Cultural capital and the classroom

Plus teen music, reproductive risk, Poulain, raising modern boys, father as God, "the talk", Rajasthan Rising, the pain of motherhood, and some art.

The Thinker, Rodin (via National Gallery of Art)

Last week it was announced that the UK Government is to introduce Latin to 40 state secondary schools as part of a £4million pilot scheme, in an effort to counter the subject’s reputation as elitist. And oh, people are pissed about it.

The objections I’ve read online seemed to broadly sit in two categories: a) listing all of the different things the money - and time - could instead be spent on, such as teaching children British Sign Language, Mandarin, personal finance, or how to fix a car engine, and b) decrying Latin as a dead subject, only brought in due to Tory nostalgia for their private school days and of little use to most children.

I’m not usually one to defend Government decisions on, well, anything, especially when it comes to education. We home educate our daughter, and I see many problems with our education system as it currently stands. But I wanted to share some thoughts on this, following conversations I’ve had IRL, because for once I think… I might agree with the Tories?

Hear me out.