arrive after dark, driving past piled up snow and pull up by a darkened log cabin office. No one comes out. I turn off the car lights and step into the freezing air. As my eyes adjust to the Arctic night, I see a green glow in the western sky, at first just two smudges on either side of the …

efore we left, George’s mum made me swear not to let our six-year-old-son out of my sight for the duration of the festival. Even as I was nodding in agreement I knew keep this promise would be almost impossible – but I didn’t reckon on breaking it quite so spectacularly or, as things turned out, so willingly. Before I’d even …

owe my existence to skiing. At least that’s what my grandparents believed. Just before the Second World War they fled Prague for England with other Czech Jews, and after travelling across the border by train, stopped at a hotel for the night. Everyone was understandably tired and most went to bed early. But my grandfather stayed at the bar and, …

One of the most challenging phases of life, the teenage years is troublesome both for the teens and family. While there is the joy of your little one finally reaching the threshold of adulthood- there is also the fear of drug or alcohol abuse or any other sort of addiction that have become almost synonymous with teenhood. It’s often the …

Several tourists miss out on the varied experience that Agra has to offer in their hurry to cover the famed ‘Golden Triangle’. You might think to yourself that you’ll take a flight to Agra, have a quick look at the main event – the Taj Mahal – before flying on out to Delhi. But you really are skipping past a …

Frustrated by the messages of self-hatred peddled to young women by the mainstream media, Camilla Ackley took things into her own hands “It’s made me who I am, given me ambition and a vague idea of what I want to do with my life,” says Camilla Ackley of running Into The Fold. Photograph: Natalie Gil for the Guardian If you …

Americans travelling to Cuba later this month are being moved out of Havana hotels to make room for President Barack Obama’s entourage and being sent tantalisingly close to a place U.S. law effectively forbids them from visiting: the beach. Obama will make his historic trip to the Communist-ruled Caribbean island on March 21-22 with hundreds of people in tow, crowning …

The inspectorate has been widely criticised for demoralising teachers and stagnating school improvement. Is it time to ditch the watchdog? What else might work? Professor John Macbeth from the University of Cambridge: ‘Ofsted focuses primarily on maths and English… They marginalise other creative aspects of school life…’ Photograph: Alamy “Scrapping Ofsted would leave us with a fragmented system” Dr Melanie …

No one likes to think that their success has at least as much to do with their parents forking out as it does their own hard work Eton College, Berkshire. Photograph: Corbis Ihave lived in Britain – mainly on, sometimes off – for 25 years, but there are still two things about this country I don’t understand. Number one: why …

Social responsibility and civil engagement are rising on the checklist of what an international education should include. At the recent annual conference of the Association of International Education Administrators, delegates and thought leaders explored how to incorporate social responsibility into the curriculum and underlined the need to create “global citizens”. Sara Custer is originally from Oklahoma. After studying in Chicago …