In this article we explore our collaborative practices, since 2020, in the design and facilitation of a distinctive form of research circle aimed at 'fostering community, democracy and dialogue', which has been informed by, but distinct from, those first developed by Swedish adult educators. We ask how our work and its particular form of…

This article embodies a kind of backward travelling by revisiting the history of workers' education in a mining community as part of our contemporary struggle to reinvigorate notions of the common good and popular education. Its focus is the complexities of working-class history, disparaged in neoliberal condescension and oversimplified in some…

The intention of government to create a fully academised school system in England, whereby every academy will belong to a large multi-academy Trust (MAT), further erodes community engagement and accountability. This paper illustrates how the policy of academisation has enabled a top-down governance framework to emerge, replacing the power and…

This paper advocates for the integration of the 'sociological imagination', as proposed by the sociologist C. Wright Mills, into pedagogical practices to foster inclusive and democratic classrooms. Departing from narrow evidence-based approaches, it explores how the sociological imagination connects personal experiences with broader societal…

This article considers how to approach the task of developing a curriculum for social justice at a time of planetary and systemic crisis, on the basis that both 'human capital development' and passing on 'the best that has been thought and said' from the past are inadequate responses. If our aim is to create the conditions for human survival and…

We are living and learning in a time of multiple crises with profound implications for every aspect of our lives. Hankering for what we have 'lost' is understandable, but we need to take the opportunity to build something better. This means being wide awake to the realities of crisis and combining a sense of urgency with radical optimism and hope.…

In this polemical piece, we begin by arguing that the Schools White Paper (2022) is framed within, and seeks to promulgate, a right-wing 'regime of truth'. We interrogate the vocabulary of the Paper to reveal and challenge its 'truths' -- about the curriculum and its 'delivery'; the testing and examination regime; behaviour; and initial teacher…

Whether the relationship between policymaking and science has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic remains unclear. The success scientists have enjoyed in dealing with the virus and hopes they will develop a vaccine may increase the status of some experts whilst damaging populist anti-science sentiment. Some may call for increased…

The existence of extremely expensive private schools--about one in 10 of all our schools--presents a major problem for Britain's education system. A new public education system could not coexist with the current, unreformed private school system; therefore, reform is a necessary condition for this project. Private schools are, on the whole, good…

This collection of extracts is drawn from an article originally published in the "Journal of Teaching and Learning" (2012). It provides an important reminder to understand Assessment for Learning in depth, by relating some of its key features to aspects of John Dewey's educational and political philosophy of democratic participation.

The UK's neoliberal polity is undermining the very public institutions it requires to resolve its most pressing collective predicaments, in education especially, with its essential role of enabling society to learn the virtues and practices of cooperative enquiry necessary for remaking the common good. The author begins by understanding the nature…

This is an argument for a new public education for England, but not for a new public school. The focus should be on aims, not structures. We should ensure that all schools (community schools, private schools, academies and religious schools) are working to realise the same nationally determined aims. The national set of aims should be determined…

Currently in the United Kingdom, citizenship provision is meagre and, where it appears in schools, it is heavily biased towards the theoretical. This article acknowledges that citizenship education needs a theoretical aspect but argues that the new public school should complement this with more dynamic, experiential learning. The proposal focuses…

What does a successful public education system look like? How does it function? How long does it take to create and what are its underpinning beliefs and values? The Canadian province of Alberta is the highest-ranking education system in the English-speaking world. What can it teach us about how to construct a successful public education system?…

Democratic public schooling prepares for and models collective self-governance in a complex society where the people are subject to various forms of governmental power. The common or public school is the main way democratic nations prepare their people for participation, yet in modern versions democracy is contested through school curriculum and…