Humans are born less developed compared to other creatures, physically and cognitively. The baby is dependent on the mother for many years. By comparison, kittens can fend in a couple of weeks after birth. Some make it, some do not. …

I spoke at last week’s premier Festival of Education. I had some humbling comments after my talk face to face and on Twitter. Humbling firstly because they pointed out that not many actually came to the talk, but humbling too as I was asked whether I could put the lecture…

I lap up tours. Whenever travelling, in the UK or abroad, tours can provide an authentic insight into places past and present, given through the lens of a local. But what if the stories on multiple tours clash and confuse, rather than clarify? Three tours in three days in Israel…

Which are the bucket list trips everyone needs to do at least once? Encounter a rare bird in The Galapagos? See sunrise over Taj Mahal? See sunset on a Kenyan Safari? All worthwhile journeys perhaps. But to learn so much about humanity, our past and possible future, there’s no more…

When Russia invaded Ukraine, a common refrain in the media was that it was the first war in Europe since the Second World War. This carelessly discounted the deaths of hundreds of thousands during the collapse of the Yugoslavia in the 1990s including the genocide against 8,000 Bosnian men and…

We are on the fourth education secretary of 2022, but one feature of our schools persists: the narrow education schools provide students. The impoverished conception of education is not primarily the fault of schools but the wider societal context in which they operate. Michael Sandel in the Tyranny of Merit…

This article is part of a project I am undertaking: Around the World in 80 Schools. Get in touch for further details. In a capital of such cultural and historical esteem as Athens, visiting sacred sites like the Acropolis is obligatory. But appreciation is partly dependent on background knowledge. While…

Black History Month has come to an end. The month, having been imported from the USA, started in the UK in 1987 in part in response to the narrow history that was taught in schools and the lack of wider public awareness about the contribution of black people to British…

Does mediocre and jarring service matter? I could get over the pang of irritation at being kettled at Stansted Airport railway station, where, despite passengers now focusing on their journey’s next leg, over-zealous inspectors were in full steam. The queue tail lengthened, the irritability rose, as between narrow barriers, inspectors…