This essay was first published in the Spring 2016 edition of Use of English. I can remember reading Othello for the first time when I was studying A-level, and feeling slightly disappointed and cheated when I read the notes about Shakespeare’s sources for the play. What particularly offended me was how the main female character in the… Read more »
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One of the great things about the Research Ed conferences is that whilst their aim is to promote a sceptical, dispassionate and evidence-based approach to education, at the end of them I always end up feeling irrationally excited and optimistic. The conferences bring together so many great people and ideas that it’s easy to think educational… Read more »
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From The Tenant of Wildfell Hall: Rose, now, at a hint from my mother, produced a decanter of wine, with accompaniments of glasses and cake, from the cupboard and the oak sideboard, and the refreshment was duly presented to the guests. They both partook of the cake, but obstinately refused the wine, in spite of… Read more »
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A colleague at school recently asked me if I knew of any examples of people from hundreds of years ago complaining about ‘the kids of today’. I said I had a couple of ideas and that I would get them to him. After a bit of work on Google (see those 21st century skills in… Read more »
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