Barbara Davidson

To ‘ultra-crepidate’ (19th century) is to lecture others on subjects you know very little about.

Chris Mason: Reform conference shows party's growing ambition like never before - BBC News The conference feels like that of a big party - but retains the insurgency vibe that the party is seeking to channel.

Chris Mason is a profoundly unserious man who writes about politics as if it were a video game with no real consequences. True to form, this article is purely about optics. Not a single policy is mentioned

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

10 Reasons to Join the EA leaflet available on our website.

Indeed. ⬇️ Why not therefore join @englishassociation.bsky.social 😊

'Whatever malicious thing can be found anywhere in the world can be found [in London]… actors, jesters, smooth-skinned lads, Moors, flatterers, pretty boys... quacks, belly dancers [and] sorcerers'.

A visitor to London, 1180.

As the brilliant Michael Rosen reminded us: In science things have to be proven; in poetry things can be suggested. A valuable notion to hold and share in this era of mortally dangerous certainties.

and the value of graphic novels and comics in literacy development followed by an uplifting session championing the best of primary-age books. Celebrating the inspirational work of newly-elected Fellows was another highlight. A joy of a day.

Brilliant to have spent Saturday at the @englishassociation.bsky.social conference as one of its new trustees. A privilege to hear the fabulous Michael Rosen in full flight on the purpose of poetry in education and a range of charismatic panelists on topics from poetry in practice 1/

Very good thread. Generally, reactionary complaints about “rewriting history” rely on a sleight of hand: that the version of history written by previous generations is somehow “neutral” or “apolitical”, but that versions written by this generation are “political” or even “woke”.

This is 👌

Delighted and proud to have joined the board of The English Association,which does such brilliant work supporting and promoting the learning, teaching and enjoyment of English at all levels of education and bringing together people passionate about the subject from all over the globe.

'The Blue Road' - the Edna O'Brien documentary by @sineadoshea.bsky.social - is on Apple TV. It is incredible. (I watched it back to back with @housewifeoftheyear.bsky.social - also on Apple TV - just to ruin myself altogether).

‘Literature is the antidote to numbness’ Katherine Rundell Seamus Heaney wrote, “We go to poetry, we go to literature in general, to be forwarded within ourselves”; that, and to forward each other. Literature alone can’t, of course, save us ...

‘the project of the humanities can, in our rapidly darkening moment, be one of resistance. Fiction can ask questions that insist on human dignity, human variousness. Writers can ask, what futures are possible?’

tinyurl.com/TLS-article

Check out our newest article from our Director discussing the challenges poetry faces in educational settings. #Poetry #Education
www.teachingtimes.com/tackling-the...

'Incalculable damage' are such weasel words. You avoid spelling out what that 'damage' consists of - how & where exactly, & by whom - while affirming the full range of anti-immigrant sentiment & the inchoate sense of victimhood that fuels much of it.

I agree with everything @iandunt.bsky.social has written. What a disgrace.

Nothing accidental about Starmer’s chilling language.I proudly live and work in London among nationals of hundreds of different countries.My neighbours and friends enrich our communities with their skills, languages, food, culture, hard work.I stand with them.I walk forward with them.I always will.

Roses are redde
Noble are the manatees
Yf we wante a bettir future
Teach artes & humanityes

YouTube video by Andrea Cirla J. L. Borges on English

youtu.be/NJYoqCDKoT4?... Borges on the wonderful breadth and depth of the English language

ChatGPT ys an excellent antidote to learninge

I can hardly bear to read this. The unspeakable cruelty towards these new mothers and their babies.

The current system of assessment in schools and unis is untenable. But it’s not just one of assessment and grading, it’s also a crisis of learning, of intellectual development. What can be done?

Figure 4 from this document showing disproportionate use of force of all kinds against Black people in prison https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68093394e4d2b76ccfb527a0/Use_of_Force_Evaluation_Report.pdf

🧵 Yesterday Govt published an evaluation of the use of force - including PAVA spray - in adult prisons from 2018 to 2023

It shows - starkly - the fact that you are significantly more likely to have force used against you in prison if you are Black than white