Curios of the week #97

Clippings, endnotes and other ephemera

Image via AI

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It was a little warm as we headed down to the beach at the end of last week. As you know, I like my lakes and I had never visited Lake Connewarre, outside Geelong. It was on the way to where we were staying and so we stopped by. We did not spend much time outside of the air conditioned car and my family did not find the lake particularly impressive, but I did have a chance to snap a photo or two.

It is the time of year when so many of the people of Ballarat head down the beach that many businesses close. The flip side of that is that anywhere you go along the Great Ocean Road, you are likely to bump into colleagues or students.

This week’s Curios include javelins, intellectual horsepower, the usual nonsense and much more.

Culture shock of the week

I do not have the insight to offer an informed commentary on the big story of the week which, until a few days ago, I would have called the UK’s ‘grooming gangs’ scandal. Now, however, when I read about what took place in those communities—and there has been plenty to read over the last week—the grooming of young girls seems the least of it.

It is not as if the facts have changed. We know nothing now about the scandal that we did not know last year or maybe several years ago. It is perceptions that have changed—not the perceptions of those who have been campaigning on the issue for many years but those of the British establishment and the public they are supposed to serve.

I am not going to defend what was written about this on Twitter/X by Elon Musk, some of which is repellent. However, it does illustrate the fact that there is value in the freedom to be offensive and say things that polite UK society would probably ban if it had the power to do so. The British establishment from all sides of politics had worked out a story to tell itself—Mistakes were made but everything was under control now and lessons would be learned so it’s probably best to not keep going on about it, given the sensitivities. It took outsiders from across the Atlantic to look at the facts afresh and express their disbelief and horror. That, in turn, has sparked a shift in perceptions in the UK. When Keir Starmer, the UK Prime Minister, attempted to respond with the language of the old narrative, it caused more outrage.

It is not as if Starmer can complain about the malign influence of American political culture, or of foreigners straying out of their lane and commenting on matters that are not their concern, when as leader of the opposition, he and his deputy took the knee over the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

So I want you to think about this: Are there cultures you know about that are similar? Are there schools where there are obvious problems of disruption, violence, abuse and substance use, but everyone sees them as intractable and really something to be expected with kids like these? Are there horrors you have narratives to explain that if looked at afresh by outsiders would provoke disbelief? I think I’ve known schools like that.

That is the power of culture, for good or ill.

Free book of the week

A new, open access (i.e. free to download) book has been published, Developing Curriculum for Deep Thinking: The Knowledge Revival.

As Paul Kirschner, one of the authors, pointed out on Twitter/X it is not free due to the benevolence of the publishers:

I have not read the book yet, but the premise is sound:

“Over the years, the role of knowledge in the curriculum has, like a pendulum, shifted between two extremes, from highly visible to virtually invisible knowledge elements. Insights from cognitive and educational psychology, sociology, and curriculum studies are used to underpin the current knowledge revival that is widely being observed in education. A knowledge-rich curriculum is proposed by the authors as not only the soundest way forward to both effectively acquire knowledge and complex cognitive skills in school, but also as a crucial lever to achieve equitable opportunities for all students.”

It is the kind of book I would have liked to have contributed to. But I did not. Instead, the authors are a series of A-list educational stars including Tim Surma, Nuno Crato, John Hattie, Dylan Wiliam and many more.

Recommended.

Blog post of the week

Sometimes I write about an issue then read someone else’s response and realise it is better than mine.