They say a week in politics is a long time, and if there was ever a week to prove that right, it was probably this week. A prime minister – less famous for her progressive policy making than her backstabbing – has now been deposed herself, and Australia’s brief flirtation with a female PM seems…
Blog
Educational Bingo
Twitter’s great. I’ll start off by saying that. I think it has potential for professional development that is completely different to traditional models. There’s an element of active decision making, a culture of sharing and a general willingness to reach out and share with others on Twitter that I have not often experienced in other…
Australia, Finland and the usual arguments…
For as long as I’ve been a teacher, both in Australia and the UK, the Finnish system of education has long been held up as the ‘gold standard’ of what education should look like. Especially in the UK, but more recently in Australia, a lot of teachers, educators and journalists are insisting that there are…
I’m not really sure what that was…
Most nights that you go out in the city inevitably turn out to be dull. Once the alcohol induced fog clears, and you begin to tot up the cost of all those drinks that seemed like such a great idea at 2am in the morning, you realize that you were probably better off staying at…
The RSA AGM
The RSA A+NZ, and especially its chairperson, Paul, have been an invaluable support for me during the Justice Citizens program. I remember speaking to Paul early in 2010 about a possible 3Ps proposal at Yot’s Cafe near the Australian Maritime Museum. It was a really formative chat – the ideas that Paul suggested then really…
Machinations and Plots
I probably shouldn’t write this post, as I’m sure it will get back to people eventually, but I’m still going to write about it because… well, because I want to have a chance to have my say. I’ve been a union representative at my school for the last two years. I stepped into the position…
Why isn’t this in the news?
I was speaking at lunch the other day with a few people about the parlous state of the Australian media – I was horrified (again) that the Daily Telegraph had decided to replace its back page with even more advertising, as well as more coverage of the State of Origin, where they rather memorably accused…
2013 Federal Election – Fait Accompli
We all know that the 2013 election will result in a landslide victory to the Liberal – National Coalition. Depending on who you read, there will be less Labor members left in the House of Representatives than there are members of the Australian Cricket team. This government has been the most dysfunctional government in World….
The Tragedy and Farce of Charity
I watched, with interest, an RSA Animate Presentation featuring Slavoj Zizek about the role of charity. It was pretty provoking, although that in itself is not surprising considering Slavoj’s previous work. I first saw Slavoj on Q and A a while back, and remember being inspired not just by a man who was unashamedly Marxist…
An example of casual racism or two…
I know it’s a common saying that children are less innocent than we often suppose, but I think there’s an addendum to that saying. It should really be, no children are truly innocent, and certainly, no child is innocent of the role of power in their lives. After all, a child’s first real memories and…