To err is human Alexander Pope Making mistakes is an inevitable part of life. We’re all wrong about something at some point. Obviously contending with failure, learning to drag ourselves up by the bootstraps when we fall down and persist in the face of setbacks is part and parcel of human existence. But is making […]
What’s so great about making mistakes? Read More »
In The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker argues that “education is a technology that tries to make up for what the human mind is innately bad at.” Schools have only ever existed in cultures where culturally specific knowledge has outpaced universal folk knowledge. What is universal – speech, recognising distinctions between the properties of inanimate objects
What’s the point of school? Read More »
Don’t say goodbye to Mr Chips!!! Maybe it’s because I’ve read Lord of the Flies but I’m not sure putting children in charge of education is the best thing for them, our schools, or, indeed, all of our futures. In her ‘Utopian Thinking’ piece in the Guardian, Rachel Roberts argues: There are a few things
Democratic Education is no Utopia Read More »
By taking a few specific actions, teachers could be doing an incredible job of helping students of color reach their full potential. Continue Reading →https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/students-of-color/
Four Ways Teachers Can Support Students of Color Read More »
I’ve been looking at the specimen papers for GCSEs in English, Maths and Science to get a feel for the expectations at the top-end. Although, in theory, schools should have been engaging with these materials for a while, with Year 11s ready to go this May and Year 10s already on the road with Science,
Teaching and assessment for top-end success in new GCSEs Read More »
Say ‘No’ to professional development. That’s the obvious conclusion to be drawn from a series of recent, rigorous, randomised-controlled studies of professional development programmes. Unlike… https://improvingteaching.co.uk/2017/03/12/why-good-professional-development-still-fails/
Why good professional development still fails Read More »
This article examined (1) the research on speed reading and (2) the relative merits of reading a physical book, newspaper or article as opposed to reading from a screen. I am going to discuss (1) this week and (2) next. The internet, emails, texts and Twitter all contribute to the fact that people today encounter
If we knew the precise things that make the most difference in terms of school improvement in order to secure the specific outputs we want, then everyone would be laughing. We would simply do more of those things and the outputs would improve. Voila! Bob’s your uncle! However, of course we don’t actually have a precise
The cause-effect illusion-confusion Read More »
It’s very welcome news that Amanda Spielman is going to support an Ofsted ‘research push’ as reported here in Schools Week. The publication of results of an initial trial is a step in the right direction. In my ‘Gimme some truth‘ blog at the end of 2014, I complained about the lack of any validity
Ofsted Reliability Trials. Some suggestions. Read More »
In her first major speech as the new HMCI Amanda Spielman said: And that is why I’m announcing today that I have chosen the curriculum to be the focus of the first big thematic Ofsted review of my tenure. From early years, through to primary, secondary, sixth form and FE colleges, this will explore the
Ofsted and the Development of a Rich Curriculum Read More »