will see the 40th anniversary of the Tbilisi conference and declaration which, at the time, we seen by many to be full of promise for a better future.  We shall no doubt be urged to remember Tbilisi and celebrate...

Peru's education minister is in trouble just when the country's PISA scores have risen sharply.  The Economist called it a "small act of national suicide".  It's article begins: "FOR most of this century, Peru’s economy has shone: income per person has doubled in...

The education of girls is a key priority within the sustainable development goals that the UK has signed up to.  It has been a recent priority for DfID as well, as part of the UK's international aid programme.  A recent...

The following was contributed to an EAUC forum by Dave Krugman: I think the challenges that universities are having in cutting absolute targets whilst increasing estate size brings up the global conflict between growth and climate change.  Since we cannot...

This is what the Wellcome Collection says about its new exhibition: Making Nature — how we see animals ... The question of how humans relate to other animals has captivated philosophers, anthropologists, ethicists and artists for centuries. This exhibition will...

I see that Learning for Sustainability Scotland's AGM will have an Sustainable Development Goal theme.  The focus is: Transforming our World: Responding to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals through Education It's on Thursday 19 January 2017 [1300 to 1630] at Moray House...

To its great credit, BBC Radio has just had a series of programmes celebrating Alison McGregor, and the pioneering feminist work of Edinburgh's Fair Intellectual Club in the early 18th Century.  Forget Ada Lovelace; it's time to celebrate Alison McG,...

As, on my good days, I'm a liberal internationalist, I read Timothy Garton Ash's piece in The Gurdian: Liberal internationalists have to own up: we left too many people behind, with more than passing interest – as I do with most of...

I've been reading A joint vision for Secondary and Higher Education for All in Europe.  This is a report on the SDGs from a formidable grouping, the Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions (OBESSU), the European Students’ Union (ESU),...

Monday 5th December was the International Day of Soil.  Tuesday 6th December was the day the latest PISA results were released.  From Soil to Toil.  UK schools hover around 15th to 20th in the international league.  England does best (if...