Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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Schools and the toxic resilience agenda
The poorer the area, the more the school walls will be plastered with exhortations that students 'believe in themselves' and dig deep for individual reserves of positivity. It's no coincidence, writes STEVE HANDFORD
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
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NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
RECENTLY, I worked in a school for deprived and vulnerable pupils. Its walls and corridors contained a litany of inspirational quotes from gurus ancient and modern. This blu-tacked, laminated treasure trove included: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
Another read: “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” There were so many of these they became a running joke with the cynics among us, staff and pupils alike.
I didn’t realise I was waking up to what teachers are now calling “toxic resilience.” Not dumbing down, but numbing down.
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