Conscientiousness is crashing, neuroticism is soaring, young people are far less agreeable and far more introverted - what have we done to our kids?

David and Martin discuss this and more - is our on-screen and social media culture to blame? What can schools do, if anything? Does 'project based learning' have a role?

Article by John Burn Murdoch can be accessed here: https://www.ft.com/content/5cd77ef0-b546-4105-8946-36db3f84dc43

His thread on Twitter/X can be accessed here: https://x.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1953811277463122162

Is Dead Poets Society a great film?

Does it have any lessons for contemporary teaching?

Is Romanticism a bad influence on schooling?

ALSO: Why not sponsor David on his half marathon for Cancer Research? https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/davids-giving-page-28674978

Did you choose to watch this?

If there is no free will who would ever discipline a child? It's not their fault!

In this week's cornucopia of delights we look into Free Will and the implications of the science and the philosophy - do we have free will or not?

We put Descartes before the Hume. Dennett and Searle, you name it we name drop it. We can't help ourselves!

Some links to articles mentioned: https://powerfulknowledge.substack.com/p/how-should-we-think-about-the-engagement

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/curriculum-labour-is-on-the-right-path-but-its-a-tightrope/

https://daviddidau.substack.com/p/what-do-you-mean-by-engagement?selection=8e3325ff-837e-40fd-becb-cc379a5e3fb3

Fiona Millar was quoted from the RSA Journal Issue 2, 2025

In this episode, we take apart the myth that schools can paper over the cracks of a society in crisis with mindfulness sessions, gratitude journals and breathing techniques.

We look at what the data really tells us: a fifth of children now meet the threshold for a probable mental disorder. Over a third of 17 to 19-year-old girls are struggling. Services are overwhelmed. Yet instead of fixing what’s broken, we offer sticking plasters and tell young people to breathe through the damage.

We explore why wellbeing initiatives often individualise failure, how schools risk medicalising ordinary distress, and what we should be doing instead.

If you’re tired of seeing schools made responsible for society’s failings, this one’s for you.

Links Below:

NHS Digital (2023) — Mental Health of Children and Young People in England:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-england/2023-wave-4-follow-up#:~:text=Key%20Facts,36.9%25%20compared%20with%207.6%25

Mind — Facts and figures about young people and mental health: https://www.mind.org.uk/about-us/our-strategy/doing-more-for-young-people/facts-and-figures-about-young-people-and-mental-health/

Health Foundation — Understanding the crisis in young people’s mental health: https://www.health.org.uk/features-and-opinion/blogs/understanding-the-crisis-in-young-people-s-mental-health

House of Commons Library — Children and young people’s mental health services:

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7749/

According to the Times Newspaper, the English Department at Alleyn’s School in southeast London are in the process of diversifying their curriculum and are introducing students to the 'works of a drag queen and non-binary authors.' We're not sure that the Times approves… There is another question underlying the discussion here and that is ‘should children see themselves in the curriculum?” and in times of growing individualism and self-authorship is that even possible?

Some Links:

https://www.thetimes.com/article/7c9a532d-c23e-4bcb-b649-d26562cda39a

https://www.thetimes.com/article/4611de82-f49a-47ef-9c43-7d7395e38105

https://www.them.us/story/uk-gender-identity-schools-proposed-ban

https://www.vox.com/scotus/408356/supreme-court-mahmoud-taylor-dont-say-gay

https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-lgbtq-books-religion-maryland-069d155fa862d2a16619fc7f513819ab

Is our obsession with testing failing students?

Is Oracy a fad or part of the ongoing tradition of Western Education?

Links to some of the things mentioned in this episode:

https://oracyeducationcommission.co.uk/oec-report/

https://www.education-uk.org/documents/pdfs/2021-appg-oracy.pdf

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-commission-conversations/id1739353277?i=1000658062482

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-commission-conversations/id1739353277?i=1000659285974