A November 15 protest in Mexico – driven by a right-wing social-media operation – has been miscast as a mass uprising against President Sheinbaum. In reality, the march was small, elite-backed and part of a wider attempt to sow unrest, argues DAVID RABY
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‘Political impartiality’ in schools means being able to make the case for socialism
Teacher ROBERT POOLE asks what role educators can and should play in helping young people make sense of the world and why the government is suddenly looking to answer that question for them
Despite new European arrests, the evidence presented so far fails to explain the sabotage of the undersea pipelines – and veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh’s allegations of US responsibility cannot be easily dismissed, writes ROGER McKENZIE
Groups are urging the US government to secure the 16-year old’s release as his mental and physical health decline dramatically after nine months inside Ofer prison, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
MAT COWARD tells the story of the eccentric founder of a short-lived but striking experiment in ‘vital democracy,’ who became best known for giving away his estate to the nation
As figures from Tucker Carlson to Nigel Farage flirt with neofascist rhetoric and mainstream leaders edge toward authoritarianism through war and repression, the conditions that once nurtured Hitlerism re-emerge — yet anti-war and anti-imperialist sentiments are also burgeoning anew, writes ANDREW MURRAY
As President Javier Milei is set to unveil a radical rollback of Argentina’s labour laws, unions warn of an unprecedented assault on workers’ rights, says BERT SCHOUWENBURG
I AM SURE that many teachers have been asked, as I have many times this week, what is happening in Ukraine. Young people are, for obvious reasons, scared by the situation. Especially as the media and right-wing MPs try to whip up a war frenzy. Add to this the disinformation and misinformation circulating on social media — what role can and should teachers play in helping children understand this crisis?
The most important thing is, in the first instance, to reassure pupils that the likelihood of World War III is highly unlikely, but just as importantly, to teach them the skill of critical thinking.
The question of what and how we should be teaching could of course also be broadened out to cover the whole curriculum — to ask what role teachers can and should play in helping them to understand the world at large. In a world where fake news is rife, politicians can’t be trusted and the mainstream media is owned by millionaires, the role of teachers is more important than ever.
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We face austerity, privatisation, and toxic influence. But we are growing, and cannot be beaten
The series unveils uncomfortable truths about youth alienation and online radicalisation — but the real crisis lies in austerity and the absence of class consciousness in addressing young people’s disillusionment, says teacher ROBERT POOLE
MATT FLAMENCO warns of precarity of work, teacher shortages, demoralisation and curriculums filled with ‘corporate-speak’ as among the issues of concern to the education workforce today
As the government moves to rein in academy freedoms, former darling of conservative education reform Katharine Birbalsingh cries ‘Marxism.’ Education columnist ROBERT POOLE examines how academisation has failed our children while enriching executives and empowering ideologues at the expense of democratic accountability