September 02, 2005
Intelligent Falling
After Pastafarianism (flying spaghetti monsterism) we now have ‘Intelligent Falling’:
“Things fall not because they are acted upon by some gravitational force, but because a higher intelligence, ‘God’ if you will, is pushing them down,” said Gabriel Burdett, who holds degrees in education, applied Scripture, and physics from Oral Roberts University.
www.theonion.com/content/node/39512
Posted by Simon Holledge at 06:16 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
August 25, 2005
Two-thirds oppose faith schools
According to an ICM/Guardian survey, 64 per cent of people in Britain oppose government funding for faith schools.
“Schools play a crucial role in integrating different communities and the growth of faith schools poses a real threat to this.” Barry Sheerman (Commons Education Committee)
www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,1554592,00.html?gusrc=rss
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4175834.stm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 08:18 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 18, 2005
Seven words you can't say in kindergarten
There are the seven words you can’t say in kindergarten (in the States and maybe here in the future). Nat Torkington’s children explain:
william.torkington.com/movies/20050716-7words.mov
[Thanks to Plasticbag.org]
Posted by Simon Holledge at 09:41 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 21, 2005
Feed Me Better petition
Feed Me Better, the campaign to take cheap junk food out of the schools, is asking people to sign their online petition. About 170,000 have signed so far.
Posted by Simon Holledge at 06:22 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 04, 2005
Salmond protests visa fees
At last! The SNP have joined protests against the exorbitant visa fees for foreign students (see also 26 October and 8 February).
As Alex Salmond points out, the fees contradict the official ‘Fresh Talent’ policy of encouraging students to stay on in Scotland after their course have finished.
The SNP site also gives some useful figures for the number of foreign students at Scottish Universities: the total is about 7,200.
www.snp.org/index_hires.php?pageName=news/newsdetail.php?newsID=2847
Posted by Simon Holledge at 04:32 PM | TrackBack
March 02, 2005
Handhelds in Kenya
For a long time I have been enthusiastic about the possibilities of using handheld computers in education, particularly with younger children, so I was delighted to read about this project by EduVision at a primary school on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya.
It is being run in association with UNESCO, the Kenyan Ministry of Education etc.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4304375.stm
UPDATE 29 July 2005
Some critical comments have been made about the project.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/4727617.stm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 06:17 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 27, 2005
Decline in language studies
It’s strange, the world is getting smaller, we communicate more, we travel more, we do more international business - and yet we are making less effort to study foreign languages.
The number of undergraduates studying foreign languages in Britain has fallen by 15 per cent in the last six years according to a study by the University Council of Modern Languages cited by the Guardian.
What are the reasons for this?
www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1424772,00.html?gusrc=rss
Posted by Simon Holledge at 08:38 PM | TrackBack
February 10, 2005
Scottish history neglected
Kevin Schofield in the Scotsman has an article about the neglect of Scottish history in schools. We hear much the same about Scottish literature, geography, languages etc.
Can those in charge develop a curriculum balancing general education, specialization and the teaching of skills? The prevailing weaknesses of British secondary education, over the past 40 years or so, have surely been over-specialization and inadequate skill acquisition.
news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=126992005
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:30 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
February 08, 2005
Foreign students to be hit again II
Visa renewal fees for foreign students will rise to 250 pounds (postal application) and 500 pounds (application in person) from April, it was announced yesterday.
I wrote about this on 26 October 2004 and have nothing much to add now. This policy is not in Scotland’s interests. If I were a foreign student, I wouldn’t want to come to Scotland and pay visa fees at this level.
Back in October I asked if the SNP were paying attention to this issue. Regrettably the answer seems to be no.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/4244627.stm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:57 AM | TrackBack
December 24, 2004
EDM 281: visa charges
I wrote before about Home Office proposals to raise visa renewal fees (Foreign Students to be hit again, 26 October 2004). I also contacted my then MP Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh North and Leith). I am delighted that he and a number of other MPs have signed Early Day Motion Number 281, which is as follows:
“That this House notes existing charges for international student visas and the Home Office consultation on the review of charges for immigration applications; further notes that international students contribute five billion pounds a year to the UK economy; believes that international students make an invaluable contribution to student life, education and research at UK universities; further believes that increasing visa charges will place a greater financial burden on international students and hinder the Prime Minister’s initiative to attract more international students to the UK; and calls on the Government to grant an exemption from visa charges to international students studying in the UK.”
Unfortunately only Michael Weir has signed for the SNP. This is disappointing. Regrettably it’s an example of the patchy coverage that the party give to many issues. We should avoid the temptation to cherry-pick popular issues Liberal-Democrat style. It would be preferable to monitor each and every conceivable issue in order to respond relevantly, intelligently and immediately when they surface one by one in the media. We cannot have too much political exposure.
edm.ais.co.uk/weblink/html/motion.html/ref=281
Posted by Simon Holledge at 01:12 AM | TrackBack
November 13, 2004
Jemima Speed and visa renewal charges
The SNP have taken up the case of the young Australian, Jemima Speed, who has been refused permission to stay in Scotland by the Home Office, but unfortunately they still haven’t looked at the issue of the proposed steep increase in visa renewal fees, especially for foreign students (Skakagrall, 26 October 2004).
The SNP need to tackle this problem systematically, not just highlight the odd personal case for a splash on a newspaper.
www.snp.org/index_hires.php?pageName=news/newsdetail.php?newsID=2595
Posted by Simon Holledge at 05:56 PM | TrackBack
October 26, 2004
Foreign students to be hit again I
The Home Office intend to raise visa renewal (‘Leave to remain’) fees for international students to as much as 380 or 495 pounds. (The lower price is for postal applications, the higher for personal ones.) The charges will also apply to highly skilled migrant workers and some other categories.
Until August 2003 there were no charges. After that date fees of 150 or 250 pounds were demanded, in theory to cover the cost of processing applications. (This was dubious because the new system introduced written application documents which didn’t exist before the charges.)
Basically the government is now suggesting that the full cost of processing applications, hearing appeals and enforcing visa extension refusals should all be paid for out of the renewal fee. In other words, bona fide foreign students will have pay the costs involved in processing visa offenders.
The period granted for both visas on entry and renewals is at the discretion of the immigration officer. This means that the Home Office will be able to maximize their income by reducing the period of stay.
Arrangements like these - which will be imposed following a Home-office-style nominal consultation - make complete nonsense of Jack McConnell’s Fresh Talent initiative to give visa extensions to graduates.
Are the SNP listening?
Edinburgh University International Office has published a good explanation of what is involved:
www.ed.ac.uk/internat/HomeOfficequestionnaire.html
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:25 AM | TrackBack
September 24, 2004
Scottish studies, not just Scottish history
The SNP conference has called for Scottish history to be taught in schools. Amazing that it isn’t. This reminds me of the situation in third world countries (Hong Kong is a good example) where education is focused on the cultures of western countries and students know little about their own history, literature, geography etc.
However teaching just history is not the answer, students need a general knowledge of Scotland including the natural sciences, prehistory, literature etc., and above all they should get out of the classroom and actually learn about the country from direct experience on field trip projects.
news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=324&id=1117672004
Posted by Simon Holledge at 11:45 AM
September 10, 2004
Why another university campus for Edinburgh?
Today I read that Scotland’s first new university campus of the 21st century (for Queen Margaret University College) will be built at Craighall, by Musselburgh, on the edge of Edinburgh.
I don’t understand this. Why does Edinburgh need a new university campus? Why not put it in Perth or Inverness where a university could contribute something new to local life and the local economy?
After the controversy about relocating an unwilling Scottish Natural Heritage to inverness, I can’t see the logic of creating a new, much larger institution in Edinburgh. Can anyone explain this to me?
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3644494.stm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 11:45 PM | Comments (1)
August 17, 2004
Salmond/Sturgeon on the school curriculum
According to a press release dated 16 August 2004: "Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon have today proposed changes to the school curriculum to include citizenship classes and the teaching of enterprise skills and Scottish economic history. They have pledged that if elected to be leader and deputy leader of the SNP, they will enter into discussions with teaching unions and parent groups, with a view to establishing a broad-based campaign for these reforms."
My comments:
Rather than citizenship classes (which sound exactly like the Blunkett/Crick flag-waving, anthem-singing classes for immigrants) a basic course on political institutions would help young people understand how to deal with local and national government and take part in democratic processes - not least by voting!
Rather than emphasize Scottish economic history, Scottish Studies as a whole should be taught in schools, including Scottish history (which is surely where economic, social and political history should be taught) also geology and prehistory, geography, and environmental studies. The broader the better, and whenever possible the studies should be linked to fieldwork.
Teaching 'enterprise skills' does sound like a good idea, but I am not sure how this would be accomplished in practice.
The major educational challenge that Scotland faces (as in all other countries) is to adapt education to the post-Information Revolution world - a world in in which paper and ink, books, passive, class-based studying and a lot of writing by hand are replaced by keyboards, online resources, individual interactive learning and multimedia output.
The SNP should be looking at educational projects in the States and other countries where children have been given their own laptop and handheld computers to develop creative projects.
Posted by Simon Holledge at 02:01 PM