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Alfie Kohn
The Case Against “Tougher Standards”
By Alfie Kohn
People who talk about educational “standards” use the term in different ways. Sometimes they’re referring to guidelines for teaching, the implication being that we should change the nature of instruction — a horizontal shift, if you will. (In the case of the standards drafted by the National Council of [...]
Americanisation of Education in the UK
EducationState has discovered that New Labour seems to be adopting wholesale the reforms and innovations implemented in the USA during the 90’s.
This is not new. It has been well-documented that the PR strategy of Mandelson and his cronies was taken almost ad verbatim from the successful focus group-led Clinton Presidential campaign and administration some years [...]
Exam Factories, yet…
Education academic Professor Alan Smithers has said at the recent NUT conference that “unlike previous governments (New Labour) has taken upon itself responsibility for ‘delivery’ through targets and pressure from the centre.
“Schools have been reduced almost to factories for producing test and exam scores.
“But scores are not the product of education in the way that [...]
Bribery in the Classroom
An EducationState member has informed us that he has been accused of taking a bribe.
The incident revolved around gifts being handed to an ESOL lecturer. Another class member has objected to the gifts claiming they were intended to curry favour and secure an exam pass. In this instance, the lecturer is clear that this is [...]