Mike Baker
Education journalist, broadcaster and consultant
United Kingdom
Mike is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and “blogger” specialising in UK and international education policy. A former Education Editor for the BBC, he now writes a regular column for both The BBC News Website and The Guardian. He also presents his own series on Teachers TV and is a regular pundit on TV and radio. His recent broadcasts include a history of primary schools on BBC Radio 4 (2009) and a six-part TV series on vocational education for BBC World (2008). He has twice been UK Education Journalist of the Year and won the Ted Wragg Lifetime Award for education journalism.
Mike spent 27 years at BBC News, where his roles included Political Correspondent, Foreign Correspondent, and Deputy Home News Editor. From 1989-2007 he covered education for national BBC TV and radio. He is a former Visiting Professor at the Institute of Education, and has held fellowships at the universities of Oxford and Michigan. His publications include: Who Rules Our Schools, A Parents’ Guide to the New Curriculum, and Does Education Get the Media It Deserves?.
He is an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Teachers and is a trustee at two education charities, the National Education Trust and Villiers Park Education Trust. He is a judge for the Teaching Awards and is on expert advisory committees for England’s Children’s Commissioner and exams watchdog, Ofqual.
Now a freelance, Mike also provides consultancy and media training to the education sector and regularly chairs major education conferences in the UK and abroad.
Educated at state schools and Cambridge University, Mike also has an MA from Kingston University.
Mike’s education blog is at: http://www.mikebakereducation.co.uk