Learning and creativity are dying says writer

Knowledge and education are hallmark themes in The History Boys. Hector, a representative of the "old guard", sees education as a safeguard against the cruel passage of life, whose purpose is to provide lessons in humanity. Irwin, on the other hand, approaches education cynically, encouraging the boys to treat knowledge disingenuously for the sake of academic success. The only female teacher in the play, Mrs Lintott, offers a biting feminist critique of education. The play has been read by some critics as a protest against changes to educational policy in the 1980s which were said to "commodifyMake into a sellable product." schooling.

Is social censure strangling free speech? Writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is the latest public figure to wade into the debate on "cancel culture", claiming that it is damaging our creativity.

Do we need lessons in small talk? Worried that its students are losing the art of conversation, a British university has announced a new module to help them learn to break the ice.

Should climate change be on every school curriculum? Teen activists say green education is woefully inadequate. Now, they want to change the law before time runs out to save the planet.

Throughout the play, characters attempt to narrativise history in a range of different ways. In one comic scene, we are encouraged to laugh at Rudge describing history as "just one thing after another", but we are left with the sense that this is the most apt description - that history is a completely random succession of events defying reason or explanation.

Do we need a new story of the world? For years students have been fed a diet of English kings, European dictators and World War Two. One historian wants a more global approach.

Could World War Three be started by an accident? An off-course missile hit a Polish village close to the Ukrainian border on Tuesday, sparking fears of global retaliation.

But are they stuck in the past? Its defenders say the crown protects democracy, celebrates public service and reminds people of their history. Others argue it holds Britain back.

The boys, in coming to terms with their sexuality, do not have many adequate role models. Hector is married to a woman, but preys on his male students; Irwin appears to consent to an unethical relationship with a student; the headmaster is blackmailed after he sexually harasses his secretary. Yet Bennett treats these potentially traumatic events with humour, as though they are just another stage in the boys' hodgepodgeA confusing mixture of different things. education. With time, critics have come to question why Hector is treated as such a beloved character, and whether this might be a huge failing of the play.

Do we need a more positive culture? With Britain in the grip of a moral panic that depicts trans people as a threat, it has never been more vital, says one leading writer.

Law school adds chitchat to the curriculum

Is everyone a little bit gay? A new poll has found that four in 10 people are open to a same-sex experience. The number rises among young people. Is sexuality more fluid than we think?

Do players have a right to defy FIFA? European teams dropped plans to protest against Qatar's anti-LGBT laws after FIFA threatened to book their captains, infuriating fans. 

The boys attend a state grammar schoolIn the UK, a state secondary school that select pupils with high marks in an exam taken at age 11. in Northern England, but Oxbridge still predominantly takes students from fee-paying schools and more privileged backgrounds. Irwin reminds them that they are disadvantaged at interviews and in exams: their competitors will be able to reference trips to Rome and years of cultural capitalSocial and cultural knowledge that is acquired throughout life and can act as an asset or advantage while living in society. For example: having cultural capital could mean you know how to dress in certain situations or could speak confidently about plays and literature if asked about them. , knowledge which the boys need to match in the space of a few months. Despite, this, we can inferForm or an opinion or judge something to be true based on information you have available to you. that most of the characters are comfortably middle class. The only one among them who is clearly characterised as working class, Rudge, is looked down on by the other characters - despite the fact that he equals their success in gaining a place at Oxford.

Should Oxbridge be abolished? UK exam boards have started checking grades. Critics say students from private schools have an unfair advantage when applying to top universities.

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Scripps remarks that in Irwin's classes, truth is merely "another point of view". Irwin teaches his class to challenge the idea that there are self-evident historical truths. In one discussion, when Hector asks the students why they cannot just condemn the HolocaustThe murder of six million Jewish people in Europe by Nazi Germany. Members of other minority groups were also killed. as an "unprecedented horror" in their interviews, Lockwood replies "No point, sir. Everybody will do that." The moral muddiness of this approach to truth is at first vindicated when all of the boys are awarded places at Oxbridge, but when a fatal crash kills Hector and paralyses Irwin from the waist down, the undeniable nature of tragedy is brought to the fore.

Is honesty overrated? In a magazine article, a writer tells of growing up in a family where nobody told a lie - and the difficulties it caused him in dealing with the rest of the world.

Does democracy REALLY depend on truth? Many people claim democratic systems only work when everyone agrees on basic truths - but others think this is a recipe for dictatorship.

Is it okay to be willfully ignorant? A new study of the brain shows that it is programmed to ignore upsetting and inconvenient truths, leaving human beings living in a 'reality bubble.'