In this panel discussion, speakers draw on their experience of working with others in the sector to bring about change and reflect on the role local interests and local concerns play in the choices made. Could more opportunities for open and transparent debate about national and local priorities lead to better decision-making in education and a greater chance of an informed consensus emerging?

87

10/10/2024

EPISODE SUMMARY This week we ask: What is going wrong with our democracy, and how we might fix it? EPISODE NOTES In this episode we’re discussing elections, referenda, and how to fix our democracy, with none other than our long-time podcast host, Alan Renwick. In his inaugural lecture, Alan described democracy as rule for, and by, all, and suggested that the UK’s democratic system is falling short of that ideal. We discuss three suggested "fixes": electoral reform, improving citizen's access to reliable information, and the use of citizen's assemblies. One of the central commitments in Prof Alan Renwick’s work is to the importance of the citizen, and our role in the democratic process. He is a leading expert on citizens assemblies, and his fourth book, Deliberative Mini-Publics examines how these can contribute to the policy process and even revitalise democracy. Most recently, Alan’s research examines the public’s attitudes about democracy, and democratic institutions, post Brexit.

2

7/12/2023

EPISODE SUMMARY This week we’re discussing life, politics, and the power of ‘ordinary hope’ with Professor Marc Stears, the inaugural director of the UCL Policy Lab. EPISODE NOTES This week, we have a slightly different kind of episode to normal. Rather than discussing an academic publication, we’ll be looking at the ideas and career of Professor Marc Stears. Marc is currently the inaugural director of the UCL policy lab, set up to break down the barriers between academic researchers and broader society. His career to date has included stints in academia at Cambridge, Oxford and Macquaire, being the Chief Speechwriter of the Labour Party, writing major speeches for Ed Milliband, the CEO of the New Economics Foundation, and the Director of the Sydney Policy Lab. Marc has some big ideas about politics and political reform. Two particularly attractive and compelling facets of Marc's work, found especially in two of his books, Out of the Ordinary and Demanding Democracy, are his opti

5

7/11/2023

Kevin Middlebrook discusses the 2017 Mayoral elections in Venezuela

5

3/29/2022

In this seminar, the Development Education Research Centre's Director Professor Douglas Bourn will discuss themes from his forthcoming book which outlines a distinctive pedagogical approach for education for social change. Reference will be made to historical debates regarding education for democracy, socialism and liberation. The main focus of the talk will however be on an approach to learning that brings in themes of social justice, transformation and impact of globalisation. Examples in the talk will be given from formal and higher education and youth work. >>> Speaker biography Douglas Bourn is Professor of Development Education at UCL Institute of Education and Co-Director of the Development Education Research Centre. He is the author of Theory and Practice of Development Education (2014) and Understanding Global Skills (2018) and editor of the Bloomsbury Handbook of Global Education and Learning (2020).

240

11/20/2020

Hugh Starkey is Professor of Citizenship and Human Rights Education at the UCL Institute of Education and co-founder of the International Centre for Education and Democratic Citizenship (ICEDC). His research is interdisciplinary and relates to intercultural education; education to promote democratic citizenship and human rights.

3822

5/2/2017