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What I’ve learned about trust from arguing about driving

Those who trust us educate us. - George Eliot Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear. - Bertrand Russell The car seems to be a flashpoint. If my wife and I are going to argue about anything the likelihood is that the argument will take place in the car. And it will be, as often as not, about my driving. You see, opinion is divided about my driving skills; I maintain I'm a pretty good driver, while my wife insists I'm a menace. In [...]

2020-07-28T12:33:30+01:00November 28th, 2014|leadership|

What if we started trusting teachers?

Who would not rather trust and be deceived? - Eliza Cook The only way to make a man trustworthy is to trust him. - Henry Lewis Stimson I've been out of the classroom for just under a year now. In that time I've had the privilege of visiting many more schools than I ever visited during the 15 years or so I taught. And in that time I've had the chance to see the sublime, the ridiculous and almost everything imaginable in between. The other luxury I've had is time. Time to think in a way that was never really possible when bogged [...]

2014-11-23T14:10:08+00:00November 22nd, 2014|leadership|

Closing the language gap: Building vocabulary

But words are things, and a small drop of ink, falling like dew, upon a thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think. Lord Byron Like most teachers, as soon as pupils are sequestered in the exam hall I always used to race around trying to get my hands on the exam paper and anticipate how my eager charges will have coped. A few years ago I remember picking up the foundation tier GCSE English Literature paper and seeing a real gift of a question on the theme of dreams in Of Mice and Men. When they came streaming out I [...]

2014-11-16T23:53:27+00:00November 16th, 2014|literacy|

Are we fetishising marking?

When you make something a fetish, ashes and dusts will laugh at you, because they know even the most valuable fetishes will turn into dusts and ashes! Mehmet Murat ildan Last night I innocently posted the following tweet:   This sparked something of a debate. A number of people got in touch to tell me this was 'bonkers' and a 'complete waste of money'. Other responses ranged from cautious interest to overwhelming support. But by far the biggest objection was the assertion that marking is an essential aspect of planning: if teachers don't know how pupils are performing then future teaching will [...]

2014-11-14T08:10:13+00:00November 14th, 2014|learning|

Teacher appraisal and the fundamental attribution error

As favour and riches forsake a man, we discover in him the foolishness they concealed, and which no one perceived before. Jean de La Bruyère You know that lad in Year 9 who gives you constant grief? He's a manipulative little git and he hates you. And that lovely, hardworking girl in Year 11? She's such a warm, kindhearted soul - what a privilege it is to teach her. As we trudge from day to weary day, we are each the hero of our own story and all others we meet merely bit players. But no matter the size of the part [...]

2014-11-09T22:45:30+00:00November 9th, 2014|leadership|

Why do we overestimate the importance of differences?

"For a difference to be a difference, it must make a difference." William James We're all different. Obviously. Just like snowflakes, human beings are all special, unique and entirely individual. But like snowflakes, maybe those differences aren't as important as we might sometimes like to think. When it snows the difference between individual flakes is irrelevant. For all we have our very own permutations of DNA, the fact our physiognomies are broadly similar means we behave in broadly similar ways. Of course we have an infinite variety of differences in ability, but the way we learn is surprisingly similar. You doubt me? Well, you're not [...]

2014-11-05T17:48:31+00:00November 5th, 2014|learning|

Turning the tanker: lesson grading

I spent a good part of the past year or so railing against the injustices of lesson grading: My impatience with some Ofsted inspectors 24th July 2014 Ofsted: The end of the (lesson grading) affair 4th June 2014 Should Ofsted judge ‘quality of teaching’? 26th May 2014 A horror story: Does Ofsted get it wrong again? 23rd May 2014 Ofsted inspectors continue to do whatever they like 21st May 2014 Watching the watchmen: Is Ofsted fit for purpose? 16th March 2014 The mystery of Oldfield School’s missing Ofsted report 17th March 2014 What inspirational teaching looks like according to Ofsted 18th February 2014 What I learned from my visit [...]

2014-10-29T15:24:18+00:00October 29th, 2014|Featured|

Some thoughts on truth

Every truth has two sides. It is well to look at both before we commit ourselves to either side. Aesop This weekend I took part in a panel discussion on the meaning of literacy at the Battle of Ideas. Before I was about to go on, grammarian Nevile Gwynne asked me about the stance I was planning to take; I said he’d probably find me ‘quite traditional’. He then took me to task for my equivocation. Gwynne is a man untroubled by doubt and dismissed the position that to err is human as nonsense. But how can we ever know with [...]

2014-10-19T18:10:31+01:00October 19th, 2014|Featured|

Negative framing and No Pens Days

The framing effect is an example of cognitive bias, in which our reactions to a choice depend on whether it is presented as a loss or a gain. Our tendency is to avoid risks when they're framed negatively and embrace risks when they are framed positively. For instance, we’re happy to pay home insurance on the off chance that our house is burnt to the ground, but we’d likely be unwilling to gamble the same amount of money on a horse race. Insurance makes us feel secure - we won’t lose what’s already ours - whereas gambling makes us feel we [...]

2020-12-22T10:41:32+00:00October 16th, 2014|literacy|

The surplus model of school improvement

As teachers we are sometimes guilty of assuming that all would be well if only children behaved better and worked harder. This is basically sound; everything would be better if kids did what was in their best interests. So why don't they? Well, in some schools they do. In some schools there are strong social norms which ensure that misbehaviour and laziness are the exception. This isn't because only children from more affluent postcodes are capable of doing the right thing, it's because schools and teachers have worked hard to make it easier to do the right thing than the wrong thing. [...]

2018-01-17T10:06:41+00:00October 15th, 2014|leadership|

Can you be too independent?

If the man doesn’t believe as we do, we say he is a crank, and that settles it. I mean, it does nowadays, because now we can’t burn him. Mark Twain Today I discovered I had been 'let go' by Independent Thinking Ltd. Of course accidents happen, but I hadn't received this email so it came as something of a shock. This post is in no way intended to be sour; it is merely an attempt to work through how I feel. For those those of you who may not be aware, ITL are essentially a employment agency for education consultants. Here [...]

2014-10-01T22:30:48+01:00October 1st, 2014|Featured|

Where do I want my daughters to go to school?

My eldest daughter is in Year 6 and applications for secondary school applications need to be in by the end of October. To my shame, I've taken the route my middle-class parents take; we're moving into the catchment of the school of our choice. But why have we chosen it? Well, the results are very good; the view of parents is overwhelmingly positive; it offers about the right blend of academic and 'creative' subjects, and it has the kind of ethos that chimes with our values. I think. But I don't really know. I'm basing these judgements on league tables, Ofsted reports, [...]

2014-09-28T10:44:39+01:00September 27th, 2014|Featured|
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