On four types of love in education, and how we can find balance

One of my favourite school mottoes is from Kristin School, Auckland, New Zealand.  It is "Progress with Vision, Integrity and Love". Their choice of words is very interesting. Love is pretty unfashionable at the moment beyond Valentine’s Day, wedding fayres and soppy films. However love in all its forms is very important to the human condition. It…

Social class, educational advantage, and Supernanny

Educational inequality is an important issue for contemporary sociologists. If we are to have a fair and sustainable society, it is important to ensure that all citizens have equal access to resources such as healthcare and education. Whilst this might sound obvious on many levels, it is harder to achieve in practice than you might…

School admissions lotteries – do they work?

Wokingham was a focus of attention this week when councillors decided to change the admissions process to a lottery.  Linked primaries are now abolished there, and instead there are wide catchment areas designed to encourage more of a social mix. This is all supposed to make the admissions system in Wokingham fairer. So will it work?…

School choice, and why some parents will always be in the wrong

In some areas of England this year, as many as 17% of children failed to get into their first choice of school. This post looks at the relationship between school choice and government policy, and why some children will never really be able to succeed within our system. First of all, we need to look at links between…