Teaching about David Bowie: links, lessons and inspiration

January 13, 2016, 7:23 am

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We’ve scoured the web to find interesting coverage and resources to help you bring a little Ziggy Stardust into your classroom

A wave of sadness and loss rippled through the world this week after legendary star man David Bowie died. Tributes poured in, with grieving fans collecting in Brixton, south London, New York and Germany. Famous faces also celebrated the iconic musician’s influence on everything from modern pop to the fashion industry, inspiring generations to be themselves.

Many teachers have been wondering how to explore Bowie’s life and work, so we have collected some of the best news stories, features, multimedia and teaching resources from around the web to help.

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Trying to stay afloat: schools face months of upheaval after UK floods

January 13, 2016, 8:59 am

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Lost coursework, homeless students and portacabin classrooms – schools in the Calder Valley and Cumbria get to grips with the devastation caused by flooding

It was anything with a child’s name on it that headteacher Clare Cope found hardest to deal with: exercise books, little PE bags, violin cases – all covered in a thick, black, smelly sludge.

“We walked around and we couldn’t believe it,” says Cope, who works at Burnley Road Academy in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire. “I thought a couple of inches of water might have got in, but it was so much worse than that – just total devastation.”

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University Awards 2016: sponsors and supporters

January 13, 2016, 9:22 am

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Find out about the University Awards’ partners

IELTS is the world’s most popular English language test for higher education and global migration. We have 75 years’ experience in English language teaching and assessment and help students reach their goals by connecting them with learning opportunities worldwide.

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Plan to end student grants without Commons vote outrages opposition

January 13, 2016, 10:20 am

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George Osborne denies MPs chance to debate replacement of maintenance grants with loans in England

Ministers have been accused of an “outrageous” attempt to sneak through their proposals to end student grants in England without proper scrutiny by MPs.

The plan to scrap maintenance grants, which help half a million of the poorest students pay for university life, will go through a legislation committee on Thursday, without a vote and debate on the floor of the House of Commons.

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Rewriting the school book: what should be on the feminist curriculum?

January 13, 2016, 10:29 am

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Feminism is being reinstated to A-level politics lessons, with leading figures such as Simone de Beauvoir and Rosa Luxemburg likely to be on the syllabus. From modern voices to male allies, here are five other topics we’d like to see covered

Feminists rejoiced this week at the news that “politics A-level will give all students the opportunity to study the core ideas of feminism”. Or, rather, we wearily celebrated yet another hard fought “win” that really should have happened automatically. But, like police campaigns that don’t blame the victim and funding for rape crisis services, the inclusion of feminism on the political syllabus was apparently something we still had to battle for in 2016.

Ministers have so far remained tight-lipped about the exact content of the syllabus, though schools minister Nick Gibb said in a Commons debate: “The final content will set out clearly those female political thinkers whose work should be studied. Suggestions have included Simone de Beauvoir, Hannah Arendt, Rosa Luxemburg, to name but a few.”

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UK housebuilding held up by lack of bricklayers, says report

January 13, 2016, 4:01 pm

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Construction skills shortages, including lack of quantity surveyors, could threaten work on new homes and infrastructure projects

A shortage of skilled workers in the construction industry pushed up wages in the sector in 2015 and could threaten some of the government’s biggest housing and infrastructure programmes, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has said.

Bricklayers and quantity surveyors were in particularly short supply, with six in 10 Rics survey respondents having difficulty finding them for projects.

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Extrovert character traits shaped by background, study finds

January 13, 2016, 4:01 pm

≫ Next: What's wrong with studying the Kardashians?

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Sutton Trust research suggests link between wealthier upbringing and qualities such as assertiveness as well as personality and career success

People with character traits thought of as extrovert tend to come from wealthier backgrounds than their less extrovert peers as well as being more likely to have well-paid jobs, a new study suggests.

The research, published by the Sutton Trust educational charity, found that traits such as being assertive, talkative and enthusiastic are associated with higher earnings in adult life.

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What's wrong with studying the Kardashians?

January 13, 2016, 11:00 pm

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I was criticised for hosting a symposium on the reality television superstars, but pop culture should not be excluded from academic critique

When you think of the Kardashians, is it Kim’s lauded bottom that comes to mind? Or Kris’s reputation as a controlling “momager”? Perhaps it’s something more nebulous, like the family’s reputation for being shallow and talentless; a view shared by the 500,000 people who signed a petition in 2012 to boycott the Kardashians and “bring back smarter TV”.

Back in November, I hosted Kimposium!; a symposium about all things Kardashian at Brunel University in London. The very idea of scholarly attention being given to the world’s most famous reality television family came under attack, especially on Twitter and other online forums.

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Sexuality and culture: the appeal of studying gender at university

January 14, 2016, 2:12 am

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Courses focused on sexual inequality and diversity can be a key step towards careers in charities and academia

You don’t need a master’s in feminism to understand inequality between the sexes. However gender studies has become one of the most popular cross-disciplinary postgraduate courses. Embracing history, law, sociology, politics, geography, economics, literature and the arts and even science subjects, gender-related degrees attract a cross-section of students.

Some come straight after their undergraduate studies to prepare for careers in NGOs, charities, women’s organisations or academia. But the courses are equally popular with those already employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors who want to delve deeper into issues they encounter.

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Ethiopia scraps Addis Ababa 'master plan' after protests kill 140

January 14, 2016, 2:18 am

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Bid to expand capital into nearby farms abandoned but protesters say Oromo people’s struggle for equality continues

Ethiopia has announced it will scrap plans to expand the capital into surrounding farms after widespread opposition from the public.

Clashes are thought to have claimed 140 lives as students and farmers from the Oromia region marched against the so-called “master plan” to allow Addis Ababa to subsume nearby farmland.

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Postgraduate study: where to get funding

January 14, 2016, 5:59 am

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Postgrad loans of up to £10,000 will help many students, but don’t forget about other sources of money

Emily Maw’s story is a familiar one, but with a happy ending. Even with a part-time job and full-time work over the summer, she struggled to make ends meet as a law student at the University of Edinburgh. She couldn’t afford the basics, let alone books or the train home to visit her family.

Faced with the prospect of ditching her studies, she hunted around for funds. She found them at the Royal Merchant Navy Education Foundation (RMNEF)– thanks to her father being a former captain in the merchant navy.

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Politicians, stop squabbling about education and agree a long-term plan

January 14, 2016, 8:49 am

≫ Next: Finally finding the right place for Cecil Rhodes | Letters

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Establishing a cross-party committee to set long-term education policy would provide the stability, vision and consistent leadership teachers are crying out for

Tommy is shouting at Jonny that the mobile phone is his, and he wants it back. Jonny is insisting, just as loudly, that it is his and he won’t be giving it back. Both of them have their hands on the phone, attempting to prise it from the other. The outcome is inevitable: pieces of phone fly across the playground, while insults and accusations about whose fault the whole sorry affair is waft down the corridors.

Tommy and Jonny’s adolescent squabble stands as a metaphor for how our government treats the education system. Successive education secretaries compete to put their stamp on schools and colleges, strip away the work of their predecessors and replace it with their own pet projects.

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Finally finding the right place for Cecil Rhodes | Letters

January 14, 2016, 10:32 am

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Cecil Rhodes’ Oxford statue daily draws new and irrelevant arguments to its orbit. Chris Patten’s intervention blinds observers with the glare of its misdirection (Nelson Mandela’s “generosity of spirit” towards Rhodes) while attempting a total eclipse of objectors (Patten tells protesters: back free speech or leave Oxford, 14 January). The proposition that Rhodes Must Fall does not demonstrate a failure to participate in an open society or a denial of free speech, just as it has nothing to do with denials of history or the failure to accommodate difficult realities. Removing the statue would not erase historical facts, it merely ceases to celebrate the unpalatable actions of an individual.

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Part-time students still put off university by tuition fees, figures show

January 14, 2016, 10:58 am

≫ Next: At-risk students improve when they take a race and ethnicity class – study

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Experts warn that talented candidates could miss their chance as part-time study falls by almost a third in five years

The slump in the number of people attending university part-time is a cause for serious concern, according to senior figures in UK higher education, as it cuts off second chances for talented people to earn a degree.

Official figures published on Thursday showed the number of students taking undergraduate degrees on a part-time basis fell by a further 6% in 2014-15, continuing a steep decline in participation seen since tuition fees nearly tripled in 2012.

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At-risk students improve when they take a race and ethnicity class – study

January 14, 2016, 11:26 am

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Stanford researchers concluded that ‘culturally relevant’ teaching is an important part of the education of students who could flunk or might drop out

High school students saw large improvements in their grades and attendance records when they enrolled in a class dedicated to exploring race and ethnicity, researchers in California found.

The Stanford University study analyzed a pilot program of ethnic studies classes at three San Francisco high schools and found that, on average, at-risk ninth-graders encouraged to enroll in the course performed significantly better than their peers who didn’t.

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Over half a million primary school pupils taught in 'super-size' classes

January 14, 2016, 4:01 pm

≫ Next: Majority of teachers in survey know pupils who arrive at school hungry

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New analysis shows schools being forced to exceed statutory limit of 30 to meet demand, with Labour blaming situation on Tory ‘fixation’ with free schools

More than half a million children are being taught in “super-size” classes of over 30 pupils as overstretched primary schools struggle to cope with the surge in demand for places, according to a new analysis of government figures.

As parents prepare for Friday’s deadline in applying for a primary place for children due to start school in September, research suggests many will face disappointment when it comes to national offer day next April.

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Majority of teachers in survey know pupils who arrive at school hungry

January 14, 2016, 4:01 pm

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Survey of teachers in England and Wales finds pupils who haven’t had breakfast are likely to be lethargic or disruptive in class

Almost four out of five teachers in England and Wales see hungry pupils arriving at school without having eaten breakfast each week, with many having nothing to eat until lunchtime, according to a new survey.

Nearly 50% of teachers said some pupils arrived at school hungry at least three or four times a week. Around 20% said they had brought in food within the last 12 months for children who had not eaten breakfast, while 8% said they had also given pupils money for food.

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Over one third of Oxford students want Cecil Rhodes statue removed

January 14, 2016, 11:00 pm

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University’s independent student newspaper finds significant opposition to controversial statue in wake of recent Rhodes Must Fall campaign

More than a third of all Oxford University students – and nearly half of its black and minority ethnic (BAME) students – believe the statue of British imperialist Cecil Rhodes should be removed from the building of Oriel college.

In a survey conducted by Cherwell, Oxford’s independent student newspaper, 37% of students expressed a desire for Oriel to remove the statue of Rhodes, compared with 54% who thought the statue should remain and 9% who were unsure.

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Bomb threats, breakdowns and bongs: the life of a university security guard

January 14, 2016, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: The free market works, but not when it comes to schools | Simon Jenkins

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This week’s anonymous writer works in campus security, worlds apart from the academics on ‘Planet Corduroy’

“Bombs have been put in place in buildings on the campus,” read the email. “They will explode later today. Do NOT ignore this warning!”

It’s not the weirdest message we’ve had in the security office – those would be the vice-chancellor’s dinner menus we get copied into. Herb-crusted fillet of sustainable pollock on a provencal bean stew. Medallions of spiced monkfish with braised shredded fennel. Other things I can’t pronounce, let alone imagine swallowing.

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The free market works, but not when it comes to schools | Simon Jenkins

January 15, 2016, 3:15 am

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Our education system is becoming an inefficient, socially segregated mess – all because central government stripped councils of their powers

The free market is the best way of allocating scarce resources in 90% of cases. The other 10% includes schools.

Britain’s headteachers today claimed the blindingly obvious. If the government funds private organisations to set up “free” state schools wherever parents do not like existing ones, provision will be “wasteful, fragmented and confusing”. There will be too many places in some neighbourhoods and too few in others.

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