The RSA Blog

Collectively thinking about the curriculum

Blog

01 Mar 2010

As promised, Friday's seminar on the implications of social brain theory for how we think about the national curriculum resulted in a fascinating discussion.

The social curriculum - how who we are affects what we learn

Blog

25 Feb 2010

Social brain theory, which looks at insights from a range of disciplines that deal with human brain, mind and behaviour sciences, posits that our rationality is more emotionally driven, that we are more socially responsive, and that our decisions are made more unconsciously than simplistic models of rational, individualistic beings making rational decisions allow.

A price worth paying

Blog

25 Feb 2010

Matthew Taylor

From the first day I was appointed to be Chief Executive of the RSA my over riding ambition for the Society has been to enable and support our amazing Fellowship to be a powerful force for good. Yesterday was an interesting day on that journey.

Localism - the way to save Whitehall

Blog

24 Feb 2010

Matthew Taylor

With OFSTED reporting that progress in primary schools has been hampered by too many central initiatives, and the the inquiry into events at Stafford Hospital in part blaming the ‘target culture’ of the NHS, today is going to be another bad day for centralism.

Citizenship politics - part 3

Blog

23 Feb 2010

Matthew Taylor

I fear readers will approach the final instalment of my three-parter on citizenship politics with all the enthusiasm of a vegan starting work placement in a steak pie factory. I had my doubts as to both the intellectual and entertainment value of these posts and as the comments have dried up (not that I’m not enormously grateful for those who have posted) my worst fears have been confirmed. Tomorrow I will gather up the pieces of my shattered self esteem and return to more palatable fare; some jokes about dogs perhaps?

Citizenship politics - part 2

Blog

22 Feb 2010

Matthew Taylor

I am grateful for the constructive comments on my citizenship politics post, although I fear I’m a long way still from getting the idea more widely discussed. Today and tomorrow I want to explore the idea a bit more, including confronting its most obvious problems.

Jailbreak Competition

Blog

22 Feb 2010

I'm attending a seminar this afternoon to find out more about an exciting competition from the Social Innovation Camp and NESTA which I thought you might be interested in.

Citizenship politics, citizenship economics

Blog

19 Feb 2010

Matthew Taylor

It boils down to this: policy and politics must start from the question of citizenship. This has been the core assertion running through my annual lectures, through this blog and through the strategy for the RSA. I am more and more convinced that this idea is the best basis for an intelligent, powerful, and urgently necessary debate about the choices society faces. But given that the demands of my job rule out finding the time and focus to write a book or even an extended pamphlet, how can I get this idea to the centre of current debate?

How many friends does one cyborg need?

Blog

19 Feb 2010

Jonathan Rowson

Yesterday's RSA Thursday featured Robin Dunbar, Director of the Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Oxford, but  best known  for having his own number (a sure sign of success), 150, which he argues is the upper limit on the number of people you can maintain stable relationships with.