OUR DEMOCRACY REQUIRES WE MAKE 2017 THE YEAR OF THE EXPERT

Posted on January 13, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged 2016, 2017, academia, America, american politics, american presidential election, anglo-saxon, arron banks, Boris Johnson, Brexit, british politics, david davis, deliberative democracy, democracy, Donald Trump, education, election, elections, EU, EU ref, EU referendum, Europe, european politics, european union, experts, first world war, gove, higher education, intellect, inter|national, ivan rogers, liam fox, mary beard, Michael Gove, Nigel Farage, participatory democracy, President, society, students, Trump, uk, uk politics, UKIP, universities, university, US, US election, US president, US presidential election, USA.

by Olivia Hanks

All people are of equal value. The same is not true of opinions – and the conflation of the two is leading us down a dark path to ignorance and authoritarian rule.

2016 was not a good year for experts. Michael Gove (that straight-talking man of the people) declared that the British public had “had enough” of them. On the face of it, it seems he was right: in voting to leave the European Union, 17.4 million people defied the advice of specialists in every field from finance to ecology to social cohesion. A few months later, in the best Anglo-Saxon tradition of oneupmanship, the United States voted to be led by a man whose approach to policy is to say things at random and see which gets the biggest cheer.

PROFIT BEFORE PUPILS — SCHOOL’S OUT FOREVER

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national, Student and tagged academies, academy, budget, chief executive, coalition, Community, comprehensive, council-run, democracy, department for education, devolved powers, education, education secretary, george osborne, gove, Green Party, independence, junior doctors, local authority, local council, local elections, lucy powell, Michael Gove, michael wilshaw, national curriculum, national union of teachers, new labour, nicky morgan, ofsted, parents, privatisation, pupils, salary, school, school selection, schools minister, sponsor, state-funded schools, student, students, teachers, Tories, trust, Vix Lowthion, whitehall.

by Cadi Cliff

Wednesday was Budget Day and George Osborne set out plans for a huge shake-up of the schools system. He announced that schools in England must become academies, independent of local authorities, by 2020. It’s farewell to your old council-run comprehensive and hello to corporate sponsored academies — and no, you don’t get a say in the matter.

Along with junior doctor contracts, the majority of the public have not supported the government’s argument on academies — so the Tories have gone and imposed them anyway. Democracy, right?Continue Reading

OF GOVE AND GRAMSCI: A BATTLE FOR HEARTS AND MINDS

Posted on June 8, 2014 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged arts, education, film, gove, inter|national, Michael Gove, national, philosophy, politics, uk.

by Jack Brindelli.

When Michael Gove came out as a fan of Antonio Gramsci – the thinker known in certain sections of academia as “the last acceptable Marxist” – there was of course outrage from the left. “Michael,” they cried, “you have, if you ever read him, missed the point.” But clearly, so did they. Gove, it has become clear over the course of his dismembering of the education system, very much understands Gramsci. Because we, who stand against this government’s wanton destruction of the welfare state, are not fighting a war of facts. As Chavs… author Owen Jones rightly points out on a regular basis: were that the case, after four years of calamitous cuts and pig-headed privatisation, we would surely have won by now.

WHY IT’S A SIN TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged arts, austen, dickens, education, examinations, GCSE, gove, immigration, lee, literature, of mice and men, politics, steinbeck, students, to kill a mockingbird.

by Cadi Cliff.

The reality of UKIP topping the polls in the UK European election with 4,352,051 votes still stings and outrages. Over at Westminster a nationalist Union Flag appears to be flying from our education department as the Tory education secretary Michael Gove proposes a GCSE English Literature syllabus out of the 1940s. We’ve somehow just painted ourselves as purple, nationalistic, and self-important. What happened to looking outward?Continue Reading

gove

OUR DEMOCRACY REQUIRES WE MAKE 2017 THE YEAR OF THE EXPERT

OF GOVE AND GRAMSCI: A BATTLE FOR HEARTS AND MINDS

WHY IT’S A SIN TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

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