Book Review

Patrick Ainley reviews Dead Man Working                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Carl Cederstrom, Peter Fleming                                                                                                                                                                             Zero Books, Winchester, 2012. 76pp., £9.99 pb                                                                      http://marxandphilosophy.org.uk/reviewofbooks/reviews/2013/709 '.....Cederstrom and Fleming accept a post-ideological reality in which there is no alternative to a capitalism that has outstripped any useful or progressive function it once had and yet is ‘more powerful and influential than ever’. Thus, … Continue reading Book Review →

More working: but for less

The latest ONS labour market statistics for Q4 of 2012 show little change. Unemployment has fallen marginally – a drop of 14000 using the Labour Force Survey method and down 12,500 from December 2012 - using the claimant count. The employment rate for those aged from 16 to 64 was 71.5%. There were 29.73 million … Continue reading More working: but for less →

Dent to Government’s ‘workfare’ policy

The graduate forced to work at Poundland for free has won an appeal against the Coalition’s ‘workfare’ plans.  Cait Reilly, 24, from Birmingham, had argued that being made to work in the discount shop for nothing while she looked for a permanent job was illegal. The High Court ruling should mean anyone loosing jobseeker's allowance … Continue reading Dent to Government’s ‘workfare’ policy →

Backtrack on the Ebacc but the Great Reversal goes on

Martin Allen and Patrick Ainley Backtrack on the Ebacc but the Great Reversal goes on To general rejoicing, Michael Gove has been forced into a humiliating retreat in his plans to replace GCSEs by English Baccalaureate Certificates (EBCs) in core subjects. The damning report by the Parliamentary sub-committee allowed the Lib Dems to call time … Continue reading Backtrack on the Ebacc but the Great Reversal goes on →

New Book ‘The Great Reversal’

The Great Reversal. Young People, Education and Employment in a Declining Economy   Martin Allen and Patrick Ainley          ISBN  978-0-9575538-0-4 Developing the arguments put forward in their previous books Education make you fick, innit? and Lost Generation? New strategies for youth and education, Allen and Ainley  provide a chilling analysis of the employment difficulties facing young … Continue reading New Book ‘The Great Reversal’ →

Tory Ideology is destroying education in England

Patrick Ainley  Guardian letter  08/01/2012To see the future development of "free schools" and academies (Free for all, Weekend, 5 January), look to the US charter schools.As Diane Ravitch, once George Bush's assistant secretary of education, wrote in her Death and Life of the Great American School System (Basic Books, 2010), "The regular state schools are … Continue reading Tory Ideology is destroying education in England →

Here comes the Baker-laureate

Lord (Ken) Baker who, in another life as Margaret Thatcher’s education minister brought us the National Curriculum and more recently the University Technical Colleges (UTCs); has been busy again – this time upstaging Ed Miliband, (https://radicaled.wordpress.com/2012/10/02/milibands-proposals-for-training-without-jobs/) by announcing plans for a new Technical Baccalaureate and also warning that Michael Gove’s English Baccalaureate  is a ‘huge … Continue reading Here comes the Baker-laureate →

‘Hard Times for education in England’ (Educational Futures, BESA Journal)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  'Hard Times for education in England' Patrick Ainley & Martin Allen, Educational  Futures  Journal of the British Educational Studies Association,                                                                                 http://www.educationstudies.org.uk/journal/ef_vol_51 “Unrealistic hopes have been repeatedly invested in English education. First, that selective state secondary schooling would sustain traditional industry in the 1940s and '50s and then in the 1960s and '70s that comprehensive … Continue reading ‘Hard Times for education in England’ (Educational Futures, BESA Journal) →

A brief comment on December’s unemployment figures

Though the Tories and sections of the media have celebrated the ‘record fall’ in unemployment, the figures tell a different story, particularly for young people. The ONS data shows a 75 000 fall in joblessness for 16-24 year olds; but only 13 000 more in work. This is because of a fall in the overall … Continue reading A brief comment on December’s unemployment figures →

Sign the National Petition against EBacc

The official ‘consultation’ period for Michael Gove’s English Baccalaureate qualifications has now ended; though consultation was only ever about how the qualifications should be implemented. Not whether they should be introduced in the first place.   EBacc has met with opposition throughout the education sector, with the Financial Times (6/12/12) reporting even Ofqual having doubts … Continue reading Sign the National Petition against EBacc →