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THE OXFORD CONFERENCE IN EDUCATION |
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Speakers
Speakers at the Conference in 2010 were: |
| Jay Belsky, Professor at Birkbeck College, University of London |
Professor Jay Belsky is based at Birkbeck College, University of London and is an internationally recognized expert in the field of child development and family studies. His areas of special expertise include the effects of day care, parent-child relations during the infancy and early childhood years and the transition to parenthood. He is a founding and collaborating investigator on the NICHD Study of Child Care and Youth Development (US) and that National Evaluation of Sure Start (UK). Professor Belski will talk about the theory that some children are more susceptible than others to influence from their environment. |
| Vince Cable, MP for Twickenham and Lib Dem Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer |
Dr Vince Cable was the acting leader of the Liberal Democrats until the election of Nick Clegg, and is one of the best known and respected politicians of today. He represents Twickenham in the Commons and has been the party’s main economic spokesperson since 2003, having previously served as Chief Economist for the oil company Shell from 1995 to 1997. He famously predicted the credit crunch! |
| Judith Fabian, Academic Director for the International Baccalaureate Organisation |
Judith Fabian has been Academic Director for the International Baccalaureate Organisation since 2007. Before taking the position of Head of Programme development with the IB in Cardiff in 2004, Judith taught English A1 and Theory of Knowledge in international schools in Jordan,Tanzania, and Germany. She was also principal at the International School of Tanganyika and Munich International School, overseeing the implementation of the Middle Years Programme in grades nine and ten in both schools. Prior to her work in international schools, Judith was a deputy headteacher and taught English and Drama in state schools in London. |
| Charlotte Fowler, Heathfield St Mary's School |
Charlotte Fowler is the Director of Studies at Heathfield School and a Tutor at the University of London. She studied Theology at Oxford before doing her Masters in Philosophy at London. Charlotte is currently working with eudaemonia conferences, CTVC, Microbooks and the Coexist Foundation to improve the resources and training available to schools and teachers across the world, particularly in the areas of building School Ethos and Pastoral Care and of planning and delivering PSHCE, RE, Philosophy and the Theory of Knowledge. She has published academic articles, including 'Kant and Forgiveness' for Dialogue Australasia, and has contributed to and edited a number of textbooks and interactive resources for schools, including the 'Living Religions' DVD encyclopaedias, the new 'Understanding Islam' online course and the 'True Tube' Project. She was an advisor to the Tony Blair Faith Foundation and has worked with the DCSF. |
| Frank Furedi, Professor of Sociology at University of Kent - unable to attend because of snow |
Professor Frank Furedi is Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent. Long associated as founder and chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, he entered the media during the 1990s and is author of several books on risk, including Politics of Fear, Where Have All the Intellectuals Gone?, Therapy Culture, Paranoid Parenting, Culture of Fear, and, most recently, Invitation to Terror: the Expanding Empire of the Unknown (2007), an analysis of the impact of terrorism post 9/11. He is a leading sociologist, and, according to research, the most widely cited in the UK press. |
| Alison Garnham, Director of Boarding at Chigwell School |
Dr Alison Garnham is a 20th-century music historian. Her publications include Hans Keller and the BBC (2003), 'The BBC in possession', in The Proms, A New History (2007), and the forthcoming Hans Keller and Internment. |
Bernard O'Donoghue, poet, and Fellow and Tutor in Old English and Medieval English, Linguistics and the History of the English Language at Wadham College, Oxford. |
Bernard O'Donoghue's poems explore the sense of not belonging either to his home in rural Ireland or the England where he now teaches. Wistful and mournful, and gently cutting, O'Donoghue, in the words of David Marriott (on Amazon), "refines his many themes through a remarkable, often touching, style of storytelling". His collections include Razorblades and Pencils, Here Nor There, Outliving, and the Selected Poems in 2008. He also translated Sir Gawain and the Green Knight for Penguin in 2006. |
| Kevin Stannard, Director of International Curriculum Development for Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) |
Kevin Stannard is the Director of International Curriculum Development for Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) and is most associated with the development and launch of the Pre-U. He has extensive experience as a teacher, including 12 years at Eton College, UK, where he was Head of Geography and the Higher Education Adviser. |
| Oliver Taplin, Professor of Classical Languages and Literature at Oxford, and Director of the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama |
Professor Oliver Taplin was Tutor and Fellow in Classics at Magdalen College until 2008 and author of Greek Fire, a celebration of the capacity of Ancient Greek culture to stand the test of time and influence modern art, thought and society which was a successful book and Channel 4 Series. |
| Nick Tate, Director General of the International School of Geneva |
Dr. Nicholas Tate is Chair of the Oxford Conference in Education. From 1994 to 2000 he was chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (and its predecessor, the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority). Wikipedia: "During this period he courted controversy with his attacks on cultural relativism and on its perceived influence on other educationalists' philosophy". He then moved to headmastering: first Winchester College and now in Geneva. |
| Peter Vardy, Vice Principal at Heythrop College, London |
Peter Vardy is a philosopher and theologian. Wikipedia: "Dr. Vardy's PowerPoint presentations are widely used as a teaching aid in philosophy classrooms across the world." Peter gave an excellent talk to the Conference in 2005, and we are delighted to welcome him back. |
| Chris Woodhead, Professor of Education at the University of Buckingham - unable to attend because of snow |
Professor Chris Woodhead was the Chief Inspector of Schools in England from 1994 until 2000 and is one of the most controversial figures in debates on the direction of English education policy. He is currently Professor of Education at Buckingham and the Chairman of Cognita, a company dedicated to fostering private education. |
