Outside In

Education

Cultural Literacy and Scripture

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MM

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Mar 18, 2018

A new piece arguing that any desire for cultural literacy must include a commitment to scriptural literacy too. To deny our children this is to deny them a stake in the aesthetic, ethical and literary landscape into which they are born, and that remains their rightful inheritance. Without this, our…
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Education

The Conservative Case for Education – Review

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MM

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Jan 13, 2018

This year saw the publication of the Conservative Case for Education by Nicholas Tate. The book is well worthy of your time, even if it fails to achieve its stated ambition of providing a (small ‘c’) conservative vision of education. As I said in my review for ‘Schools Week’, There…
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Culture

Too Dumb to Vote?

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MM

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Jan 13, 2018

Below is a provocation piece delivered at the Battle of Ideas, on the panel ‘Too Dumb to Vote?‘ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ It wasn’t supposed…
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Culture, Education

Socially Mobile?

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Jan 13, 2018

A little while back I wrote a blog post reflecting on some of my experiences of social mobility, teasing out some of the effects that have received rather less attention within a political environment that has held commitment to social mobility as a staple of virtuous and socially concerned politics.…
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Education

Northern Education Forum

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MM

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Dec 16, 2017

Northern education is talked about frequently. Northern educators, on the other hand, are talked to rather less frequently. We are regularly told about the deficiencies of the education we offer; we are less regularly listened to about the challenges that shape the education we offer. This is unjust. We do…
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Education

Marking and Curriculum

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Oct 26, 2017

Below I have outlined some of the changes we have made that some have shown an interest in over the course of the year. Whilst relatively brief (I will try to develop full length posts on each as further reflections/evaluations points occur), I hope it might prove of interest in…
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Culture

Notes from Nowhere

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Aug 18, 2017

I think I was 14. It was an English lesson, as I recall. And the words were delivered with the hint of a smirk. ‘Well of course, the Sun has a reading age of eight.’ Innocuous enough. And I didn’t know if it was true, nor much care. The truth…
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Education

Forming the Curriculum

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Aug 3, 2017

Curriculum (re-)design is again in fashion, as inspectors and inspected alike recognise what should have always been obvious: that what we teach is equally as fundamental, likely more so, than how we teach. Cue a flurry of activity from leaders and middle-leaders, getting back to fundamentals and looking once again…
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Education

Hirsch, Secularism and the Catholic Curriculum

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Apr 29, 2017

In a previous blog (‘Contesting the Canon’), I explored concerns regarding the potential (anti-Catholic) partiality of the canon, but also the overarching effectiveness of the core knowledge curriculum for achieving its principal goal of cultural literacy. In sum, I suggested that whilst I support and advocate the idea of a…
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Education

Contesting the Canon

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Apr 11, 2017

The face plate opposite adorns the tomb of Philip Howard, who died in 1786 while in the service of the King of Sardinia. It is a moving tribute and speaks of the earnest desire of an Englishman to serve his country, even whilst precluded from doing so. His patriotism was…
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Hello,

Welcome to Outside In, a blog first started back in 2009 and which has been revived to collect together the various things I have been involved with more recently. You’ll find some newer stuff that has generally appeared elsewhere, my old archive of work on education, politics, and culture, as well as a few other tidbits too. Take a look around!

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“I am a Christian… so that I do not expect ‘history’ to be anything but a ‘long defeat’ — though it contains (and in a legend may contain more clearly and movingly) some samples or glimpses of final victory“

J.R.R. Tolkien

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