What's new?

Latest TV: Climate Change debate @ Graveney School...
January 2009

Latest article: Students deserve more than 'crippling simplicity'
16 March 2009

Latest speech: Should schools teach creationism?
11 February 2009

Latest media broadcast: IoI Education Forum Podcast
December 2008

Featured speech

Should creationism be taught in schools?

Hosted by the Institute of Ideas and the Humanist Society Scotland at the National Library Scotland
11 February 2008
National Library Scotland, Edinburgh

Should schools teach creationism?

The debate over Creationism is one of the hottest flashpoints in the battle between secularism and religion. While the US has seen extended conflict over the theory of evolution, new challenges to Darwinism under the guise of intelligent design (ID) have arisen in the UK. Concerns centre on school science education, from Sir Peter Vardy's Emmanuel Schools Foundation to the controversial teaching packs distributed by the anti-evolution group Truth in Science. Although the Royal Society and much of the scientific establishment have denounced the teaching of Creationism, and the Royal Society's embattled director of education resigned last year after causing controversy by suggesting teachers should discuss Creationism in class, a recent MORI poll revealed that over 40% of the public believe that creationism or ID should be taught alongside evolution in school science classes.

Speakers
Alex McLellan, Founder and Executive Director of Reason Why
Dave Perks, Head of Physics at Graveney School in London
Christopher Brookmyre, Novelist, including Boiling a Frog
Julian Baggini, writer and philosopher
Marc Surtees, Paradigm Shift
Chair - Tiffany Jenkins, Institute of Ideas

+View all my speeches

Featured book

The Corruption of the Curriculum
11 June 2007

'Britain's cultural elites prefer to turn every one of their concerns into a school subject' - Frank Furedi

The school curriculum has been corrupted by political interference, according to a new report from independent think-tank Civitas. The traditional subject areas have been hi-jacked to promote fashionable causes such as gender awareness, the environment and anti-racism, while teachers are expected to help to achieve the government's social goals instead of imparting a body of academic knowledge to their students..
Read on...

+View all my books

Featured TV broadcast

Climate Change Debate on Green TV
January 2009

Graveney sixth form debating society hosted "Is climate change the greatest threat to humanity?" and took on the educational organiser of the Inteligence Squared Green Festival on Climate Change.
January 2009

Watch the program ...

+View all my media appearances

 

Featured media broadcast

IoI Education Forum Podcast
December 2008

The sixth in a series of post-forum podcasts is available to download here. Listen to Education Forum members Mark Taylor, Toby Marshall, Dennis Hayes, Shirley Lawes and David Perks discuss several current news items.
December 2008: Download mp3 (27:36; 128kb)

Listen to the podcast ...

+View all my media appearances

Featured article

Students deserve more than 'crippling simplicity'
16 March 2009 spiked

Manchester Grammar, one of the leading independent schools in England, announced last week that it would be the first school to stop putting its students forward for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) altogether. Its decision, made in response to the latest reforms of the GCSE examinations, has rocked an already fragile schools examination system.
Read on...

+View all my articles

+ Back to top
For further information email mail@davidperks.com or phone +44 (0)7795 323862