This afternoon I attended a “World-Class Teaching Profession consultation event” run by the DfE and I learned something very useful indeed that could be crucial for any role that a possible, maybe never, ‘College for Teaching’ might have. Those who attended this event were charged with the task of unpicking a variety of questions about … More This other Eden: On INSET and CPD
First they asked me to teach girls differently and I did not speak out because I was a teacher. They could tell what I was doing because, well, they were girls… Then they asked me to teach black boys differently and I did not speak out because I was a teacher. They could tell what I was doing … More I Did Not Speak Out.
Two pieces of news attracted my attention today, one a speech from Nicky Morgan the Secretary of State for Education in England and the other a tweet from Andreas Schleicher the Secretary of State for Education in the World. In her speech at BETT 2015 Morgan trumpeted that: “Already we have begun to produce destination data … More Brave New World
There is a perennial debate that goes on in education circles about what education is for, is it about education for its own sake or is it about creating a workforce? Is it about teaching the best that has been thought and said or is this impossible to ascertain because certain knowledge has been privileged … More What Do Posh Schools Teach Their Kids?
In his diary column in the Times on Monday 5th January David Aaronovitch wrote about going to see, recently and for the first time, a production of the Merchant of Venice. Aaronovitch: “…nothing can disguise the fact that this was an anti-Jewish play for an anti-Jewish audience. The Jew cares as much for his money … More Prick Us, Do We Not Bleed? Teach Us, Should We Not Study?
…the learning styles that most people think of when we use the phrase are bunkum. Despite this seeming to be common knowledge I still surprise groups of teachers when I mention it in passing whilst I’m delivering inset. Some teachers still seem to be wedded to the idea, they berate me for telling them, generally refuse to … More There Are Learning Styles, But…
Would you prefer your seven year old child to be taught in a mixed ability class or not? According to the Millennium Cohort Study whether a seven year old child is taught in a mixed ability class or streamed makes a significant impact on their attainment. This paper from the IoE draws on the evidence from the … More On the Octagon Table: Does Mixed Ability Teaching and Learning Work?
Here are a series of blogs for teachers who are at the beginning of their careers, I hope some of them might be of interest: On voice On testing On classroom rituals On forming great queues On getting your teaching space sorted out On group work
Here are some of the blogs I have written for teachers on teaching the trivium, in one handy place so that they are easier to access, should you so wish! On Grammar: Where Gradgrind Got It Right On Dialectic: Dissoi Logoi The Socratic Method On Rhetoric: A lesson Plan
Trivium 21c 