Alka Sehgal Cuthbert has spent more than 20 years as an English teacher at secondary level and lecturer in Cultural Studies in higher education. She currently works part-time as an...view moreAlka Sehgal Cuthbert has spent more than 20 years as an English teacher at secondary level and lecturer in Cultural Studies in higher education. She currently works part-time as an English teacher for the educational charity, Civitas. She writes on educational issues for academic and public audiences, and has a particular interest in social realist epistemology, aesthetics and the pedagogy of reading and English Literature. She has contributed to the Standing Committee for the Education and Training of Teachers’ publication, ‘The Role of the Teacher Today’, and published articles on English in The Curriculum Journal and English in Education. Alka is a school governor and sits on Ofsted’s advisory panel for the new inspection framework for English. She is a committee member of the Cambridge Symposium of Knowledge in Education and member of the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain.view less