Doing some reading for the book I'm writing and coming to the conclusion that differences about pedagogy are actually differences about how much agency learners should have and how controlling teachers should be. I simply couldn't use some of the techniques I see talked about with great fervour.
Powerful and important letter about artificial so-called intelligence from Sheila Hayman from Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy, University of Cambridge, in the FT today
41 years ago, Carl Sagan gave a clear and elegant explanation of the science behind global warming.
On building young children’s brains: ‘Human beings did not evolve to learn like computers, transmitting isolated pieces of information for their brains to store, & their “program” cannot be ‘hacked’ to make this so.’ @andyburnham.bsky.social @lucympowell.bsky.social @edusky.bsky.social #EduSky
Play, learning and the young child’s brain: ‘It doesn’t work like that’
Play is essential to early learning and children's development because our brains evolved to ‘boot up’ through social interaction and exploration
yorkshirebylines.co.uk
This 🧵🧵🧵
DamsonEd@damsoned.bsky.social · 2w agowww.theguardian.com/education/20... Correlation is not causation. Also, it is fascinating that most of the people quoted have been involved in promoting the use of tech in schools in different ways. Secondary schools are run on tech- students spend their days looking at ppts.
Agree that more high quality oracy and less ppt is a good thing. Also, I see reading in Science as multimodal. Making meaning from a diagram is akin to comprehending a written text - inference, linking info etc. (My phone or Bluesky is glitching. I'm writing a thread but keep losing it)
New series! ✨ Mid-month self-care ideas! Which ones are you adding to your to-do list?
This is the coverage of Arday **just in the Telegraph** in the UK. This is only the first four pages of results, just in one outlet.
I don't understand why the government doesn't just ban these until the heatwaves are over. 🤷♀️
David Higham@oldtrotter.bsky.social · 3w agoExtraordinary
Thread. This is what the pandemic was like for teachers in schools. Schools were open ALL THE WAY THROUGH the pandemic. Let’s not forget what it was like for some, whilst others were partying. bsky.app/profile/eyes...
Teaching with my eyes shut@eyesshutteacher.bsky.social · 4w agoAs everyone seems to be discussing schools closing during the COVID pandemic here’s a reminder of what it was like here 🏴 just before the first lockdown. 🧵 I was teaching 33 P7s (11-12 upper primary) in an open plan classroom 5m x 10m. Covid was thought to be transmitted by touching surfaces. 1/
Breaking: Mayors will be handed control of sixth form funding in a radical break from England’s Whitehall-run post-16 education system schoolsweek.co.uk/mayors-to-ta...
Mayors to take control of sixth form funding
School sixth forms and colleges in scope, with a timetable due at the autumn budget
schoolsweek.co.uk
Whenever I talk to new teachers I tell them how education basically goes in a ten year cycle and, if you stick firm to your values, once every ten years people will say you were doing the right thing all along. ⬇️
If we aren't willing to explore ways of making an academic education more engaging for disaffected learners, and we're not willing to countenance alternative pathways in learning either, what's the actual solution to those learners who are currently switching off from school and learning? 🧵 1/3
Just saying 'everyone must have access to this academic curriculum of which I approve' doesn't seem likely to help deal with current absence and exclusion rates. The disadvantage gap has widened not closed in recent years. A big chunk of learners are still told they're 'failing' in our system. 2/3
Germany, Switzerland etc... not only have a different balance of manufacturing vs services but also a corporate model in which companies support vocational ed at scale. We have neither. Schools/colleges aren't the problem.
V true. Which is why my solution is to make unis better not trash the whole system.
Will Davies@will-davies.bsky.social · last mo.university was a far better option for disadvantaged young people 10+ years ago than it is now. Part of what's happened, enabling the new 'vocational/technical' policy discourse is that - via cost of living and punitive student finance - the socioeconomic critique of HE has become increasingly valid
Ummmm. I am still not convinced by the “powerful knowledge” argument. Just as I am sure that the students at his school do not get the same as students at Harrow and Eton… bsky.app/profile/scho...
Schools Week@schoolsweek.bsky.social · last mo.'Parity of esteem cannot mean asking poorer children to narrow their horizons earlier. The most progressive education policy remains the simplest: give every child access to powerful knowledge and allow them to decide for themselves what they will become' schoolsweek.co.uk/no-andy-burn...
This. You can be ‘bright’ and also enjoy your job that isn’t based on academics. You can be clever and love your family and want to be near them in your adult life. You can want/need/have a life that isn’t urban/London-ish
Phillwatson FBPE 🇬🇧🇨🇭 🇪🇺🖖 🔶@phillipwatson.bsky.social · last mo.This assumes the vocational route is a second-class option. That’s exactly what countries like Switzerland have spent decades trying to eliminate. The goal should be that bright students can choose either pathway without limiting their future and expanding their opportunities and potential
this is incredibly sad
Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans@astroroyalscot.bsky.social · last mo.I'm absolutely devastated for colleagues at Jodrell Bank who found out this morning that funding for the UK's e-MERLIN radio telescope array will be terminated. This is a short-sighted move, to save a tiny fraction of the overall UK science budget. #SaveJodrellBank 🔭🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
If the DfE can be hacked, why are we ok with schools holding fingerprints and other data? Just asking
Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · last mo.'Hackers have obtained about 607,000 records in a cyber-attack on the Department for Education (DfE) in England.' Not good, for anyone.
We promote a whole load of nonsense about ‘dream jobs’ and ‘careers’ and ‘reaching for the stars/moon’ etc in schools, when really, doing a job you are good at, you get paid enough to live and you like it is enough. More than enough. ‘Life’ can happen outside of work.
Laura McInerney@missmc.bsky.social · last mo.I think about this routine work bit a lot. There’s something about a job where you can do a similar thing over and over that’s really satisfying, and being able to know that it you do it, someone will pay you, brings a lot of calm. It’s that certain which I think students are sometimes hankering for
Ha! Yes. Very few reels on Instagram too! This government would do well to redevelop the adult education offer. Children learn from the example of those around them and watching their parents/carers continue to learn illustrates what is possible.
I honestly think parental phone use is the reason we have so many developmental problems in children today. news.sky.com/story/parent...
Parents 'missing important family time' due to aimless phone use
Almost half (48%) of parents of under-18s check or pick up their phone 30 or more times per day without a specific reason – adding up to more than two hours, and 88 hours over the course of the summer...
news.sky.com
A brilliant TA at my SEND school is looking for another job partly because she can’t afford the weekly petrol to get to work. How many exceptional school staff are we losing simply because they can’t afford to stay? #SEND #Education #CostOfLiving #SchoolFunding
Encapsulates what is meant by SEND being the golden thread - good, inclusive schools think like this.
Hetan Shah@hetanshah.bsky.social · last mo.Like this from @timharford.ft.com on how inclusive design principles can often help all users, not those just seen as traditionally excluded www.ft.com/content/4d8e...
With the Primary and Secondary Verse Novel Award shortlists now published, schools can register to take part in the pupil-led judging process next term. If you'd like your pupils to help select this year's winners, simply complete the form below. docs.google.com/forms/d/1Dmc...
