Both this week’s posts will be one day early, as I’ll be busy on Thursday with a) grandpa duties – he’s on the cusp of walking, with all the potential for mischief that brings with it – and b) a Rosa Luxemburg event!

1. UKFIET have made available recordings of the opening and closing plenaries at this year’s conference last month in Oxford, the theme of which was Mobilising knowledge, partnerships, and innovations for sustainable development through education and training:

The opening plenary was A field in crisis: reimagining education policy for challenging times, with Ahmed Kamal Junina from Al-Aqsa University, Gaza – scarcely credibly joining by Zoom from Gaza in the midst of Israeli bombardment – and Yusuf Sayed from Cambridge University https://youtu.be/dWhnN2FrN3w?si=T8VSX5yG2_6W21CN

The closing plenary was a panel discussion, introduced by Francesca Salvi and moderated by Khadijah Fancy, on Turning disruption  into direction, and responsibility into opportunity with Laura Savage, Hussien Mohammed Omar, Folake Olatunji-David & Judith Herbertson, as panellists. https://youtu.be/9Cd-Rrd2Fv4?si=8kr_9hD7MsivSRBj

2. Another nice idea from UKFIET, especially if you weren’t able to attend, and new this year (I think) is a series of ‘conference-follow-up’ webinars, one on each conference theme. More info and registration here https://www.ukfiet.org/2025/ukfiet-conference-webinar-series-in-october-2025/ The first two webinars are this Wednesday at 13:00 (Learner safety and wellbeing) and 15:00 (Climate and environmental justice) UK time.

3. Persuasion describes itself as a publication and community for everyone who shares three basic convictions:

• We seek to build a free society in which all individuals get to pursue a meaningful life irrespective of who they are.
• We believe in the importance of the social practice of persuasion, and are determined to defend free speech and free inquiry against all its enemies.
• We seek to persuade, rather than to mock or troll, those who disagree with us.

In the past years, the political and intellectual energy has been with illiberal movements. Too often, the advocates of free speech and free institutions have been passive, even fatalistic. It is high time for those of us who believe in these enduring ideals to stand up for our convictions.

Here’s a recent piece for Persuasion by Anastasia Lebedenko, When the Russians Cut Off Mom’s Water Supply: in Ukraine, monsters are still under the bed  https://www.persuasion.community/p/ukraines-unending-agony

4. Here in the UK, the Labour government’s difficulties seem never-ending. According to Ipsos, Reform UK leads by 12 pts over Labour and both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have hit historic low satisfaction ratings, with Keir Starmer’s rating the lowest recorded by Ipsos since they started in 1977 https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/reform-uk-leads-12-pts-over-labour-both-pm-and-chancellor-hit-historic-low-satisfaction-ratings

5. And, finally and poetically, all you need to know about this year’s T S Eliot Poetry Prize and the poets shortlisted https://tseliot.com/prize/prize-year/the-t-s-eliot-prize-2025/ They’ll be adding lots of learning resources (a.k.a. interesting stuff) over the coming weeks.