大象传媒

Don't know if you lot on newsnight get much chance to watch much TV but Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and Jamie Olive have launched a campaign against factory intensive farming.

I think it would be really interesting for NN to do something on this- perhaps get Hugh, the govt minister and someone from CIWF- because these programmes often lack the political element and the level of debate.

I don't think you can duck the Hain story in this morning's Guardian. I
like Peter Hain - but you cannot have one standard of disclosure
for benefit recipients and another for the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions surely? Scotland is still waiting for any explanation
too from Wendy Alexander about her
campaign finance problem .........

Don't know if you lot on newsnight get much chance to watch much TV but Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and Jamie Olive have launched a campaign against factory intensive farming.

I think it would be really interesting for NN to do something on this- perhaps get Hugh, the govt minister and someone from CIWF- because these programmes often lack the political element and the level of debate.

RESEARCH? REMEMBER POLICY EXCHANGE..

Here's something else you can do. Look into what passes as educational 'research' these days. Look into how the LANGUAGE of research has been expropriated in the service of political spin at the expense of science (and education) itself.

Millions have been appropriated to implement SEAL on the basis of
this so-called 'evidence'. This, below shows nothing but contempt (or ignorance of) evidence based practice, ie. science. It uses the language of science to spin better. Criticising people for this is pretty much a waste of time these days as I fear most of the guilty parties don't even know that they are doing it.

"As a first step we are introducing what is known as the Social and emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) programme into secondary schools. As I鈥檝e already seen for myself in primary schools, SEAL teaches young people social and emotional skills to allow them to resolve conflict calmly, manage anger and show respect for others."

This is nonsense, it's *not* evidence based/driven at all, and it it's now starting to appear in our *secondary* schools too. Teachers will probably not be able to objectively appraise what's going on as Ed Balls and his spin doctors assert the opposite to what the data actually shows. if there was good evidence for it, no problem. It's the fact that there isn't which is important here.

The same was done over 'Cognitive Skills' in prisons and probation in the early to late 90s. This is known not to have worked. That has been acknowledged in Home Affairs Select Committees, and is all on the record. But I bet those who sold it in the early 1990s are still doing very well out of this, even though the evidence shows they should all have been drummed out of their jobs for incompetence or fraud. I don't think this can be excused as just error. These people are culpable.

The following was posted to the Guardian CiF in July. All three posts at the end appear to have since been deleted. Why one migt ask? Cognitive Behaviour Therapy will be sold to schools as a panacea even though the rather shoddy SEAL research shows there was no significant effect apart from the girls liking talking about their feelings. Bad behaviour and low attainmnet in our schools is mainly a male problem as a consequence of our feminisaing the curriculum in pursuit of INCLUSION. The cost has been an increase in male, especilaly black caribbean, EXCLUSION.

The sad reality is that there seems to be a 'liberal conspiracy' to use
academic credentials to commercially sell snake-oil for public funds. This is now well out of control as a consequence of professional deregulation in my view. Anyone who tries to stand up to this nonsense is highly likely to find themselves out of work, which just reinforces the problem alas.

Surely there has got to be something radically wrong with our culture if
people are rewarded for telling lies, and punished for telling the
truth?

"Learning To Play Nice"
Comment Is Free: Guardian
Comment No. 687127
July 9 9:55 GBR

"Readers will, of course, have followed up the links in the author's article. They will have looked up the evaluation of the primary SEAL pilot which justifies this increased expenditure.

At the DfES website we read on page 91 of the (largely postal questionnaire based evaluation of perceptions):

"There were gender differences in responses to the questionnaire (see
Table 6.7). In relation to Self-esteem and Motivation there were
statistically significant differences both prior to and after the SEAL programme. In both cases the girls had higher scores than the boys. For both boys and girls there were small increases in scores following the introduction of the SEAL programme. In relation to Emotions and Awareness of them in Self and Others the girls also had statistically significant higher scores pre and post the SEAL programme. The scores for the girls increased as a result of the SEAL programme while that for the boys decreased. A similar pattern was evident in relation to Social
Skills and Relationships.

Girls showed a slight improvement as a result of the SEAL programme while the scores for the boys remained the same."

Then skip to ch. 8 which looks at attendance and impact on Key Stage 1
and 2.

KS1: Reading (p.131):

"For the pilot as a whole there was no statistically significant change
in reading attainment"

Writing (p.132):

"Across the programme as a whole the change was positive (mean pre pilot 81.93, mean post pilot 82.16) but not statistically significant."

Mathematics (p.133):

"There were no statistically significant differences in the levels of change (see Table 8.5) or across the programme as a whole (mean pre pilot 91.17, mean post pilot 91.69)."

KS2: Needs to be read more closely, but the authors say:

"At KS2 schools involved in the school improvement strand appeared to make significantly greater improvements than CPD-only schools and non-pilot primary schools. This may have been because of their lower levels of performance at the start of the programme."

This is the 'research' on the primary SEAL.

Back in July, Secondary had still to be done:

Like nearly all of this research from the DfES, the devil is in the
detail, and one has to look critically at a) the methods b) the results, and c) most critically, the spin put on the outcome by government 'press-officers'.

Who could possibly criticise aid to help children from dysfunctional
families or oppressed BME groups better manage their feelings, be better motivated etc?

Well, that is the job of the Pubic Accounts Committee and all responsible citizens/researchers! Note the role of the "Third Sector" (charity status) in all of this. Look for the books, DVDs etc or courses, seminars etc at their websites. Do these all come for free? Do those working for these 'charities' give their time and advice pro bono? How many of these people are making sideways moves from the public sector (which has a very poor track record of delivery when it comes to these high PR panaceas) into the gentler domain of PR entrepreneurship? Are their contracts evidence/performance based, if so, how closely are their services monitored and in terms of which reliable performance indicators? If this is not done, are we not encouraging corruption? Here
are a couple of earlier eye openers just to illustrate where some of
these ideas come from, how it all really works, and sadly, how despite
considerable dissent over the years from those able to critically evaluate the research, dissenters have been marginalised, their concerns ignored and the just criticism airbrushed.

For many it gets even worse.

See Q277 onwards and see what is happening to probation today now that the Offender Management Act has become law.

There's more on the SEAL nonsense here:

This really is a case of the bad driving out the good.

>>how America are losing the war against drugs >New Hampshire Who else should we talk to?>Nuclear energy<<

given energy is now a defence matter why are up to 50% of solar panel planning applications being turned dowm. Why has the tax been raised on vegetable oil as fuel to make it more expensive than diesel. Surely we need a 'dig for victory' type campaign for energy to gets us out of Gazprom and the middle east?

"We've also recruited a young film maker with some dramatic footage from Columbia about how America are losing the war against drugs - and cocaine in particular."

Columbia University or Colombia the country?

Hi Newsnight

you will tell that I'm a bit bored by the following question

I looked on the internet and New Hampshire appears to 7 hours behind us.

Last night I watched David Grossman reporting live there but it was dark already.

A couple of nights before I watched a report where it was also dark, and unlike the first report from Iowa he did not appear frozen to the marrow but was wearing a different coat over what appeared to be only a shirt and open at the top and without a scarf,

not suggesting anything ,seriously not doing so, but just a little curious at the changing climate and lighting in America,

you know I'm teasing you a little but in a friendly way,

best wishes
Bob

unsurprising edits to my post. Who is NN afraid of? Aipac? Which proves my point regarding the usa elections?

In response to comment 9- new hampshire are 5 hours behind are they not? which would make it 5.30 when newsnight starts. It is 5.30 here now and it is dark.

Thanks Nick

I managed to use different measures of time, so it wasnt filmed in the Shepherds Bush car lot after all !
best wishes

Bob

Newsnight,

I watch newsnight daily. am a Kenyan who resides in UK. I am concerned that your interviews are not doing a detailed background research on the leadership form both ODM and PNU.

In 1982 Odinga(ODM leader) made a coup attempt at Moi's government that was only 4 years old.Ruto has cases outstanding in courts. Is burning of houses and throwing in kids not a genocide?

Have look at these pictures and let the readers make their mind up.

Barrie (#12) If the analysis is sound (and as it's evidence driven it is), the solution is implicit is it not?

The first step is to confidently challenge all those who have lied for at least two generations about the nature of individual and group differences, and who have cooked up paranoid horror stories about where acknowledgement of the facts of human diversity have led in the past. This has been done, very successfully I suggest, solely to secure hegemonic advantage through deception/disinformation. It was originally meant to punish the Germans for abandoning democracy/capitalism.

Barrie (#12) If the analysis is sound (and as it's evidence driven it is), the solution is implicit is it not?

The first step is to confidently challenge all those who have lied for at least two generations about the nature of individual and group differences, and who have cooked up paranoid horror stories about where acknowledgement of the facts of human diversity have led in the past.

This was done, very successfully I suggest, solely to secure hegemonic advantage through deception/disinformation/propaganda. It was originally meant to punish the Germans for abandoning democracy/capitalism and was exploited to great effect by the USSR.