Duncan O'Leary
Duncan works on projects looking at public services, skills and work.
- Blood, sweat and tears... Like many a great sporting event, however, the occassion has been marred by controversy. In many ways getting the pictures developed this morning (have a look at them on our flickr page here) should have been a happy occasion, but one photo in particular shows clear evidence of a false start in the multi-legged event. The recriminations have been bitter - with one member of the (now infamous) yellow team arguing that "we reacted to the starter's gun with bullet-time reflexes", in a desperate... continue reading on 15th August 2005
- When values meet During the discussion, one thing which I thought came out particularly strongly was the challenge of overcoming ? or aligning ? the value systems embedded in the work of different professionals involved with children and young people. One participant made the point by describing the values that various professions often hold dear, saying ?with the police it might be ?integrity, trust, and respect for authority? ? whilst schools talk in terms of ?learning? and social services in terms of... continue reading on 5th August 2005
- Beer for geeks Who said Open Source couldn't be fun...?[Via the GIB] continue reading on 20th July 2005
- Whose service is it anyway? First things first, this is already happening in a lot of pretty successful schools and Colleges, and so is not the ridiculous/unmanageable suggestion that some have tried to dismiss it as. Of course headteachers aren?t just handing power to make appointments and set the strategic direction of their schools, but most of the people that we have spoken to on our travels have found the approach pretty useful. Their job, after all, is to create institutions that work for the children that attend... continue reading on 19th July 2005
- A common band Something pretty inspiring happened to me yesterday - i met an 86 year-old wearing a white Make Poverty History band. There can't be many things that teenagers and pensioners are both wearing at the moment. I'm sure this campaign is going to be studied for years to come. For now though,the Make Poverty History site has details of how you can get involved in the campaign here. continue reading on 29th June 2005 Comments (1)
- Political hot potatoes Here are two things i didn't know before i switched on the radio this morning:1. There's a British Potato Council.2. The term 'couch potato' is derogatory to the potato, and should be replaced with 'couch slouch'.My only concern is what the British Couch Association will have to say about all this. continue reading on 20th June 2005
- Whisky drinkers, the England Rugby Team'and Children's trusts As it happens, Woodward makes the same point in his book. During his time in charge he revolutionized the way in which the England squad operated, but he did so according to his rule that ?Organizations, like people, can only handle so much change at any one point in time?.I think this raises some really interesting questions for our project on Children?s Trusts. Starting with the needs of each individual child offers the most effective way of identifying the extent to which policy and... continue reading on 31st May 2005
- All for one It?s Friday, we?re starting a new project. And it looks a really interesting one. We?ll be working with GatenbySanderson on a project looking at Children?s Trusts, the new local authority structures created by the Every Child Matters legislation. The Trusts will, for the first time, bring together all children?s development needs into a single, locally delivered service.Hannah and I are planning on posting fairly regularly over the next few months, and we?d like to hear people?s thoughts on... continue reading on 20th May 2005
- 'Ello 'ello 'ello Avid greenhouse readers might remember that a couple of months ago Demos held a seminar/workshop/discussion on Open Source in the run up to the publication of Wide Open. One of the topics we talked about was the possibility of more open information, including more transparency on issues like where and when crimes take place in a neighbourhood. Needless to say not everyone thought this would be a good idea, given the possibility that it might create no-go areas in a city or simply tell people... continue reading on 19th May 2005
- Listen carefully I've just been doing some reading for our Community Leadership project with the National College for School Leadership and came across this engagement continuum, developed by the New South Wales Department of Planning in 2003. Since the election there have been a lot of promises to listen more carefully to the public, it will be interesting to see where the government - and public institutions - position themselves on the continuum in the coming months and years.[by the way, if you're... continue reading on 18th May 2005