Reading for Battle
Battle Readings is a regularly updated compilation of articles, essays, and opinion pieces relevant to the themes of the Battle of Ideas.
Choose a theme from the listing on the left to narrow your search, or view all readings.
Education
What's really driving the Left's loathing of free schools
In the modern Left’s worldview, if the state isn’t permanently on standby with its ready-made list of values, bucketloads of welfare cash, parenting advice and whatnot, then ordinary people will starve, go mad, turn racist and end up as fodder for fascism.
Brendan O'Neill, Daily Telegraph, 8 October 2012
In the modern Left’s worldview, if the state isn’t permanently on standby with its ready-made list of values, bucketloads of welfare cash, parenting advice and whatnot, then ordinary people will starve, go mad, turn racist and end up as fodder for fascism.
Brendan O'Neill, Daily Telegraph, 8 October 2012
Labour conference: Free schools 'fascism' claim
A teaching union chief has accused Education Secretary Michael Gove of risking an increase in "organised fascist activities" in English schools.
Brian Wheeler, BBC News, 4 October 2012
A teaching union chief has accused Education Secretary Michael Gove of risking an increase in "organised fascist activities" in English schools.
Brian Wheeler, BBC News, 4 October 2012
Michael Gove goes Bacc to the future
The education secretary’s plan to restore rigorous teaching and end-of-course exams is a blast from the past worth welcoming.
Alka Sehgal Cuthbert, spiked, 4 October 2012
The education secretary’s plan to restore rigorous teaching and end-of-course exams is a blast from the past worth welcoming.
Alka Sehgal Cuthbert, spiked, 4 October 2012
Education is not ‘for’ anything - it is an end in itself
The knowledge and understanding of subjects has no moral purpose. It may lead to discontent.
Dennis Hayes, Independent Voices, 4 October 2012
The knowledge and understanding of subjects has no moral purpose. It may lead to discontent.
Dennis Hayes, Independent Voices, 4 October 2012
English GCSE: Senior exam board figure quits AQA
A senior exam board figure has resigned over the shifting of English GCSE grade boundaries which left thousands of pupils with lower grades than expected
Judith Burns, BBC News, 28 September 2012
A senior exam board figure has resigned over the shifting of English GCSE grade boundaries which left thousands of pupils with lower grades than expected
Judith Burns, BBC News, 28 September 2012
Michael Gove is right to create a single exam board – but the changes need to go far deeper than tha
The simple truth is that our failing examination system does not need one operation to cure it of its ills, but several.
Martin Stephen, Daily Telegraph, 16 September 2012
The simple truth is that our failing examination system does not need one operation to cure it of its ills, but several.
Martin Stephen, Daily Telegraph, 16 September 2012
Class acts
England’s schools are radically different. Now make them better
Economist, 15 September 2012
England’s schools are radically different. Now make them better
Economist, 15 September 2012
The 'gold standard' of Grayling is not struck from an Oxbridge mint
New College of the Humanities' pedagogic model has only a passing resemblance to the ancient universities' teaching
Julia Horn, Times Higher Education, 13 September 2012
New College of the Humanities' pedagogic model has only a passing resemblance to the ancient universities' teaching
Julia Horn, Times Higher Education, 13 September 2012
The higher education revolution - is there any evidence for it?
As VCs gather for their annual conference, Louis Coiffait considers the main drivers of change and examines whether or not they will lead to revolutionary transformation in UK HE
Louis Coiffait, Guardian, 12 September 2012
As VCs gather for their annual conference, Louis Coiffait considers the main drivers of change and examines whether or not they will lead to revolutionary transformation in UK HE
Louis Coiffait, Guardian, 12 September 2012
University access tsar: institutions 'must set tougher admissions targets'
Elite universities should admit equal numbers of rich and poor students to prevent admissions being skewed towards the “most advantaged”, according to the Government’s higher education access tsar.
Graeme Paton, Daily Telegraph, 6 September 2012
Elite universities should admit equal numbers of rich and poor students to prevent admissions being skewed towards the “most advantaged”, according to the Government’s higher education access tsar.
Graeme Paton, Daily Telegraph, 6 September 2012