Category Archives: T&L

Tubbs, N. (2004) Heidegger: Being and Time. in Philosophy’s Higher Education. Springer. pp49-72 Well, this was bloody hard to get my head around. I probably didn’t come anywhere close, but I think that’s ok, because what I did get from … Continue reading →

Anderson, R (2010) The Idea of A University Today. Anderson’s article outlines the key events in and perspectives on UK HE that have led us to where we are today. It connected some things I was already aware of, and … Continue reading →

I was getting depressed reading all that stuff about neoliberalism and performativity; not because these phenomena are new to me, rather because I hadn’t grasped how established this body of literature was, and hence how divorced policy research must be … Continue reading →

…I just hit one. I’ve been reading some more stuff on the history and context of UK HE (Anderson 2010), plus a long paper explaining neoliberalism and the knowledge economy (Olssen & Peters 2005), and trying to write some coherent thoughts … Continue reading →

Given the key message of Padraig Hogan’s book, and the papers I have read over the last week critiquing and explaining education policy, I was curious to discover the mechanisms through which academic research can inform education policy, and the … Continue reading →

Ball, S. (2003) The teacher’s soul and the terrors of performativity. Journal of Education Policy, 18 (2) p215-228 In this article Stephen Ball explains how market, managerialism and performativity are replacing professionalism and bureaucracy in education, making the public sector … Continue reading →

What does the word education mean? Where does it come from? I came across the word educe the other day, which means ‘to lead out’ – from the Latin ducere – ‘to lead’. Exchange the prefix ‘e’ for ‘de’ and … Continue reading →

I’m trying to get my thoughts straight on finishing Hogan’s New Significance of Learning, alongside a 2006 article I came across in Pedagogies by a chap called Michael Apple who writes well and says a lot of things I agree … Continue reading →

This morning, on the bus, I finished Chapter 9 of Hogan’s New Significance of Learning, which draws together the arguments developed in previous chapters for education as a practice and tradition in its own right. It firmly sets Hogan’s view apart from … Continue reading →

I’ve been reflecting on the workshop we had on 14 March with Andrew Davis on brain-based learning. This was very much focused on what I like to call ‘neurodiversity’; specific cognitive differences that are often termed ‘difficulties’ or ‘disabilities’. I am reminded … Continue reading →

It’s been a very interesting week, reading-wise. In addition to the prescribed papers on assessment, I’ve been following my own path with Hannah Arendt (via the Times Higher) and Ron Barnett’s 2004 paper Learning for an Unknown Future. I’m also … Continue reading →

Hogan, P. (2010) The New Significance of Learning: Imagination’s Heartwork. Routledge. I am SO happy about this book… I feel that is affirming everything I’ve been writing and thinking about in the last few weeks/months! Hogan opens by acknowledging that education … Continue reading →

Barrow, R. and Woods, R. (2006) An Introduction to Philosophy of Education. 4th edition. Routledge. My last blog post was just a warm-up… there are lots of other thoughts I’ve been chewing over while reading the first half of this … Continue reading →

Here are some thoughts on getting halfway through An Introduction to Philosophy of Education by Robin Barrow & Ronald Woods. We looked at a chapter of this book last term and I really enjoyed it so I thought I’d buy … Continue reading →

The recent increase in my engagement with politics has coincided with reading certain texts on society and social justice. It’s difficult to say how one might be influencing the other; I suspect it’s a two-way thing. I’m this far (pink … Continue reading →

Dye, V. L. (1999) Is Educational Theory being Valued by Student Teachers in Further & Higher Education? Journal of Vocational Education and Training. 51 (2). I picked this article to read because it seemed to relate to my questions about … Continue reading →