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Why practising inference doesn’t work

In my last post I argued that thinking about English as a 'skills based' subject is counter-productive. One response to this was to say, "Hang on, what about practice. If you can practise something you become more skilled at it, so how can you say English isn't a skills-based subject?" It seems obvious that "just knowing" something is different from practising it. Pretty much anything we do can be improved through practice. But, the role of practice changes depending on whether you think English is a skills based subject or not. In the skills-based approach it makes sense to practise the [...]

2018-04-29T16:37:03+01:00April 29th, 2018|Featured|

Why English is not a ‘skills based’ subject

The idea that English is a skills based subject has become axiomatic. Most English teachers of my acquaintance accept it unquestioningly, as did I until a few years ago. How do we know English is skills based? Because it depends on the skills of reading and writing. And, in turn, reading depends on such skills as inference and analysis, while writing depends either on the skill of making points, using evidence and explaining it or on the skill of using language creatively and persuasively. From this certain things have followed. If English is skills based then it obviously makes sense to [...]

2019-06-11T17:10:41+01:00April 27th, 2018|Featured|

Leading literacy in schools

Leading on literacy can be a thoroughly thankless task. It can often feel like you’re working incredibly hard to produce resources and strategies which colleagues at best ignore and at worst resent. Part of the problem is that we’re expending effort in the wrong place and trying to persuade teachers to do the wrong things. Frustratingly, there’s very little guidance about how best to spend your precious time and it can be hard to find clear information on what approaches are likely to be most successful. My advice is to minimise the amount of time spent on apostrophe worksheets and spelling [...]

2018-05-03T14:05:07+01:00April 25th, 2018|literacy, training|

The death of my father

Yesterday my father died in his flat. He was a difficult man, and our relationship had been strained for years. He could be capable of great warmth, wit and wisdom, but he was also the most self-centred, childish and dogmatic person I have known. He loved solving mathematical puzzles, winning at Scrabble, studying the Bible, and being made cups of tea. He was a very bright man and, at the same time, a complete fool. He could explain relativity, but refused to accept evolution, passionately arguing for creationism. The rot in our relationship really set in about 20 years ago when [...]

2018-03-23T08:59:57+00:00March 21st, 2018|Featured|

The Case Against Education

I've been reading the economist Bryan Caplan's new book, The Case Against Education with great interest. His is very much a contrarian point of view: that most of the time and effort spent on the project of education is wasted. Cue steep intake of breath. He's not saying time and money spent on an individual's education is a waste, but that the billions of tax dollars spent on educating society is, in large part, misplaced. He compares an individual's education to standing up in a concert; if one or two people stand up then they're guaranteed a better view of the [...]

2018-03-23T09:00:26+00:00March 17th, 2018|Featured|

The nail in Growth Mindset’s coffin?

As I'm sure everybody already knows, mind sets are beliefs about the nature of characteristics like intelligence. The theory is that students with growth mindsets believe their ability can be changed with effort and therefore do better academically than their peers who have fixed mindsets. Given the appeal of this theory, it's small wonder that schools around the world have rushed to intervene with their students in order to mould their mindsets. In January last year I wrote one of my most popular blog posts to date, the controversially titled, Is Growth Mindset Bollocks? In it I detailed the reasons for doubting the efficacy of what [...]

2019-01-25T13:50:03+00:00March 6th, 2018|psychology|

The problem with ‘unconditional positive regard’

If you're a parent and your child misbehaves in public, what do you do? If you're not a parent, and someone else's child misbehaves in public, what would you like the parents to do? Adults are predisposed to like children, and it comes as something of a surprise when they’re unaccountably brattish and unpleasant. When children behave badly in public, people dislike them. We know it's unreasonable, but most of us find public tantrums and rudeness irritating. If a child that's behaved badly goes unpunished or ignored, we reserve our indignation for their parents; why don't they do something? We finish [...]

2018-11-11T08:00:28+00:00February 27th, 2018|behaviour|

12 rules for schools: Rule 8 Tell the truth – or, at least don’t lie

This is part of a series of posts adapting Jordan Peterson’s book, 12 Rules of Life to the context of eduction. You can find my thoughts on the rest of his rules here.  The Truth is a commodity in short supply. The world around is objectively real and packed with immutable facts, but it is also a never-ending conveyor belt of spin, fake news, advertising, self-promotion and bullshit. It can often seem hard to distinguish between the two. In a world where so much of our information is second - or third - hand, how can we work out what's true and what's not? We [...]

2020-07-28T15:23:25+01:00February 26th, 2018|Featured|

12 rules for schools: Rule 7 Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)

This is part of a series of posts adapting Jordan Peterson’s book, 12 Rules of Life to the context of eduction. You can find my thoughts on the rest of his rules here.  Doing what's easy is, well, easy. Certainly a lot easier - and usually a lot more fun - than doing what's hard, which goes a long way to explaining why so many of us spend so much time prevaricating, procrastinating and generally goofing off instead of cracking on with what we know we ought to do. The ability to delay gratification - to put off what will bring us immediate pleasure until [...]

2018-02-19T19:17:00+00:00February 19th, 2018|Featured|

When do novices become experts?

It's a fairly well established principle of cognitive science that experts and novices think differently. Being aware of these differences can make a big difference to teachers. For instance, if we assume that most children in most situations are likely to begin as novices this could help point the way to more effective instruction. Here's a summary of some of the main differences between experts and novices. One of the most interesting findings to come out of the research into Cognitive Load Theory is the finding that experts and novices both experience cognitive overload, but experience it differently. Novices, by definition, [...]

2020-02-17T19:59:30+00:00February 17th, 2018|psychology|

Handwriting matters

Some years ago, during the interview for a role as Head of English in a secondary school, all the candidates were asked to speak about what we would prioritise if we were to get the job. I have no memory of what I said, but I vividly recall one of the other candidates saying he would focus on improving students' handwriting. My bland inanities resulted in me getting the job; he didn't make the cut and was sent home after lunch. How we laughed. At the time it struck me that focussing on improving students' handwriting as a secondary English teacher [...]

2018-02-13T14:09:04+00:00February 13th, 2018|psychology, writing|

12 rules for schools: Rule 6 Set your house in perfect order before you criticise the world

This is the sixth installment in a series of posts adapting Jordan Peterson’s book, 12 Rules of Life to the context of eduction. You can read the rest of posts in this series here.  Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, [...]

2018-02-08T12:47:41+00:00February 7th, 2018|Featured|
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