Opinion
Here I comment on a wide range of issues from education to politics, the arts and more. I welcome lively and opinionated debate, so please leave your comments.
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Five key lessons about S.E. Hinton’s ‘The Outsiders’ and publishing
This article explores how and why outsiders, in the form of writers, readers and texts, came to shape the publishing industry, particularly Young Adult novels.
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Will Labour’s policy of adding VAT to private school fees improve educational standards?
This blog post briefly explores the benefits of reducing spending upon private education and boosting spending on public education. It includes an interview I did on LBC’s Iain Dale programme, December 2024.
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Entering Viola’s Room: four key lessons I’ve learnt from Punchdrunk’s Immersive Theatre
An article which explores 4 key things I’ve learnt from experiencing Punchdrunk’s Immersive Theatre events.
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Four ways ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is therapeutic — and two ways it is not!
This blog post explores the therapeutic effects of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, and its non-therapeutic effects as well.
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Two reasons why school trips go wrong
This blog explores the issues involved with school trips, considering the reasons why problems happen. It follows an interview I did about the matter on Talk TV, December 2024.
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Towards boundary crossing: primary and secondary school teachers teaching creative writing and its redrafting
This academic article, written by Professor Tom Dobson and I, explores the research we did looking at primary and secondary school teachers attitudes towards creative writing and redrafting. This is a rare piece of research which compares primary and secondary school teachers’ approaches to teaching creative writing. It shows that primary school teachers can be formulaic in the way they teach creative writing, using product approaches. However, in secondary schools the picture is different: teachers, particularly those, who are writers themselves, give students more agency in redrafting and shaping their writing. This indicates how professional development should involve primary and secondary school teachers in dialogue with one another to cross boundaries of practice.
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The British Library, research and creative writing
Creative writing can be used to help people engage with the British Library and its collection. MA students led members of the public through the Library, inviting creative responses to its archive and exhibitions.
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What can the opera ‘Carmen’ teach us about domestic violence?
A blog written for my publishers, Blue Door Press, which explores how and why the opera ‘Carmen’ can be seen as a critique of violence and masculinity.
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Four reasons there is a Connected Curriculum at Goldsmiths
Why bring all the students at a university together to learn critical thinking and research skills?
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Why are three in ten teachers bringing in food for hungry pupils?
58% of households in the bottom fifth of incomes have cut down on or skipped meals, or gone hungry because there was not enough money for food. That is 3.4 million households. Poverty-stricken households would form one of the biggest cities in the UK.
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Inspiring Creative Writing and Learning: Multidisciplinary Approaches
How and why creative writing can be improved by a multidisciplinary approach including freewriting, drawing and art, writing letters to different audiences (even imaginary ones)
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Parklife Project: Students’ Creative Advocacy for Local Parks
This article explores the research primary school pupils carried out in order to improve their local park in east London. It shows how they produced creative outputs such as pictures, models and poems which enabled them to both research their local park and advocate for change.
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Four reasons we should all learn about Green Careers (+ some top job hunting tips!)
A recount of the Green Careers event that I co-ran (with Widening Participation, the Horniman Museum, and Lewisham’s Young People’s Climate Network) in May 2024 at Goldsmiths University.
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Of Note- Four Ways Taking Notes have Enriched My Life
Notes have helped me remember; they’re my safe space; they’re therapeutic; and they’ve liberated my imagination
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Four ways education can make the world more socially just
Abstract or Description This article enumerates four ways that education can make the world more socially just, drawing upon the expertise of the educationalist in the Department of Educational Studies at Goldsmiths. Reference: Gilbert, Francis. 2024. Four ways education can make the world more socially just. Educational Studies blog, [Article] TextSocial Justice Feb 2024.pdf – Accepted VersionAvailable […]
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‘I need you to jump out of your seat and go plant more flowers!’
What do primary school children in Lambeth want for their local parks? It’s February 2024, and a cold, rainy morning outside Hillmead Primary School, but inside their assembly hall, the Year 3/4 (8-9 year olds) pupils are happy and engaged. Some of their classmates are delivering speeches about what they want from their local parks […]
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Why do children misbehave in school? Here are 5 reasons.
I appeared on Vanessa Feltz’s Talk TV show discussing the misbehaviour of children in school. I enumerated these reasons: To learn more about this topic, it’s worth reading this BERA blog.
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Four reasons why children are being excluded from school
An article which explores the reasons why children are excluded from school.
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Aesthetic Learning, Creative Writing and English Teaching
‘Aesthetic learning’ can be helpful for English teachers, because we are all ‘aesthetic learners’: we learn to appreciate the qualities of the worlds we inhabit, whether actual or virtual.
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Decolonising Creative Writing
You can access the PowerPoint for this lecture here. Please do not publish it without first gaining my consent. References •Begum, N., & Saini, R. (2019). Decolonising the Curriculum. Political Studies Review, 17(2), 196-201. •Crinson, M. (2003) Modern Architecture and the End of Empire. (Aldershot: Ashgate 2003) •Evaristo, B. (2020) The Long Form Patriarchs, and […]