ABSTRACT
At first sight there ought to be nothing contentious about the idea of education as entertainment. Who, after all, has not been entertained, at least once in their life, by a great teacher – has not been diverted by the teacher’s wit, enthusiasm, bearing, tone of voice, turn of phrase or use of eye contact? And who has not learned something profound from a great entertainment – from a brilliantly performed Shakespearean play, for example? Yet underneath such common ground lurks another idea that ought to be very contentious: the idea that education, to be truly modern and therefore accessible, should nearly always be entertaining, for otherwise it may not be inclusive.
