I was there

James Noble Rogers of the Universities Council for the Education of Teachers (Letters, 25 September) and Jeremy Hoad of the British Educational Research Association (Letters, 2 October) opine that my defence of opinion and argument in my opinion piece was opinion.

Well, yes. Their points are curious if not contradictory. Curiouser and curiouser, they berate me for not going to Bera, which I did, but this time just to talk to delegates. Hoad berates me for not being a member of Bera. Either he has not done his "research" or I have been expelled for speaking my mind.

Dennis Hayes (Bera member, number 4,057), Centre for Professional Education, Canterbury Christ Church University.