Increasingly I am becoming frustrated by the lack of sophistication that is applied to the whole process of evaluating educational outcomes. As a consequence, all kinds of perverse and spurious conclusions are drawn and school, teachers and policy makers end up jumping through hoops that have no real basis. If we’re not careful, we’re going … Continue reading
An analogy I draw upon increasingly to help with my thinking about teaching, learning and school leadership, is the contrast between a plantation and a rainforest. In general terms I feel that our entire education system is deeply inhibited, shackled and spoiled by Plantation Thinking. This affects government policy, school leadership and the day-to-day of … Continue reading
This series on teaching Great Lessons is all about the habits of day-to-day teaching; our instincts; our default-mode…. the things we do automatically. I want to suggest that one of the most important habits of a Great Teacher teaching Great Lessons is to find joy in what they’re doing and in what the students … Continue reading
“The sky’s the limit”…… It’s a wonderful motivating phrase. It suggests that anything is possible; that there are no limits. To infinity and beyond and all that…. As I’ve discussed already in Differentiation and Challenge and Journeys, the straight-jacket of one-size-fits-all learning activities is deadly. In Great Lessons, it should be our default-setting to think … Continue reading
Take a look at this image. The Hubble Ultra Deep Field, photographed over several days in 2003-4. As explained by Professor Brian Cox, in this patch of sky, the size of a thumbnail placed 75 feet away, there are over 10,000 objects, invisible to the naked eye. Each object is not a star..but a galaxy, … Continue reading
I spent a while thinking of one word that could capture the spirit of this post. AGILITY. It does the job. It’s all about the ability to adapt, to change course, to respond, to deal with multiple simultaneous demands, to keep up with all the individual students’ journeys, to be spontaneous and flexible and to … Continue reading
At the core of a great teacher’s skill-set is the ability to explain the concepts, theories and techniques that make up their subject. On the reputational scale, there is no doubt that teachers who explain things well, making the complex simple, score highly as Great Teachers. I’ve observed countless lessons where the teacher exposition accelerated … Continue reading
This series of posts is about the habits of excellent practice; the things we do every day in the classroom; the attitudes and dispositions we need to have in order to embed excellent practice into our routines – our default mode. This post is about journeys. In terms of learning, students are continually on the … Continue reading
The aim of this series of posts is to focus on the habits of excellent practice; our default mode. As I have said elsewhere, every class is a mixed ability class so, regardless of our views on selection or setting, all teachers need to cater for students with a range of skills, aptitudes and dispositions. … Continue reading
Number 3 in the Great Lessons series: Great Lessons 1: Probing Great Lessons 2: Rigour These posts focus on the habits of great teaching; not one-off strategies but the things we do every day. 3. Challenge: Subtitle 1: The thrill of the chase. Subtitle 2: No struggle; no learning Subtitle 3: Beware the Buzz that … Continue reading
