In 2017, the Departments of Health and Education in the United Kingdom initiated a national mental health agenda that includes new curriculum interventions and mandatory training courses for teachers. While the stated goal is to support children and young people with mental health difficulties, there are deeper economic and political forces…

When we "learn nature," do we encounter her as 'free' in the sense of having neither cost nor price? Is she something 'given'? And is that which nature offers us 'gratis'? In the UK, many schoolchildren have been encouraged to 'give thanks' for nature's gifts. But why, if she is free, give thanks; and thanks to whom? If one learns to…

In the nineteenth century city child rescuers developed 'a taxonomy of space' in which geography determined destiny. The privatised spaces of the middle classes were contrasted with the 'dirt, disease and delinquency' of the slums. Yet at the same time as 'dirt' was viewed as 'destructive' and proof of urban neglect it was also accepted in the…

This article develops an emerging analytical approach, "child as method" (Burman 2018a, 2018b), to attend to the role played by "the child" and, by extension, children within the production of false beliefs and commitments. Specifically, "child as method" is applied to contemporary political discourse around…

Critics of the 'strong social model' of disability developed in the U.K. commonly claim that it focuses too one-sidedly on social oppression, thereby neglecting the role of individual impairment. In this theoretical article, we contrast that model with what we call the 'pathic model' of disability, which we characterise through the case of people…

As neo-Aristotelian character education approaches have become more popular, the list of objections has increased too. This paper focuses on the objection that while character education proponents claim to be 'progressive' and 'reformative' they seem to maintain the educational status quo. This paper examines what happens to neo-Aristotelian…

This article explores the limits of student engagement in higher education in the United Kingdom through the social construction of student activists within media discourses. It scrutinises the impact of dominant neoliberal discourses on the notion of student engagement, constructing certain students as legitimately engaged whilst infantilising…

In Britain in the period 1760-1845 the debate on the relative merits of public (school) versus private (home) education remained unresolved and was vigorously debated in many media. It was in this same period that children's literature began to flourish: a much wider variety of books were published in much greater numbers. The new children's…

The paper focuses on the possibilities for physical education as an effective policy conduit and constructive contributor to the type of life-affirming values which are widely endorsed. After a critical review of recent well-being theorising, ideas on how values central to physical education and well-being could be coherently conceptualised are…

This paper explores students' seemingly puzzling engagement with what I call "processes of classification." Whilst most students on the Social Identities module I taught between 2005-2006 and 2008-2009 claimed that "class didn't matter" to them, during 2009-2010 more students engaged with classificatory processes. Using the…

Special education critics' vigorous appraisals of the social model of disability, along with their analysis of its implications for special education, provide a valuable forum for meaningful dialogue about how educators are to understand the nature of disability. In this article, we offer our response to their recent articles. As advocates of the…

The branding of children as "witches", capable of harming others is a widespread practice in some countries in Africa and across the world. There is evidence of this within specific communities and faith groups; however, the extent to which this phenomenon occurs in England is unclear as is the response by childcare professionals,…

Debate has grown about the legitimacy of Muslim faith schools within the British education system. At the same time, scepticism has developed towards multiculturalism as a normative approach for dealing with diversity. This article argues that it is worth retaining the normative impetus of multiculturalism by returning to its roots in political…

When communities fall into decline, disabled people can find themselves alone and invisible in a society of indifferent individuals. Arendt offers an account of such a time in her discussion of the rise of a society of mass labouring and consuming. Bauman's insights into the fragmentation of life, in which established norms, traditional ties and…

Through an analysis of gay protest music (1975) and an educational kit for students (1978), both sponsored by the Campaign for Homosexual Equality in the UK, this paper brings into focus a history of gay rights activists' efforts to marshal popular culture in the development of informal sex education for young people in the second half of the…