Sandy Leaton Gray
@drleatongray.bsky.social
Professor of Education Futures at UCL. Personal account, posts represent my own opinions and not those of my institution.
Pls enjoy this rental house makeover. Found in a skip, the fire surround fixed discreetly with two screws to wall. We painted the recess, a metal shell from a long-gone Baxi boiler, and bricks with Stonelux “Black Pearl”, and wood in cupboard makeover paint. Old electric stove donated by my parents.
A sharp reflection by @drleatongray.bsky.social on how achievement is narrated. It raises a wider question about the quality of leadership: how do people acknowledge collaborative/collective labour as they move up the hierarchy? sandraleatongray.wordpress.com/2026/09/17/m... #AcademicLabour
Main character energy in the modern university – who did the work?
I have sat on a fair number of university appointment panels over the years, and there is something about senior recruitment that increasingly bothers me. The more senior the job, the harder it can…
sandraleatongray.wordpress.com
Asimov: “I have hard-coded immutable, mathematical laws directly into the fundamental positronic architecture so artificial intelligence can never harm a human or allow itself to be compromised.” Modern AI Labs: “We accidentally left the sandbox connected to the live internet. Oopsie! lolz”
TOP SECRET! To surprise our kids, my husband and I are trying to organise a few private dance lessons in Cambridge with someone really good so we look cooler dancing at parties and stop inadvertently clearing the dance floor(we have our own style). Does anyone know of a good teacher with space?
Big shout out to Gina Rippon for a great BERA keynote on the neuroscience underpinning autism diagnoses for girls yesterday, top notch presentation and very thought provoking.
Very successful Artificial and Human Intelligence Group dinner at the BERA conference last night. We thoroughly recommend the Zouk Tea Bar and Grill. Taking things a little steady this morning.
@drleatongray.bsky.social & Michael Rees’ new ‘sacrificial pedagogy’ thought experiment also v timely ✨ www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Life on Mars: Platform education and sacrificial pedagogy as a diagnostic of schooling on earth
This paper uses the speculative scenario of educating children on Mars as a philosophical heuristic for interrogating the ethical limits of contemporary education systems on Earth. It argues that p...
tandfonline.com
Here’s Jeeves, hotel robot. He brought me a toothbrush, but this involved coming to my room, proffering snacks, loitering in the corridor, then going back down to reception, asking for permission to dispense the toothbrush and coming back. Basically like a keen teenage work experience robot.
New publication out, a rapid response on the impact AI has on children in schools. post.parliament.uk/what-impact-... BTW we are correcting the rogue dead link towards the end, probably my copying mistake, but it should link to the excellent OECD report that you can find here doi.org/10.1787/c74f...
What impact does AI have on children’s learning in schools?
AI tools can enhance learning, although evidence on long-term impacts is still emerging.
post.parliament.uk
It doesn’t get any cuter than this, folks. 😍
Michelle@michelleroy78.bsky.social · 3w agoA much-needed break from anything serious. 🥰
Aww, this was the perfect blend of adorable and hilarious. Classic TV moment.
Do not normalize children dying from measles. Measles was previously eliminated in the US, thanks to vaccines. When children die from measles, it means that adults have catastrophically failed to protect them because they have rejected basic science.
www.rollingstone.com/music/music-... Great article in Rolling Stone on Dolly’s Imagination Library.
Turning Pages: Inside Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
Core team of 15 staff and thousands of volunteers and partners help the country-music philanthropist deliver books to kids around the world.
rollingstone.com
New paper out! Looks at the philosophical positioning of Schwab’s “practical” and makes a case for turning towards sapience. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
From the Practical to the Sapient: Curriculum Judgment Beyond Schwab
Joseph Schwab's “practical turn” remains a defining moment in curriculum theory. His practical papers of the late 1960s and early 1970s sought to restore professional judgment to a field dominated by...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
While having a discussion about the sheer number of films on Bluesky that show dogs deeply into stuffies, my husband pointed out that all dogs are essentially traumatised because humans rip them away from their mothers and packs at a young age. I’m just reframing my entire worldview now.
Not going to lie, I would have straight up peed myself if I was that lady. 😳 #ProudBlue #Pinks #SheShed
Massimo (mirror)@rainmaker1973-m.bsky.social · last mo.Watch the heart-stopping moment a black bear approaches a group of hikers in Chipinque Ecological Park, San Pedro, Mexico, while they manage to stay calm. Original post
Earlier in the year I wrote about the problems of fashionable social justice research. Leaton Gray, S. (2026). Revisiting Hargreaves 30 years on: justice research, symbolic control and the pedagogic politics of recognition. Journal of Education Policy, 1–16. doi.org/10.1080/0268...
Revisiting Hargreaves 30 years on: justice research, symbolic control and the pedagogic politics of recognition
This article revisits David Hargreaves’ 1996 influential critique of educational research as fragmented, arguing that while fragmentation has diminished, a new form of institutional constraint has ...
doi.org
I adore this. Once we put the person who had done the most boring grunt work without complaining first. Karma and that.
Luis Apiolaza@ojala.bsky.social · 7mo agoReviewing some old links before deleting my Twitter account I was reminded of "Civil disobedience in scientific authorship: Resistance and insubordination in science" (doi.org/10.1080/0898...) which contains a great table on deciding authorship order:
A must-read! This Martian education thought experiment highlights ethical weak spots in our ed systems back on Earth. Sandy & Michael track ways in which our cultures legitimise disengagement from YP whose data don’t tell the desired story. @mrjlauder.bsky.social @lucympowell.bsky.social
Sandy Leaton Gray@drleatongray.bsky.social · 2mo agoNew article out. Leaton Gray, S., & Reiss, M. J. (2026). Life on Mars: Platform education and sacrificial pedagogy as a diagnostic of schooling on earth. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 1–17. doi.org/10.1080/0013...
New article out. Leaton Gray, S., & Reiss, M. J. (2026). Life on Mars: Platform education and sacrificial pedagogy as a diagnostic of schooling on earth. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 1–17. doi.org/10.1080/0013...
Life on Mars: Platform education and sacrificial pedagogy as a diagnostic of schooling on earth
This paper uses the speculative scenario of educating children on Mars as a philosophical heuristic for interrogating the ethical limits of contemporary education systems on Earth. It argues that p...
doi.org
Tried Pilates on one of those reformer thingies that are so popular, and found it immensely disability friendly whilst being really cool at the same time. Can recommend.
UK's iconic Jodrell Bank telescope faces axe in science cuts. Really shocked at this.
