My impatience with some Ofsted inspectors
We hope we are transparent and honest. I am very keen that the people we inspect have confidence in the quality of our inspections and the quality of our inspectors. I believe the quality of inspection and the quality of our inspectors has gone up over the last few years. Sir Michael Wilshaw I'm genuinely of the belief that Ofsted as an organisation is trying hard to put right some [...]
You can’t teach an old teacher new tricks…so sack them.
I rarely reblog posts on my site, but in this case I wanted to make an exception for two (make that three) reasons: 1. This is @cazzbooth's inaugural post I'd like to do my 'umble best to help her build an audience. 2. This post speaks precisely to the style over substance nonsense that is regularly enacted in many many schools all over the UK. The sooner we can move to [...]
Do I lack the courage of my convictions?
Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies. Friedrich Nietzsche An accusation that has been increasingly levelled at me is that, because I've publicly changed my mind about my views on education, I must be some sort of slippery, trend-chasing wannabe with no moral compass. Or to put it another way, that I lack the courage of my convictions. I've always found it a lot more satisfying to disagree with [...]
Playing the game: Ofsted vs. Civitas
Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort. John Ruskin On the face of it, this seems both self-evident and obvious: if Ofsted aren't judging quality of teaching in a school, what are they doing? Now, I'm not one of those who feel Ofsted is a cancer needing to be cut out of the education corpse, but I do feel that along with the good [...]
Reading ability: nature or nurture?
For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Matthew, 13:12 The Matthew Effect has become something of a truism. Those with find it easy to acquire more, whereas those without are trapped into a vicious cycle of poverty and disadvantage. Clearly this is a matter of social injustice: if only we could [...]
Grit and growth: who's to blame for low achievement?
I’ve recently read a couple of interesting articles which question the efficacy of the research of Carol Dweck (Mindset) and Angela Duckworth (Grit). The complaint is that if we attribute an individual’s failure to a fault or lack in their character then we are apportioning blame; the reason we are unsuccessful is down to our own weak will and poor attitude. The counter argument is that society should be held [...]
The problem with SatNavs, or how feedback can impede learning
I'm not an especially good driver, but I'm a truly terrible navigator. This used to mean that I would get lost. A lot. When I first moved to Bristol in 2001 I bought an A-Z of the city and when driving somewhere new I would have to stop the car periodically and try to align the map to the streets around me. Needless to say, I found this pretty stressful. Luckily, I'm [...]
Now we are three
In a pleasingly synchronous turn of events this post marking the end of the third year of writing The Learning Spy is also the 300th post I've published on the site. That's about a blog every 4 days. I knew I'd written a lot, but this smacks of some sort of worrying compulsion. This last year has been by far the busiest yet with over 600,000 views but I'm sure [...]
Teaching for independence: thinking, memory & mastery
Truth gains more even by the errors of one who, with due study and preparation, thinks for himself, than by the true opinions of those who only hold them because they do not suffer themselves to think. John Stuart Mill It's been a while now since I last wrote about the Teaching Sequence for Independence, so I'll start with a brief recap on what has come to be meant by [...]
Is listening really passive?
Listening is a positive act: you have to put yourself out to do it. David Hockney Like many others, I got very excited to see this published on the Ofsted website back in February: Inspectors must not give the impression that Ofsted favours a particular teaching style. Inspectors should not criticise teacher talk for being overlong or bemoan a lack of opportunity for different activities in lessons unless there is [...]
Listen up: Improving the quality of classroom discussion
We have two ears and only one tongue in order that we may hear more and speak less.Diogenes Pupils are asked to discuss stuff in class all the time. As, from time to time, are teachers. Think back to the last discussion you took part in. No matter how civilised they are, it tends to be an exercise in patience; we spend a lot of time waiting for everyone else [...]
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