The new national curriculum for English at key stage 3 has the trivium at heart. There is an emphasis on grammar, knowledge, debate, argument, dialogue, discussion, speech, performance, talks, essays and expression. To put it simply: Grammar, Dialectic and Rhetoric. By judicious selection of texts key stage three English can be exciting, challenging, difficult and … More Teaching KS3 English Through the Trivium
I was asked by a teacher, at a talk I was giving on oracy, if I have a lesson plan which she could use to teach Rhetoric ‘simply and in one lesson.’ I replied ‘yes!’ (Rhetoric is one of the three arts of the trivium and, as such, I believe it should be taught in schools. … More On Rhetoric: A lesson Plan – Teaching the Trivium
Should teachers be arbiters of taste or is everything in the classroom lovely? Should we ask that pupils create ‘beautiful’ work or is everything they produce nice? I am often struck by how, early in their school careers, a constant stream of year sevens insist on showing me their work, not for the beauty of … More Teachers Must Be Cultural Snobs: On Teaching Taste
On Thursday 13th November I had the honour of addressing the West Sussex Deputies Network as part of a conference on values led leadership in a climate of high stakes accountability. I was invited to explore values and change. What follows is the text of my talk: “If I had to live my life again, … More Athena versus The Machine: Values-led Leadership in a Time of Change
[I am speaking about ‘values-led leadership’ at a conference next Thursday organised by the West Sussex Deputies Network. I will post my talk on the blog after it has been delivered.As I have been thinking about my talk I pondered the following and I thought I’d share my ponder with you in this rather short blog.] Should someone … More Leaders: Who do you love?
One Man In His Time Plays Many Parts Today I had the honour to debate the following at the Policy Exchange Think Tank in London: ‘Is Character Education a Waste of Time?’ This was further explained by the Chair, Jonathan Simons in this way: “The issue is… can we teach it [character] in the formal … More Character Education is a Waste of Time
Trivium 21c 