Archive
Focusing on performance is the enemy of the growth mindset
Mar 02, 2014 |
Category: learning
Over the past year or so I've been following a line of thinking which has gone something like this:Learning and performance are not the same thing. Pupils' performance in lessons does not correspond w...
"The kids absolutely love it!" The phrase that launched a thousand gimmicks
Feb 05, 2014 |
Category: learning
I attended a TeachMeet recently where a number of the presenters argued that their teaching strategy of choice was worth trying out because, "The kids absolutely love it!" This seems to me to be a who...
The Cult of Outstanding™: the problem with 'outstanding' lessons
Jan 16, 2014 |
Category: learning
First of all I need to come clean. Up until pretty recently I was a fully paid up member of the Cult of Outstanding™. Last January I considered myself to be a teacher at the height of my powers. In th...
Don't trust your gut: a little bit more on the problem with grading lessons
Jan 13, 2014 |
Category: learning
This evening, there will be debate on the role lesson observation in England's schools with such educational luminaries as Professor Robert Coe, David Weston (the man behind the Teacher Development Tr...
"The kids absolutely love it!" The phrase that launched a thousand gimmicks
Feb 05, 2014 |
Category: learning
I attended a TeachMeet recently where a number of the presenters argued that their teaching strategy of choice was worth trying out because, "The kids absolutely love it!" This seems to me to be a who...
A tale of two lessons: further thoughts on the Cult of Outstanding
Jan 20, 2014 |
Category: learning
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, i...
How can we make classroom observation more effective?
Jan 14, 2014 |
Category: learning
If the belief that it's possible for untrained observers to pitch up in lessons and grade their effectiveness is comparable to a belief in witchcraft, (and Professor Robert Coe's research confirms tha...
Can a good teacher teach anything well?
Dec 14, 2013 |
Category: learning
I used to work for a headteacher who was fond of saying "We're teachers of children, not teachers of subjects." This was justification for having non-specialist teachers in certain shortage subjects....
It's not what you know... oh, hang on: it IS what you know!
Nov 09, 2013 |
Category: learning
I'm fed up of people who should know better saying they're bored with the false dichotomy of skills versus knowledge. The knowledge vs skills debate is always worth having because it conceals a more f...
Anything goes: Is there a right way to teach?
Oct 20, 2013 |
Category: learning
There's nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so.Shakespeare, Hamlet
I read Joe Kirby's recent post on cognitive bias with interest because I've been pursuing a very similar line of enquiry. What...
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