There is growing controversy about the banning of books from children’s libraries in the UK. What’s motivating this phenomenon, and what can we do about it? Continue reading
Category Archives: politics
Remembering the Troubles: Documentary, History and Truth
Three documentaries about the conflict in Northern Ireland raise some interesting questions about how we represent history: I, Dolours (dir. Maurice Sweeney, 2018); The Miami Showband Massacre (Stuart Sender, 2019); and The Ballymurphy Precedent (Callum Macrae, 2018).
Documenting life in Gaza
Two documentaries made before the current conflict, giving an inside view of life in Gaza from the perspective of its inhabitants: Born in Gaza (dir. Hernan Zin, 2014) and Gaza (dirs. Andrew McConnell and Gary Keane, 2018).
Education policy and the ‘war on woke’
In the past few years, education has become one of the key fronts in the so-called ‘culture wars’. It’s a development that is likely to prove extremely damaging for teachers and students.
PAW Patrol and neoliberal hegemony: misreading the politics of toddlers’ TV
Is PAW Patrol just authoritarian capitalist propaganda? Such accusations may tell us more about adult critics than they do about children…
Citizenship and media education in contested times: an interview with Shakuntala Banaji
In the second of two posts looking at citizenship and media education, this is an interview with one of the most interesting thinkers and researchers in this area, Professor Shakuntala Banaji.
Citizenship and media education: lost connections?
The first of two posts revisiting the idea of citizenship education, and its relationship with media education.
Enemies of promise? Education, culture and meritocracy under the Conservatives
The argument for restoring ‘traditional’ forms of education is based on dubious claims about social justice. Why the argument for meritocracy needs to be challenged.
David Buckingham 