-
NQT boot camp: five things to remember about setting up a classroom
In the first part of her summer advice series for newly qualified teachers, teacher educator Sarah Wright shares her tips for preparing and creating a learning environment. The excitement of finally getting your own classroom can be overwhelming. Whether you have been hoarding supplies all through your PGCE or are about to embark on a summer…
-
Why cutting Parent Governors out of schools matters
Professor John Diamond (Director of the University’s Institute for Public Policy) comments on the Government’s White Paper on Education: The significance of the many changes announced by the Government recently will be taken up by a number of groups over the next few months. Clearly the headlines have focused on the way teachers are educated…
-
Why collaboration is necessary and learning to work across boundaries should be compulsory
Professor John Diamond (Director of the University’s I4P) makes the case for working across boundaries: Edge Hill’s Festival of Ideas brings together a number of shared themes and ideas. One of them – working across the different professional or discipline boundaries that can inhibit good practice, is reflected in a number of talks and workshops.…
-
The importance of school governance and accountability
Professor John Diamond (Director of the University’s I4P) points to the glaring policy and practice contradictions in this recent announcement: The news that a national academy chain is to drop its school based governing bodies and opt for a combination of centralised decision making, whilst having local school ‘ambassadors’, raises a number of really important…
-
Why all universities should consider a Festival of Ideas
Professor John Diamond (Director of the University’s I4P) makes the case for expanding Festivals of Ideas in Universities: This week sees the start of the Edge Hill’s Festival of Ideas – Imagining Better. It is like many such initiatives – it draws on an eclectic range of events from public lectures, to films, to drama…
-
The importance of executive education programmes for public sector managers, and why ‘silo’ thinking should be challenged
Professor John Diamond (Director of the University’s I4P), reflects on the need for executive education programmes: A key point I want to make from the outset is a declaration of interest – I am the co-editor of an international journal which is committed to publishing essays and research papers from academics and practitioners engaged in…
-
As the TV Election dominates, what are the local issues?
The TV election debate is , as to be expected, shaped and defined by the personalities and the ‘incidents’ as interpreted by the media commentators. And, of course, the political leaders (to a greater or lesser extent) play up to this. But at a local level there is another election campaign taking place. It seems…
-
What about the issues that don’t figure in the election campaign, but matter ?
The ways in which the formal election campaign and its associated conversations miss out the issues that touch most people, are ones I will come back to over the coming weeks. It’s important to start though by recognising that the shared conversations between the politicians and the media rule out a whole series of voices…
