I'm just about to wind up for the summer, but as soon as I get back we're into the conference season, and I've got a busy September and October. I'll be doing a keynote speech at a regional music conference in Blackpool, UK, another keynote at a conference for newly qualified teachers, running some seminars on creativity in education, going over to Tunisia to speak at the World Forum on Music event, and then, finally, taking part in the World Alliance for Arts Education Summit to be held in..... Gateshead.

So, I'm currently working up some ideas and presentations about how we can make the case for more progressive approaches to education (and the arts) without coming across as 70's throwbacks. Although it's interesting to note that the re-invented conservative party in the UK can present their education plans, should they win the next election (as seems increasingly likely), as a return to the 'academic' learning last seen in the 1950s without a hint of embarrassment...... watch here, for a synopsis of their driving vision.

I've been watching the recent discussion on the links (if any) between schooling and social mobility. We seem to be expecting schools to do an awful lot when we look for them to transform aspirations, but it's clear that the arts can manage to blend both the formal and non-formal experiences and aspirations of young people, in a way other parts of the curriculum often struggle to achieve.