Publications & Reports

The Leading Global Voice for Compassion in Education

THINK PIECES

One example of the support that CoED can offer schools is the production of occasional 'Think Pieces' which can act as resources for teachers who may wish to develop some work with children in their schools. These are not necessarily teaching resources or planning kits (most teachers are perfectly capable of doing that); the idea is that the papers will give some background and rationale which illustrate the logic of addressing issues. The so called 'migrant crisis' affecting Europe is a good place to start.

At CoED we hope that reading the Think Piece will provoke discussion and through that you will have confidence to do what seems appropriate for you and your school and pupils. You might gain some ideas of how to move forward and some tangible suggestions of how difficult and controversial issues can link to work that we already do in school.

If nothing else, the Think Piece will help you to consider the wider role of teachers as one of the consciences of society. We are not charging for the think pieces but we are a tiny charity that is staffed largely by volunteers, many of whom finance the charity out of their own pockets. So we are asking that each person who reads the materials donate whatever they can-even if it is as little as a pound, which if you gift aid it gives us £1.20.

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Think pieces

Think Piece No. 7 | RESPONSE TO OFSTED'S CONSULTATIVE DOCUMENT

Ofsted's Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman gave a speech at the 40th anniversary celebration of the Muslim Teachers' Association. We commend her professionalism and professional courage for initiating this major debate about the nature and purpose of an inspection system and how it fits into our shared aims of creating an education fit for purpose in the 21st century. We would like to share our response.

Read our letter to Amanda Spielman

Think pieces

Think Piece No. 6 | GETTING A FIX ON 'SPIRITUALITY' AND EDUCATION

This CoED Think Piece is not intended to give a comprehensive view of the concept of 'spirituality' (many people have written a doctoral thesis on this … and still run out of space!) Instead, it sets out one approach through which the inner dynamic of spirituality in education might be both understood and approached.

Read Bill Gent's exploration of spirituality in education

Think pieces

Think Piece No. 5 | A NEW Ofsted Report from 2027

"The Karen Armstrong New Community School (NCS) is a happy post-Brexit institute of learning with very many smiling faces. It has the Golden Rule at its heart and has signed the Charter for Compassion. The taxonomy of compassion ('ACTS FOR LOVE') underpins quality audits undertaken within this learning community."

Read Bruce Gill's amazing and thought provoking vision of how a school Ofsted report could look in the future

Think pieces

Think Piece No. 4 | The Compassionate School Leader

The teaching profession has always been peopled by some of the most compassionate people in our society. You could not survive in the contemporary education world unless you have an overriding concern for the well-being of your children in all its aspects. Given this what makes a compassionate school leader now?

Read the report, Think Piece No.4

Think pieces

Think Piece No. 3 | Does your school properly promote health and wellbeing?

The World Health Organization's 1986 Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion has been influential in guiding the development of 'settings' based health promotion in schools. The Health Promoting School initiative was established in the UK as part of the European Health Promoting Schools network directive in 1991. By 2001 the great majority of schools in England had achieved some element of the accreditation and were pleased to be labelled as a 'health promoting school'.

It still fills me with despair that the Coalition Government in 2010 immediately discontinued the Healthy Schools programme and the move to make Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE) a statutory subject in the curriculum was scrapped.

Read the report, Think Piece No.3
PSHE Statement | Parliamentary Select Committees' joint letter

Think pieces

Think Piece No. 2 | The purpose and quality of education in England inquiry: written evidence submitted by the CoED Foundation

The Education Committee of the UK Parliament are undertaking a major review of the Purpose and Quality of Education in England. This is an ongoing enquiry as the committee has yet to publish its findings. The scope of the inquiry included the following areas:

  • What the purpose of education for children of all ages in England should be
  • What measures should be used to evaluate the quality of education against this purpose>
  • How well the current education system performs against these measures

The CoED Foundation Trustees and Advisory Board submitted their response in March 2016 which is found below.

Read the full report, Think Piece No.2

Think Piece No.1

Think Piece No. 1 | December 2015 - Refugees

Our children see images in the media almost daily of people, many their own age or younger, as they make perilous and confusing journeys with their families in the search for a better future. The oldest pupils in our primary schools must have many questions about what they see. Is it the role of schools to address these questions or do we leave children to be influenced by media or prejudice in their own community? If we were to offer a compassionate outlook in our education, wouldn't this be one of the natural areas for consideration?

Download the Think Piece No. 1 | December 2015 - Refugees
and the Planning Sheet (pdf)