Archive

The promise and danger of neuroscience

Apr 25, 2017 | Category: myths

With the advent of increasingly inexpensive access to brain imaging technology, neuroscience has entered a fascinating period of rapid advancement. The ability to generate images of what’s going on in...

#Dorothy Bishop #cognitive load theory #neuroscience

What do teachers think differentiation is?

Apr 24, 2017 | Category: research

In Why Knowledge Matters, ED Hirsch Jr sets out the case against differentiated instruction, saying, "the attempt to individualize the content of the language arts curriculum has been a quixotic idea...

#differentiation #PISA #adaptive instruction

Is "our knowledge" different from theirs?

Apr 14, 2017 | Category: Featured

We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive. C. S...

#progressivism #John Dewey

The Great Education Debate

Apr 12, 2017 | Category: Featured

Freedom is hammered out on the anvil of discussion, dissent, and debate. Hubert H. Humphrey With increasing frequency, someone will pop up on social media to announce to the world that debating the...

#debate #meta beliefs #false dichotomies #progressivism #traditionalism

The consequences of freedom Part 2

Apr 12, 2017 | Category: behaviour

Last month I wrote about RD Laing and how his conception of freedom has had a lasting and negative impact on education as well as wider society. In this post I want to consider the role of Isiah Berli...

#freedom #Isiah Berlin #neo-liberalism

A summary of my arguments about education

Apr 13, 2017 | Category: psychology

And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew, that one small head could carry all he knew. Oliver Goldsmith A tradition without intelligence is not worth having. T. S. Eliot Debating ideas in edu...

#memory #evolution #intelligence #Flynn effect

Neo-progressivism

Apr 09, 2017 | Category: Featured

Like most people involved in education, I believe in social justice. I want all children, no matter their backgrounds or starting points, to have the best chance of achieving well. I want young peopl...

Why do we forget stuff? Familiarity vs recall

Apr 08, 2017 | Category: psychology

Now and then, I've taught whet seemed to be a successful lesson. I'd explain challenging content, check for understanding, get some great responses to consolidation activities and, at the end of the l...

Are 'closed book' examinations a bad idea?

Apr 06, 2017 | Category: English

Changes to the GCSE English Literature specifications are, apparently, starting to bite. As well as abandoning the modular approach to assessment in which students sat 2 separate modular exams and com...

#English #Literature #learning by heart

Didau's Taxonomy

Apr 04, 2017 | Category: Featured

Taxonomy is the science of classification. As such it’s useful for ordering items within a domain into different categories. Contrary to popular understanding, although taxonomies can be hierarchical,...

#bloom's taxonomy