Knowledge - Ignorance: Political leaders always seek an informed citizenry. Discuss?

c/o 'The war on knowledge' Simon Schama 
Life&Arts :: FTWeekend

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'As the Founders saw it, the great driver of freedom was knowledge. Two decades before independence, the lawyer and essayist William Livingston insisted in a journal called The Independent Reflector that "knowledge among a people makes them free, enterprising and dauntless; but Ignorance enslaves, emasculates and depresses them". Are you an 'Independent Reflector'? MIND

'In 1779, Thomas Jefferson (who would make sure that his role as "Father of the University of Virginia would be inscribed on his tombstone) championed a Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge. Its purpose would be to "illuminate ... the minds of the people at large" - excluding of course, women and the enslaved - "and more especially to give them knowledge of those facts . .. [that] they may be enabled to know ambition under all its shapes." The 1780 Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, primarily drafted by Adams, committed itself to "The Encouragement of Literature" so that "Harvard-College in Cambridge" would be the institution through which the diffusion of "wisdom and knowledge" would ensure health of the body politic.' BODY

PUBLIC 'The informed citizenry' Public understanding of the sciences.

POLITIC 'As Richard D Brown's important history The Strength of a People: The Idea of an Informed Citizenry in America, 1650-1870 points out, all of America's first four presidents (including James Madison) assumed that the security of the republic depended on the "equation of virtue and knowledge". A century later, Calvin Coolidge might assert that "the chief business of the American people is business", but a rich stream of ideas flowing from the learned optimism of the Founders, through the creation of land-grant colleges and the "brain trust" administrations of Franklin Roosevelt, assumed that professors were not the "enemy" but a resource that was indispensable for the good of the nation. The true enemy of American democracy was not professors, but ignorance.'

My source:

Simon Schama. 'The war on knowledge', Life&Arts, FTWeekend, 26-27 April, 2025, pp.1-2.

Previously: 'knowledge' : 'ignorance' : 'political'

Postdoc “Citizen Science” (V25.0121) at Univ of Groningen

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Please note: You should be able to speak Dutch...

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Feel free to share in your network.

Cheers,

Henk

Dr. Henk A.J. Mulder
Master Science Education and Communication &
Bèta Wetenschapswinkel (Science Shop @ Science LinX),
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (University of Groningen)
Dr. Henk A.J. Mulder
Energy Academy/IREES
kamer/room 5158.0222
Nijenborgh 6
9747 AG Groningen
The Netherlands

h.a.j.mulder AT rug.nl
http://www.rug.nl/staff/h.a.j.mulder/
http://www.rug.nl/society-business/science-shops/
http://www.rug.nl/masters/educatie-en-communicatie-in-de-wiskunde-en-natuurwetenschappen/

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my ACADEMIC CAREER my LANGUAGE SKILLS my LIFE EXPERIENCE my PASSIONS	SCIENCES - ENGINEERING 'LIVED EXPERIENCE' Enthusiast-Expert [patient, swimmer, x,y,z ...] local, regional, national, international
PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT COMMUNITY ISSUES/AWARENESS COMMUNICATION	CITIZENS EVIDENCE-BASED POLICY PUBLIC PRIORITIES POLICY PRIORITIES

n.b. No endorsement of Hodges' model should be construed from inclusion of #h2cm above.

Finding a space for Lived Experience

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Whatever your personal - emotional - journey, your experience, ongoing expectations ... hope: hope-fully this is you. You can, or have discovered the potential here. Whether or not the strengths you possess, are recognised due to what others see elsewhere.	Lived experience brings so many pathways. So many rooms and spaces to explore. Whatever the physical challenges: whether well: 'all-good thanks'; or dealing with one or more diagnoses - acutely, in recovery, relapse, may all points of the compass be open to you.
Whatever your life experience: your health career began down here [and across there ->], shaped by your life chances. These days they call them the determinants. They are many, and can influence your social network, whether you have one ...	As you (literally) negotiate - even if you fail repeatedly - the systems, that the system throws your way, trying to make ends-meet; in work or out, never under-estimate what a person can do. Here lived experience can pay dividends, across the divides that really matter.

Welcome to your space ...

and may it include hope shared and delivered ...

Alliance for Responsible Citizenship

Last month on two occasions, I came across the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (which is a registered company). 

In the Sunday Times, "Philippa Stroud: ‘Everyone’s moaning — I think humanity can sort things out’":

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/philippa-stroud-alliance-responsible-citizenship-km8z26b8b

and Financial Times "'Part megachurch, part political rally: inside London’s ‘rightwing Davos’".

https://www.ft.com/content/7ff1614c-38a2-4b5c-81d3-80cea1196dad 

Apparently, a right wing, conservative movement with a three-day conference, one commentary suggested it has struggled to define itself, which is understandable given the ongoing (increasing?) prompts for its creation.

You recognise early on in your nursing career and not just as a student (pre-Project 2000 UK), but as a Nursing Assistant that character is a key element in your professional development. By the time you qualify, you more accurately see that without a doubt it is your formative education that is a critical factor. That and your 'home' circumstances - and not necessarily the two-parents good, one bad formulation. This is why with students excluded from school, society is taking a wrong turn. There is obviously a problem but what is the 'correct' approach?

An 'alliance' already suggests a given level of organisation. By definition 'grassroots movements' must struggle to establish and retain their identity.

This is a project Hodges' model can help address - with a balanced but not necessarily a neutral output.

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identity personality attitude aptitude character faith individual beliefs religious engagement courage hope threshold concepts my destiny well-being trust	future physical thresholds  waste climate change circular economy AI truth - information disorder science technology PAST - work - FUTURE our future destiny - (what does the clock say?) future generations?
grassroots social movement arts family community culture - diversity social - cultural identity society - support social change social capital social contract social values our shared destiny our children's children welfare - living wage employment - leisure quality of life	power political systems past policy UK: 'Troubled Families' economics organisations, institutions corporations political (manifest! - colonialism ) destiny policy systems political engagement health of leaders trust international law - justice control of fraud, corruption, crime human rights political thresholds

What are the characteristics of living a life?

What about Nationhood?

Citizenship?

[Spiritual ( Sciences, Sociology, Intra- Interpersonal, Political )]

person(hood) individual

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speak see hear	speak hear see
speak hear see

Source: Various since 2021 - image 'X'.

Women's rights in Afghanistan: An ongoing battle
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI(2023)747084

Afghanistan: No future without women’s participation

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/09/1154721

Landscapes, Maths, Line of Sight c/o Penteado & Skovsmose Eds. (2022)

The care / knowledge domains of

Hodges' model as landscapes:
as 'initial sketches'?

'Line of sight/thought?'

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reflection critical reflection cognitive/conceptual landscapes

maths and sciences = hard subjects ?

"We understand that mathematics is especially relevant in knowledge processing, and operates in the process of globalisation,4 i.e., it interferes in several aspects that integrate with society. We admit that globalisation refers to all aspects of life and that, depending on how it is questioned and operationalised, it may or may not be beneficial. Therefore, globalisation “has to do with the construction, codification, and distribution of knowledge that turns into goods for sale” (Skovsmose, 2014, p. 130). This way, mathematical knowledge is involved as part of the foundations of society, making it necessary to question its position in this laborious civilising equation (Civiero and Bazzo, 2020). In this context we delegate some power to critical mathematics education (CME) by considering that it can contribute to the formation of critical individuals by promoting reflection on this process. Bazzo (2019) considers us to experience a civilising equation whose variables need to be discussed in schools." pp.296-297.

"The word citizenship, a contested concept, emerges in different discourses that can hide contrasting interests. Differences in its meanings are enhanced with the changes in society through history. This chapter presents a discussion about mathematics education for citizenship and its outcomes. School presents itself as a stage of dispute and a space for expressing different ideologies that can configure ways of thinking and structuring an education on the topic of citizenship. Mathematics education is shown to be supportive of different citizenship discourses. In a globalised world with deep inequalities, a type of mathematics education for citizenship that matches with inclusion and diversity is required; one which considers global issues. The proposed landscape of investigation Global Visibility Matters is a possible support aid for mathematics classes, based on enabling students to develop global citizenship. By reading and interpreting a social situation as being open to change, it becomes possible for the students to be recognised as—and to act as—global citizens." p.133.

Chapter 8 Global Citizenship, Manuella Carrijo, pp. 133-147.

Chapter 18 Critical Mathematics Education in Action:  To Be or Not to Be. Paula Andrea Grawieski Civiero and  Fátima Peres Zago de Oliveira. pp. 295-321.

Penteado, M. & Skovsmose, O., editor. (2022) Landscapes of Investigation: Contributions to Critical Mathematics Education. Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021385926/

landscape

https://hodges-model.blogspot.com/search?q=landscape

sketch

https://hodges-model.blogspot.com/search?q=sketch

'line of sight'

https://hodges-model.blogspot.com/search?q=line+of+sight

Book: Landscapes of Investigation [open access]

"Creating landscapes of investigation is a primary concern of critical mathematics education. It enables us to organise educational processes so that students and teachers are able to get involved in explorations guided by dialogical interactions. It attempts to address explicit or implicit forms of social injustice by means of mathematics, and also to promote a critical conception of mathematics, challenging the assumption that the subject represents objectivity and neutrality. Landscapes of Investigation provides many illustrations of how this can be done in primary, secondary, and university education. It also illustrates how exploring landscapes of investigation can contribute to mathematics teacher education programmes. 

This edited volume is the result of a collaboration established through the Colloquium in Research in Critical Mathematics Education, which took place in 2016, 2018, and 2019 in Brazil. Its twenty-eight contributors are young researchers from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, India, Mexico and the USA, who are dedicated to the further development of critical mathematics education. 

Organised in eighteen chapters, the volume presents examples of engaging students from a diversity of social and economic backgrounds, age ranges, and abilities across different countries. The chapters present original findings on the social aspects of all levels of mathematics education. Landscapes of Investigation is of particular relevance to those with an interest in the potential of mathematics education to challenge social injustices."

Penteado, M. & Skovsmose, O., editor. (2022) Landscapes of Investigation: Contributions to Critical Mathematics Education. Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021385926/

Review:

David M. Bowers
"Book Review: Landscapes of Investigation: Contributions to Critical Mathematics Education (2022) (M. G. Penteado & O. Skovsmose, Eds.)". Journal for Theoretical & Marginal Mathematics Education, vol. 2, no. 1, 2023. doi:10.5281/zenodo.10440243

My source:

https://x.com/dylanwiliam/status/1602776823225540610?s=20

Previously

https://hodges-model.blogspot.com/search?q=mathemacy

ii The Jubilee Centre Framework for Character Education in Schools - 3rd edition

Some thoughts on the previous post ...

Regards, "Character is fundamental: it is the basis for human and societal flourishing;" and "Character is sought freely to pursue a better life;" p.7.

While education is rivalrous - character education is - should be non-rivalrous?

Philosophers have and continue to debate the meaning of 'success', 'good', and related concepts. At a time when students will be acutely aware of the socio-economic transformations needed to accept environmental limits and re-shape the global economy; the provision of tools for reflection, critical thinking, problem solving and 'Being well' should not be a constraint.

There is - must be - a place for a tool that invites, facilitates and rewards conceptual exploration, vocabulary development and the personal and social development that can follow.

Caught, Taught and Sought - are memes still a 'thing'? 

Hodges' model clearly has a hold here. 

Perhaps, you can embrace it too?

It is encouraging to see how character education draws in PSHE, Citizenship, general studies and more. We should not just acknowledge the role of the humanities in a well-rounded education, but as we turn-the-stones let's be aware of the corners too.

Here in the UK students study for O-Levels, A-Levels, T-Levels, BTEC and more. The government's policy to level up - demands that in education we run the gamut of the alphabet and much more. 

Given the global scope of education (usually*), with Hodges' model a product of Manchester Polytechnic now Manchester Metropolitan University, there are strong links between the healthcare sector, education and research - hence the sciences. The question now concerns the nature of these links. I feel they are bound to be strengthened. Even within healthcare, medicine, nursing and the allied health professions - on-the-ground it appears there is a need to do more to effect positive change through the sustainable development goals and not just draw attention to the social determinants of health, but to determine how we can act on them.

*https://theirworld.org/

University of Birmingham 2013, 2017, 2022
ISBN: 9780704429789
https://www.jubileecentre.ac.uk/527/character-education/framework

Cover image:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/362745797_The_Jubilee_Centre_Framework_for_Character_Education_in_Schools_3rd_revised_version 

Schoolboy's guilt after controversial goal 50 years ago in Wirral football game finally put right:

ITV hub - https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2022-08-27/50-years-of-extra-time-for-schoolboy-football-match

 

 

The Jubilee Centre Framework for Character Education in Schools - 3rd edition

'The aim of our studies is not to know
what virtue is, but to become good.'
                                              
                                                 Aristotle

"WHAT CHARACTER EDUCATION IS

Character is a set of personal traits or dispositions
that produce specific moral emotions,
inform motivation, and guide conduct.

Character education includes all explicit and
implicit educational activities that help
young people to develop positive personal
strengths called virtues." p.7.


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CHARACTER VIRTUES: Intellectual; Moral; Civic, and Performance Caring for and respecting others, as well as caring for and respecting oneself Positive psychology, mental health VIRTUE Literacy i-iii: ‘Perception’; (ii) Virtue ‘Knowledge and Understanding’; and (iii) Virtue ‘Reasoning’. - emotional literacy, judgement Improved attainment, better behaviour Direct teaching of character provides the rationale, language and tools to use in developing character elsewhere in and out of school. p.7. EMOTIONAL

Character is sought freely to pursue a better life. 'Success' in each domain ... Build - virtue literacy Character is educable: it is not fixed and the virtues can be developed. Its progress can be measured holistically, not only through self-reports but also more objective research methods. p.7. Character can be - Caught... ...through a positive school community, formational relationships, and a clear ethos. Taught... ...through the curriculum using teaching and learning strategies, activities, and resources. Sought... ...through chosen experiences that occur within and outside of the formal curriculum. p.12.

CONTAGION Belonging to, participating in - a school community Common good Role-modelling Flourishing societies [Address: Social Determinants of Health]* partnership with parents, families caring for and respecting others, as well as caring for and respecting oneself

Civic Citizens Committed leadership Increased employability, empowering, and liberating partnership teachers, employers, and other community organisations Each child has a right to character education

"Practical Wisdom (phronesis) is the integrative virtue,
developed through experience and critical reflection, which
enables us to perceive, know, desire and act with good sense.
This includes discerning, deliberative action in situations
where virtues collide." p.9.

University of Birmingham 2013, 2017, 2022
ISBN: 9780704429789
https://www.jubileecentre.ac.uk/527/character-education/framework

*Some thoughts to follow, to include on SDoH, and SDG.

Social care ...

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A monument for Taras Shevchenko is symbolically protected by bandages in Borodyanka, northwest of Kyiv. Nickolai Hammar / NPR

 

My source: Schama, S. "Who controls the past?", FT Weekend, Life&Arts, 7 May 2022, p.1.

Photo: https://www.opb.org/article/2022/04/09/this-is-what-a-ukraine-town-looks-like-after-russian-troops-withdraw/

Do you have the intell? ... [Sure?]

PERSON

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GROUP - COMMUNITY - POPULATION

emotional intelligence	physical intelligence
Social & Cultural Intelligence	Political Intelligence? [What the State provides ...]

My reminder: Book Reviews, "Physical Intelligence", What Investment, October 2020, p.51.

If you have 'reflective literacy' what is its scope?

The power of words

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veil	sur-veil

Citizenry: In Hodges' model

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Philosopher My identity	'Nowhere'?
Public, Family, Community	Citizens, Nation State, Welfare Political identity

BBC Radio 4 The Public Philosopher: Citizens of Nowhere?

Representation of the People

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Representation  of the  People   An act to unite  "The Representation of the People Act 1918 meant that a greater number and a broader mix of voices could now be heard at the polls. 100 years later, we mark the centenary of this historic Act with this UK 50p coin range. "

2018 ...

Representation of the People's 

health and social care...?

My source and image: The Royal Mint

Film: Human Flow

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h       u m  an	f   l   o      w
h  u m   a      n	f l            o   w

Human Flow - Film

"Invisible Countries": What are you saying? More to the point what on Earth are you thinking...?

The book in the previous post that prompts this has its own content and creative rationale, but taking the title literally...

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So, you take your identity, country,  nationality for granted? You give scant regard for your citizenship when so many are stateless. Do you possess a passport? A national ID number of some sort?

There's no need for borders. But they do predict the struggles to follow over access to water, the position of dams. This is where we literally co-locate (with the political domain) the geo-political. You may have a point though:  "The first day or so we all pointed to our countries. The third or fourth day we were pointing to our continents. By the fifth day, we were aware of only one Earth." --Sultan bin Salman Al-Saud, astronaut

You also take your family heritage, possibly your 'good' family name for granted? Who do you think you are? Don't you realise you are history?

Are you a pacificist? That is what many will glean from such a stance. What's that? Oh, I see you are a citizen of the world? "The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?" --Pablo Casals Stop struggling. We are all victims of history.

See also: iWish 2059

Quotations: c/o http://www.worldbeyondborders.org/quotes.htm

iWish 2059 ....?

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	Invisible Countries

My source: Sylph Editions

Looking at Clouds from Two Domains ...

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POPULATION

"Humanitarian Applications"	2. "Estonia's entire government IT systems have been uploaded to the cloud and stored on international servers, so the country could be relocated at a moment's notice if needed."
"Good things can come from innovative tech"	1. "The Estonian government is nervous. ... British and American troops are located on the border, as part of a "trip-wire strategy" to get NATO mobilised. If the worst happens, the Estonian government has a rather ingenious contingency plan. ... A government in exile could relocate, boot up the cloud systems and serve the 1.3 million citizens as before."

Cloud for Business, Raconteur, Estonian Defence Plan. 12/03/17 #0439, p.5.

http://innar.com/personal_copy_Estonian_Government_Cloud_Kotka_Liiv_2015.PDF

Book: Start the New Year as you mean to go on... It's SimPol

The SimPol Solution

“It’s ambitious and provocative. Can it work? Certainly worth a serious try” – Noam Chomsky

“I nodded until I got a crick in my neck. I haven’t read a book for years that I agreed with so deeply and so consistently – nor felt so keenly that these are messages the world needs to hear. The clarity, simplicity and profound importance of this book are beyond question. Please read it, and please encourage others to do the same.” - Prof. Simon Anholt, Founder, the Good Country Index

Humanity is failing to tackle urgent global problems like climate change, tax havens, mass migration and wealth inequality. Meanwhile, voters are rebelling in the form of Brexit, Trump and the rise of the Far-Right. The SIMPOL SOLUTION reasons that there is just one barrier that prevents all governments from taking action: the fear that it would make their national economies uncompetitive. No nation can move first for fear of losing jobs and investment to others.

The SIMPOL SOLUTION identifies this as ‘Destructive Global Competition’, a global vicious circle in which we’re all caught. It’s not that governments don’t want to act, but that they can’t. Blaming governments or corporations, even protesting against social injustices, simply continues a ‘them-and-us' polarised politics that goes nowhere.

To find a way out, this book proposes an inner revolution in the way we think about and understand the world, a new more complex level of thinking that the authors call ‘world-centric’. They outline the necessary psychological steps needed to achieve this before introducing the SIMPOL SOLUTION – a simple but effective way for citizens to democratically impel governments to cooperatively solve multiple global problems, so opening the way to a just and sustainable future.

Published by Peter Owen Ltd. Due out February 2017. Pre-order NOW on Amazon, from the publisher, or from the authors direct, at http://www.simpol.org/index.php?id=545

Happy New Year!

My source: John Bunzl  jbunzl AT simpol.org

Book: The Moral Economy - Individual - Group

individual

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group-population

The Moral Economy

My source: Financial Times
Cover image: Amazon