A new teacher told me yesterday that they couldn't experiment with a different way of starting the lesson to see if it helped with focus and attention because the school had a set way of delivering lessons. I think that's really sad. We are in danger of stripping all the creativity out of the job. 😕

What if schools were designed for adolescent thriving? Mary Helen Immordino-Yang offers a compelling case for rethinking how schools support young people to flourish. candle.usc.edu/wp-content/u...

Bildung Climate School by Ginie Servant-Miklos. m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4V8...

Bildung Climate School Trailer

YouTube video by The Bildung Climate School

m.youtube.com

Was on CNN Newsroom to talk about the French student protests and Europe's education and teacher crisis. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺. Their voices deserve to be heard, not met with repression.

Amazing editorial cartoon re artificial intelligence by @mackinnonart.bsky.social

A great article, as usual, from @edutopia.org - George Lucas Educational Foundation www.edutopia.org/article/buil...

Building a Stronger Community in the First 5 Minutes of Class

A daily check-in routine gives middle and high school teachers a chance to ensure that every student feels seen and supported.

edutopia.org

Bodies of Learning by Guy Claxton & Emily Poel challenges the idea that thinking happens in the head and the body just carries it around. Sitting still and listening are not neutral conditions, they shape how young people learn to think. www.bodiesoflearning.org

BODIES OF LEARNING

bodiesoflearning.org

“Fagan’s success has re-defined the role of senior coach as one that is less reliant on tactical advances than on the more crucial management of players, culture and staff.” www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/ne...

As our students prepare to begin their term in Singapore, we look back on the memories shared by Cohort 13's own time in the city #ThrowbackThursday

It's bordering on child abuse.

The Situation at Alpha School Is Darker Than We Thought Possible

The kind of education students are being exposed to at Alpha Schools is nothing short of shocking, according to the latest reporting.

trib.al

It is not easy to shock me with the mendacity of EdTech entrepreneurs. But I had to take breaks from these testimonials to what is actually happening inside Alpha Schools.

FOURTH REPORT: Former Alpha School students speak out

“A science experiment that’s been framed as a school” - “pretty much a concentration camp” - “cool the first few months and then it just becomes shit”

buildcognitiveresonance.substack.com

Industrialization of knowledge work is going to be as disruptive a shift as industrialization of physical labor was. As then, once craft-driven fields are under pressure to produce greater volumes of product using machines while using less of the craft that made the work interesting & meaningful.

Tips to plan a schoolwide tech summit:

Why Your School Should Have a Tech Summit This Year

Schools have a rare opportunity to bring unresolved questions about AI and classroom technology into the open. The cost of leaving them unanswered is too high.

edut.to

“Explicit instruction” has become the key focus for Australian schooling policy. Robert Hattam argues that what gets presented, to teachers and to the public, as a single, unified “science of learning” is in fact a composite of three separate research programs. https://loom.ly/dLHrEBs

What do we really know about explicit instruction?

“Explicit instruction” has become the key focus for Australian schooling policy for several years now. It is invoked with enough confidence by ministers, curriculum authorities and the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) that it can feel like a settled empirical fact rather than a contested truth claim.  What is less often noticed is that the …

blog.aare.edu.au

“The first five degrees had a clear skill acquisition component to them,” he said. “Since then, it’s really been about following different passions and curiosities.” www.smh.com.au/business/ent...

The 31-year-old who might end up as the world’s most educated person

Jamie Beaton has 12 advanced degrees from Harvard, Yale, Oxford and other top universities, with more on the way. In his spare time, he founded a company worth $840 million.

smh.com.au

The PISA results are generating a lot of discussion about declines in math and literacy skills. As covered on CBC, ARTE and Education International, the distractions of screens are an important factor. www.ei-ie.org/en/item/3295...

New PISA report reveals decline in student performance amid chronic teacher shortage and shrinking attention spans

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has released the latest edition of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Following the unprecedented drop in per...

ei-ie.org

Compared to the rest of the world, Australian classrooms are more disrupted and less welcoming than those in most comparable systems. https://loom.ly/8H9Dgcg

Student disengagement: What does the new PISA result tell us? 

Compared to the rest of the world, Australian classrooms are more disrupted and less welcoming than those in most comparable systems.  Australia holds up reasonably well in learning outcomes across the OECD’s PISA 2025 report – with averages of 509 in science, 491 in reading, 478 in mathematics, and 532 in computational problem solving–well above …

blog.aare.edu.au

However, that vision of the soft, often self-imposed boundaries of creative confines & protocols gives way time and again in reality to the rigidity of coercion & control, pacing guides & lesson scripts, testing and test prep until the whole thing collapses back in on itself from lack of meaning.

"In 2024 Victoria announced the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0, which mandated explicit instruction... Since the policy was announced, two Montessori streams in Victorian public schools and one Steiner stream have been shut down or phased out."

Montessori learning is being shut down at Leah’s school – is a push towards ‘explicit instruction’ to blame?

Critics say the one size-fits-all approach doesn’t work for all students and there are questions about the body that has been pushing it

theguardian.com

The eminent educator Gerald Graff contends that it doesn't matter how radical and transgressive the content of your teaching is if the WAY you're teaching reflects the same old "pedagogical authoritarianism" - e.g., "failing to challenge the common assumption that teaching is a solo performance."

Using social media in middle school predicts lower standardized test scores in high school. Evidence: 10th graders who started social media before 9th grade are ~6 months behind their peers on math & reading. They're more distracted by their phones. No child should have access to social media.

If AI can ace the exam, the exam is the problem. It's time to move beyond assessing recall and speed toward judgment, creativity, collaboration, and authentic problem-solving. blog.tieonline.com/if-ai-can-pa...

Critical thinking requires something to think with. Foundational knowledge, curiosity and the stamina to learn remain essential in the AI era. blog.aare.edu.au/know-stuff-w...

Know stuff: What we need to do to stop AI hallucinations

AI is not the first time that advances in information technology have caused disruption. And each time we've just kept on swimming

blog.aare.edu.au

Merlin Crossley argues that the answer to AI is not to re-imagine education but rather to have confidence that learning new things has been and always will be a core part of being human. https://loom.ly/SYaUQso

Know stuff: What we need to do to stop AI hallucinations

No one wants to mark essays written by AI. Neither staff nor students want a culture of suspicion. Nor do they want reputations and the value of degrees to suffer.

blog.aare.edu.au

If AI can ace the exam, the exam is the problem. The question is how to design assessments AI can't complete for students. More oracy, authentic tasks, judgment, creativity, and AI-integrated assessment. Time to rethink what we value. blog.tieonline.com/if-ai-can-pa...

Electives in Years 7–8 are a chance to explore student interests, build confidence, stay engaged with learning, and discover more about who they are becoming. Think of electives as a “test drive,” not a lifelong commitment. theconversation.com/how-can-year...

How can Year 7 and 8 students make the most of their electives?

Younger teens typically experience a dip in school engagement. Electives can help them stay excited about learning.

theconversation.com

Responsible Assessment in the AI Era, published by Stanford Accelerator for Learning • Beyond one-off tests to continuous evidence of learning. • Value uniquely human capabilities. • Build assessment systems that are transparent and human-centred. acceleratelearning.stanford.edu/story/white-...

Measuring what matters: New Stanford white paper provides a roadmap for creating responsible student assessments in the AI era • Stanford Accelerator for Learning

AI is changing what, where, and how testing happens. How can schools, teachers, and test developers respond?

acceleratelearning.stanford.edu

Looking to set up your middle school classroom with more intention this year? These 7 zones can help organize and maximize your learning space. 🤩 #MiddleSchool #ClassroomDesign

edutopia.org

If AI can ace the exam, the exam is the problem. It's time to move beyond assessing recall and speed toward judgment, creativity, collaboration, and authentic problem-solving. blog.tieonline.com/if-ai-can-pa...