On Peter Medway

This article takes a personal view of the contribution made by Pete Medway to King's College London.     

Remembering Peter Medway

Peter Medway was an exceptionally able teacher, researcher and thinker, and his work throws light on governments, inspectors and educators. In the early 1960s, Peter met a theory which ‘established language as a major means of constructing our realities’. Later, after teaching English in secondary schools for two decades, he reflected on why this theory had failed to make English more serious and more central. In his research, he looked into the history of English, its assumptions, practices and motivations. He also wrote about the significance of the students’ experiences, looking carefully (and critically) at what they produced in talk and writing. Persuaded that English needs to be about using language rather than studying it, he helped students find the right words. Starting with their own words, Peter focused on the business of making interventions without compromising students’ own agency. When he returned from Canada to take up a lectureship at King’s College, London, he was dismayed by the state of English in schools. His dissatisfaction with current English teaching led to a fully funded research project as well as a major publication that tells a story of the way teacher-led change transformed English in post-war London, English Teachers in a Postwar Democracy. Here we remember what was special about his contribution, his legacy and why we will miss him.     

Critically Enlightened Romantic Values and English Pedagogy: A Response to Peter Medway

In this response to Peter Medway's paper, ‘English and Enlightenment’ (Changing English 17:1, 2010 Medway, P. 2010. English and Enlightenment. Changing English, 17(1): 3–12. [Taylor & Francis Online] [Google Scholar]), I take issue with little of what he so lucidly writes, except his implicit and occasionally explicit denunciation of Romanticism as the proper basis of English pedagogy. I am concerned in this paper to emphasise the positive aspects of Romanticism in giving a vivid flavour to experience – surely the foundation of any humane values – whilst simultaneously attempting to reposition Romanticism in the direction of Critical Pedagogy. In this venture, I draw especially on William Blake, the subject of a previous exploration in this journal (Stevens, Changing English 7:1, 2000 Stevens, D. 2000. William Blake in Education: A Poet for Our Times?. Changing English, 7(1): 55–63. [Taylor & Francis Online] [Google Scholar]), and Paulo Freire.     

The oil industry in our schools: from Petro Pete to science capital in the age of climate crisis

Abstract

Fossil fuel corporations play a significant role in promoting their interests in schools and other educational institutions, a practice that has recently been labelled as ‘petro-pedagogy.’ But this role goes beyond the production of the pro-petroleum and anti-science corporate propaganda that tends to attract the most critical attention. In this article, I present a case study of the involvement of BP, one of the world’s largest fossil fuel corporations, in primary and secondary education in the United Kingdom. As practiced by BP, petro-pedagogy constitutes a core part of a corporate education reform network that, for the past decade, has focused on promoting a neoliberal model of STEM education in schools around the world. This model, based on corporate and capitalist interests, poses a significant threat to our collective efforts to tackle the global climate crisis.     

To Travel is To Live

To move,to breathe,to fly,to float You walk around.You immerse yourself in the air surrounded.You bring yourself to distant places.You are here;you are there;you are somewhere;you are everywhere.You bring yourself out of your comfort zones.You free yourself from what you know.You admit your limits,and then push it.To gain all while you give You hand over the precious time you hold.Then you explore the worlds unknown.There you hear the words,sing the music,move with the rhythm,and you find the beautifuls.You welcome the discoveries,and they welcome you.Many things can be taken away,but-you smell the joy,     

成人与做事

点燃融合“成人”与“做事”的教育理念的希望。最近我常思索中国传统教育与西方教育的差异。我的中小学生涯还有许多传统色彩,《论语》、《孟子》等也都是高中必读和必考的,加上国文课中的大量古文,不知不觉中养成自己轻视财富、注重操守的思维,也影响自己的为人处世。姑不论其好坏,中国传统教育是一种注重如何成人(Learn to be)的教育。     

To Have An Axe To Grind

To have an axe to grind原系英语，直译是“有把斧子要磨”，喻义是“怀有么心”，“有个人打算”等。使人费解的是，“要磨的斧子（an axe to grind）究竟是如何与“私心”、“个人打算”联系起来的。     

如何对上司说不

大家在职场中一定会遇到形形色色的问题,其中最让你头疼的问题之一恐怕就是如何拒绝你的上司了。当上司布置了一个不明智的任务,或发布了一项有害无益的决策时,如何对上司说不呢?本文提出了三个要点,让对上司说不变得更容易。     

选择最好的,还是选择适用的?

关注产品的性价比,希望花出的每一分钱都能物有所值,这是一个市场化环境中的通行观念。技术的标准化、低端化、强调应用价值,由此成为主流声音。     

在Linux系统中如何添加系统调用

Linux操作系统是自由软件的代表，系统调用是操作系统内核提供给用户的使用接口。本文讨论了如何在Linux系统中添加自己感兴趣的系统调用，以增强系统的功能。     

理解、帮助、引领——提高德育的有效性研究

班主任工作需抓住以下三个关键：一、理解,基于“人性向善”这一价值预设,良好的教育更多的是尊重和信任,而不是防范与责罚,因此班主任要以一颗童心去理解学生;二、帮助,教育毕竟是一项师生之间双向的精神活动,应该是充满人性,充满温情的,这就要求教师怀有一腔热情来投入工作,尽自己所能去帮助学生;三、引领,作为班主任,对班集体的建设和学生个体的培养都应该有一个理想的追求,这个追求就是班集体和学生个体发展要达到的高度。班主任只有抓住这三个关键,才能走进学生的内心,赢得学生的信任,从而提高德育的有效性。     

改造亚文化发展生产力--对隆阳区芒宽乡文化建设的分析

用文学艺术的号召力、感召力调动各族群众的积极性，促进欠发达地区区域经济的发展。     

总结性评估:“承前”,还是“启后”

2003年在徐州召开的全国“高校远程教育专业委员会年会暨中央电大‘人才培养模式改革与开放教育试点’研讨会”会议认为,教育部将原来确定的2005年对全国电大进行的“人才培养模式改革与开放教育试点研究项目”“终结性评估”改为“总结性评估”,这一细微的名称变化表明,本次评估并不意味着全国电大“人才培养模式改革与开放教育试点研究”的结束,相反,它说明,电大系统的远程开放教育的发展将走上一个可持续发展道路,本次评估在我国远程开放教育事业的发展中,起着一个“承前启后”的历史作用。     

Friendship Is To Have,Not To Hold

你能用英语讲故事吗?你能用英语描述你的生活吗? 我们的《故事园地》专栏将给你展现一批或轻松幽默、或生动活泼、或温馨感人的小故事,希望你利用这一平台,学习写故事的本领,锻炼自己领悟故事内涵的能力。本栏目由首师大英语少年文学项目组主办,欢迎您参与我们的活动。     

怎样向孩子解释妈妈的乳房

案例一次我正和8岁儿子一起读书,书掉到地上,我顺势弯腰去捡。儿子突然说:妈妈,我看到你的那个了。因为是夏天,在家衣服穿得少,所以儿子看到乳房了。接着,儿子问:为什么男的可以光着上身,而女的不可以。是不是因为女的这个