In this edited transcript of the second round-table discussion convened by "FORUM", four participants explore the nature of 'progressive education' as term, idea and tradition. Robin Alexander, Paula Ayliffe, Madeleine Holt and John Yandell consider whether, in the shadow of currently resurgent traditionalist approaches to pedagogy,…

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.…

Aware of the complexity of the ecological dilemmas his young daughter would have to face in the future, Damon Gameau made a documentary that was an experiment in using solutions as a motivator and an experiment in trying to kick-start the public's imagination. In this article, he discusses the film and the actions that have stemmed from it,…

Schools are a microcosm of society and often tasked with fixing society's ills. We need to explore the purpose of education and the place of educators not only to prepare young people to gain the best qualifications they can but also to challenge ourselves as educators and our young charges to be active citizens with enough knowledge about society…

In this article we develop the notion of 'organising around ideas'. We highlight the ways in which education debate in England has narrowed as traditional spaces for discussion and debate have been closed down. The state now has extraordinary power to shape discourses and frame narratives about the purposes of schooling. Here we argue that we must…

The Department for Education sees school education as responding to what its ministers perceive as the economic demands of the future. They fail to recognise the need for young people to be prepared for the ecological problems on the horizon, such as climate change, economic turmoil and the human consequences of a global shortage of food, water…

The COVID-19 crisis calls for a transformation of education and schools, with the crisis having shown the many roles and purposes they do and can serve. But, the article argues, in the process of transformation there is another valuable experience to draw on: the 'Every Child Matters' policy agenda of the Labour government, including the concept…

The crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic opens an opportunity to reconsider fundamental questions about education and society, and to remake schools as more vital, life-enhancing, humane and creative places dedicated to benefitting the child rather than fitting the child to the system. What is education's purpose? What are the best learning…

This article makes the case that schools have a critical role to play in mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, and that this responsibility should be central to any process of reimagining the role, governance and potential of public education.

Clover Hogan is a 20-year-old climate activist, researcher on turning anxiety into agency from Australia, and the founder of Force of Nature. In this article, she talks about how education is a 'system of rote, churning out worker bees for the hive' and, through education, children are manipulated and scared into abiding by the regulatory rules.…

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…

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…

Does education have a moral purpose, and if so, how can it be defined? In these troubled times, publicly funded schools which are seen to be equitable, inclusive and ethical in their practice have a key role to play in shaping a socially just world. Drawing on the education renewal currently taking place in Scotland and Wales, the author argues…

This article contends that the implementation of government policies is mediated principally by the state, the economy and social class but that these have all changed so markedly since 1945 that education can no longer be seen as having the reforming role attributed to it in the postwar years. The continued assumption that it does means that,…