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What *does* improve children’s writing?

In my last post I discussed evidence that suggests grammar teaching does not lead to an improvement in children's writing. Although it seems implausible that grammar teaching would not be positively correlated with writing outcomes, there's a lot of evidence that is strongly suggestive that what I prefer to believe may not in fact actually be true. I've written enough about cognitive bias to know that I am predisposed to look for evidence that supports my preferences and dismiss evidence that contradicts them. The point of evidence is that it forces us to confront the extent to which our intuitions map [...]

2019-12-08T14:39:13+00:00December 1st, 2017|writing|

Can grammar teaching improve pupils’ writing?

Let me begin with an anecdote. The first time I ever really encountered the meta language of grammar was after finishing my degree in English Literature and embarking on a six-week course to qualify to teach English as a foreign language (TEFL). I had to cram a whole host of previously unknown terminology in order to pass the course and it all seemed pretty pointless. Not knowing this stuff hadn't made a jot of difference to my ability to read and write as far as I could tell. After I got my certificate I bounced from place to place using my [...]

2017-12-13T09:10:51+00:00November 29th, 2017|research, writing|

Why I recommend self-report to audit teachers’ grammatical knowledge

The response to my recent post on supporting teachers' standards of literacy was overwhelmingly positive, although, as expected, there was also some criticism. Some of the criticism was directed at my suggested process and several people were unhappy about the use of self-report to audit teacher's current level of confidence. I acknowledge that self-report is a notoriously unreliable tool for determining what people think and believe - often respondents simply answer in the way that they think the questioners wants them to and they are at pains to present themselves in the best possible light. Additionally, some readers felt that many [...]

2017-11-21T11:29:32+00:00November 21st, 2017|Featured|

How can we support teachers' standards of literacy?

Recently, I've spent some time talking to school leaders about how to implement and evaluate effective literacy policies in schools. From these conversations it's clear that one of the main stumbling blocks is concern over some teachers' standards of literacy. If "every teacher in English is a teacher of English," unless teachers are familiar with some fairly basic knowledge of the English language they may, inadvertently, be passing on misinformation and bad habits to their students. This is likely to disproportionately affect the least advantaged children, disadvantaging them further. It therefore makes sense to hold teachers to account for the personal [...]

2017-11-18T10:55:54+00:00November 18th, 2017|Featured|

Fundamental British Values: What are they and how should we teach them?

The Department for Education is in the process of setting up an expert advisory group to look at how best to develop and resource a curriculum intended to instil fundamental British values in our young people. These values are defined by the DfE as democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect, and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. While we might want to quibble about whether these are the right values (and whether of not they're especially British) this is what has been settled upon, and, however cynical you feel about government diktats about what schools need to [...]

2017-10-27T11:32:55+01:00October 27th, 2017|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. The problem is often 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 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 posters. It's [...]

2017-10-17T11:20:34+01:00October 17th, 2017|Featured|

Are IQ tests biased or meaningless?

Since my last foray into the world of intelligence testing, I've done a lot of reading about the idea that a) IQ tests are culturally biased and b) that the entire concept of intelligence is culturally biased. I want to preface my conclusions by reiterating the following points: I do not believe we should ever use IQ tests in schools to classify students, or to predict their academic acheivement. I do not believe that any group of people is in any way superior to any other group. The fact that various studies show differences in the IQ scores of men and [...]

2017-09-15T17:34:44+01:00September 15th, 2017|Featured|

Is gaslighting a thing, or am I going mad?

In the 40s crime film, Gaslight, a murderous husband tries (and ultimately fails) to convince his wife she's going mad by hiding various of her possessions and then accusing her of having done it herself. He isolates her from anyone who might be able to corroborate her version of events, saying that she's not well and that she needs to rest. After a while, she begin to believe that she's going mad and that she shouldn't go out in public. Naturally, the wicked plot unravels and the evil husband is unveiled as the cad he really is. Whatever the film's merits, [...]

2017-09-12T16:55:25+01:00September 12th, 2017|Featured|

Why I’m grateful for black people talking to me about race

I've just finished reading Reni Eddo-Logde's Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race.* As a result I feel I need to update some of what I've recently written. Eddo-Lodge does an excellent job of articulating how 'whiteness' can - possibly should - be viewed as an ideological structure similar to patriarchy. She argues that being white conveys all sorts of advantages, some subtle, some obvious while not being white results in equal and opposite disadvantages, and, because being white comes along with all this good stuff, white people, wittingly or otherwise, have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. [...]

2017-09-05T17:05:17+01:00September 5th, 2017|Featured|

The Back to School Collection

So, Monday morning looms and another term begins. For everyone stepping back into a classroom this week, chin up, don't work too hard, and remember, it's just a job. For those new to the profession - or simply looking for a bit of refresher - I wrote a series of back of school posts a few years ago and, having reviewed them, am still happy they represent a pretty solid approach to teaching. Here they are: Routines Relationships Literacy Planning Marking Here too are a series of 'Five Things" posts that will, I believe, be useful for all teachers: Reading Writing [...]

2017-09-03T14:52:35+01:00September 3rd, 2017|Featured|

The tension between ‘what is’ and ‘what ought to be’

One of the great problems of philosophy, is the relationship between the realm of knowledge and the realm of values. Knowledge is what is; values are what ought to be. I would say that all traditional philosophies up to and including Marxism have tried to derive the ‘ought’ from the ‘is.’ My point of view is that this is impossible, this is a farce. Jacques Monod Here is a list of things I believe to be both important and true: Intelligence, as measured by IQ tests predicts educational outcomes, health (both physical and mental, safety, happiness, creativity, conscientiousness and longevity. The [...]

2020-02-18T15:57:30+00:00August 24th, 2017|Featured|

Two fallacies to avoid

Avoiding logical fallacies can be tricky and, as responses to some of my recent posts has made clear, anyone who spends time debating evolutionary psychology, behaviour genetics or science in general will find themselves having to hack through thick swathes of them in their attempts to get a little closer to truth. Two particularly prevalent and egregious fallacies we must strive to avoid are the naturalistic fallacy and the moralistic fallacy. The naturalistic fallacy, first coined by the philosopher G.E. Moore, is similar in construction to Hume's 'is/ought problem'. The fallacy, in essence, confuses what's natural with what's good and leads [...]

2020-02-18T16:19:14+00:00August 14th, 2017|research|
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