My Blog

Guardian Unlimited | Guardian daily comment | The exorbitant cost of PFI is now being cruelly exposed Allyson Pollock’s article doesn’t tell you much you didn’t already know, but it’s an impressively detailed demolition job on the government’s most shameless sell-out of a noble institution that was once the envy of the world.

BBC NEWS | Education | Students bemoan ‘unhip’ lecturers: I don’t whether to laugh or cry at this item. I was particularly struck by the magisterial sweeping generalisation of“They always look down on students, they always judge and have a lack of hygiene… most discussions in seminars revolve around the academic’s new book. In short,…

Today’s Grauniad contains a couple of advertisements that caught my interest. The first is for a Business manager in a small secondary school – salary: £50,000. Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and I was a proper teacher, schools didn’t have business managers. One of the deputies would do all the sums, control the stock…

The Observer has a new supplement, aimed at women. I feel excluded, and can’t see the logic of it. If I go to WH Smith, it’s pretty obvious what constituency is being targeted by magazines with titles such as Woman, She, Woman’s Own etc. Equally, you know what you are letting yourself in for if…

To Milton Keynes for a meeting at the Open University, on the early train from Preston. I didn’t have a reserved seat, so found the first available one, and sat down. Just before we left, a big commotion announces the arrival of a lady in one of those very high-tech wheelchairs, her companion, her two…

BBC NEWS | Politics | Letter reveals Kelly’s approvalRuth Kelly, or to give her her full title, the beleaguered Ruth Kelly, is the foremost Catholic in the government. She was appointed as Education Secretary despite having no expertise or background in the area. Her main claim to fame is her prominent membership of the loony…

Australian woman all shook up over Elvis song – Yahoo! News UK Ah – the power of cheap music…Personally, I’m with the woman on this. Can you have a verdict of justified wounding?

This story confirms what all academics already knew. It’s particularly difficult in the humanities, and acute in my area, English Literature. I recently marked a series of essays on Jane Eyre by first year undergraduates. Hardly any of them bothered to consult any of the numerous secondary critical materials they could have accessed, relying instead…

BBC NEWS | Health | Adverts ‘increase youth drinking’ The department of the bleeding obvious has come back strongly after the Christmas break. Apparently, advertising works. What’s more, it works better on young susceptible people. You’d never have guessed, would you?

BBC NEWS | England | Manchester | Pilot dumps drunk man on island This is excellent. It would be worth being four hours late to have seen this guy get what he deserved. Hurrah for that pilot!