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The Here and Now and related matters
I was flattered to be invited to speak at Play Wales’s SPIRIT conference last week where I ended up talking about freedom, the here and now, and democratic space. To my mind the three ideas are inextricably connected to each other. Part of my talk took what might be called an ‘in principle’ critical stance… Continue reading
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Democratic space
It’s not an accident that we attach the adjective ‘democratic’ to either describe actual public spaces, or to mark our aspirations for them. Indeed, there’s a flotilla of warm words – ‘shared’, ‘communal’, ‘inclusive’, ‘accessible’ – that together act as a collective nod towards the features and atmosphere we believe a truly public, ‘public space’… Continue reading
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York College Nursery Prosecution – cause for concern?
Preamble, 28 March 2014 This is a corrected version of the article first posted on the 9 February 2014. In that post I erroneously said that the HSE was the prosecuting authority in the York College nursery case. That was wrong, they were not. I apologise for my error, now corrected. However, the general points… Continue reading
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Holding fast: It’s not the evidence that does it
It is not a minor matter that those of us at the forefront of thinking about, developing, and promoting risk-benefit assessment have been particularly attentive to language, to the meaning of words and the order in which they are placed. Thus we have taken HAZARD’s hand, twirled it round a bit, and shown its positive,… Continue reading
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“We don’t promote risky play” Nor should you.
Thanks to Arthur Batram for finding and sharing this: “We don’t promote risky play” Nor should you.. Continue reading
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Tackling the playground claim culture
Tim’s blog draws useful attention both to Wolverhampton City Council’s approach to risk management and to Helen Tovey’s extremely good article in Nursery World. And there is more potentially good news – or at least news that travels in the right direction – from the Higher Courts. A recent case – West Sussex County Council… Continue reading
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Play services decimated by cuts
Play services decimated by cuts. This is my first reblog. Hope I’ve done it right. It’s an article by Tim Gill. Continue reading
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The limitations of compensatory provision
It’s that time of year. More precisely, time of years. That period which feels, for me at least, set apart from the year we have left; but also semi-detached from the one we now notionally inhabit. I have yet to press the ‘Go’ button for full throttle into 2014. And in such circumstances, the mind… Continue reading
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Mandela
In announcing the death of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, South Africa’s President, Jacob Zuma, said that Mandela had ‘departed’. As though we had been visited, and that visit is now over. Mandela, a departed presence that for long will linger. What it is hoped will linger are the beliefs Nelson Mandela’s life embodied, beliefs lived-by through action. Continue reading
About Me
This is Bernard Spiegal’s blog.
I write mainly about Palestine/Israel and related issues; sometimes other stuff too
Bernard Spiegal 