Media appearances

Radio and TV stations and programmes in which I’ve been asked to take part as a commentator or interviewee.

  • Child Neglect — Is the problem getting worse?

    A new report suggests that child neglect is a growing problem. A new report from Action for Children suggests that we’ve got a worsening situation on our hands. Health professionals, nursery teachers, midwives, doctors, primary teachers and social workers are reporting a rise in child neglect. But what precisely are the indications that a child is […]

  • Should parents take their children out of school during school time?

    I argued on BBC Breakfast that they should not. I cited the example of ‘Katie’ (not the pupils’ real name) who had missed weeks of school because her parents were taking her out regularly of school during term time, going on cheap holidays. They lied to the school and said that she was ill. There […]

  • Should parents pay for solicitors to help them get the school of their choice?

    Emphatically not! You’re far better off reading a school’s admission criteria very carefully and reading books like my Working The System. A BBC investigation has revealed that parents are paying lawyers thousands of pounds to get into the school of their choice. I appeared on BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio 5 Live and explained that […]

  • Should a teacher be sacked for writing about his/her pupils?

    Leonora Rustamova was suspended from her post as English teacher this January because she wrote a book about her pupils. At first glance, it sounds monstrously unfair: a teacher tries to motivate the disaffected teenage boys in her class by writing a book about them. Initially, her headteacher was very supportive of the plan, but then had […]

  • The uses and abuses of jargon

    Have we gone mad with the way we use jargon? A sentence used by the police in this article suggests so. I appeared on the Steve Nolan show, talking about this, partly defending jargon. In some cases, it can be helpful. For example, the label “Special Educational Needs” is jargony, but it’s far better than […]

  • Should parents be banned from sports’s days?

    This is a tricky one. Sports’ days are about children doing their best on track and field and not about parents soaking up reflected glory. One headteacher has done exactly this though: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1197284/Schools-bar-parents-sports-day–paedophiles.html?ITO=1490 I appeared on BBC Breakfast explaining why the head had good reasons to do this, given the horrific climate that the internet […]

  • Should schools ban short skirts?

    I think they should. At the moment, there’s a bit of an epidemic of short skirts sweeping through the land far faster than the swine-flu virus. Some of this attire doesn’t actually deserve the name of ‘skirt’, ‘belt’ would be more appropriate! Quite frankly, I don’t think that the girls wearing them are aware of the negative […]

  • The profound trivia of Dad’s Army

    My transcript of the piece I read on Radio 4’s Off The Page –19th June 2009    Over ten years ago, the stress of my teaching job became so intense that I would suffer terrible dreams every night and regularly waking up screaming. Once awake, I would obsess about everything that had gone wrong and […]

  • Silent Voices, Still Lives — A Radio Lecture

    Welcome and thank you for coming. My talk is entitled ‘Silent Voices, Still Lives’ and focuses upon the importance of teaching communication skills properly in schools. It is divided into two parts: firstly, I will look at the issue of excluded children where problems of communication are most severe, and then will look more widely […]

  • Is passion all that matters in education?

    Is stirring a pupil’s passion all that matters in edcation? Ken Robinson’s new book, The Element, suggests that this is at the heart of getting the best out of children. I appeared on Radio 3’s Nighwaves arguing a little differently. I said that if teachers just tell pupils to follow their passions then they could […]

  • Is 1984 the most influential novel ever written?

    Emphatically not! Orwell’s last novel has not survived the test of time. I know this through the hard graft of having to teach the dreary novel to reluctant Year 10 and 11 students. There are a number of serious flaws with the book. First and foremost, the plot is predictable and relatively undramatic: a miserable […]

  • Is passion all that matters in education?

    Is stirring a pupil’s passion all that matters in edcation? Ken Robinson’s new book, The Element, suggests that this is at the heart of getting the best out of children. I appeared on Radio 3’s Nightwaves arguing a little differently. I said that if teachers just tell pupils to follow their passions then they could […]

  • Are A-Levels still the gold standard they used to be?

    My answer is a resounding “No!” Several things have made it a lot easier to get an A grade: The Assessment Objectives: if pupils tick the right boxes, they’ll get a good grade Re-takes Less stringent marking. The old English A Level was a difficult exam to get an A grade in. Overwhelmingly, you had to write […]

  • Off The Page — Know Your Place

    The first rule: look the part. This was my first mistake I made as a student teacher. I walked into my first ever lesson with my hair down to my waist, unwashed for three years, and expected to be taken seriously. No one listened to a word a word I said. Second rule: don’t pick […]

  • “You are an arrogant, young man”

    It was the ‘young’ part I liked the best. Peregrine Worsthorne was not very happy with me. We were sitting around microphones in a Radio 4 studio, talking about ‘Knowing Your Place’ for the lunchtime Radio 4 programme ‘Off The Page’. I started being provocative because the debate was becoming rather cosy. I said that […]