A De-Escalation Exercise for Upset Students | Edutopia
This article from Daniel Vollrath in Edutopia outlines a strategy for bringing a student down from an emotional outburst in a structured way. I found that in an inner city … Continue reading
Gaming – Still a Dirty Word in Schools
Perhaps because of its antecedents in toys and children’s games, the idea that games can be used purposefully as part of the learning diet in schools has not gained much … Continue reading
Three Pathways to Learning Transformation in Schools: Part 2: Change Management Solutions
In the first article in this series I outlined the key issues preventing the effective development of schools as learning organisations in the UK. You can access this first … Continue reading
A Template for Neurodiversity
Professor Amanda Kirby again makes the complex understandable in her chart of the common neuro-diverse conditions and how they impinge on each other. I consider reflection on this chart would … Continue reading
Just in time for the examination preparation period… a systematic and learner friendly way of digitising revision… Re-Examining Success by David Hughes
The new flyer to accompany my recently released book… there is a whole section on digitising revision and also making revision more enticing for pupils. This builds on techniques successfully … Continue reading
Adolescents and Sleep
The importance of sufficient quality sleep has long been known as being critical to wider health in all humans. It is particularly important in children and young adults as it … Continue reading
Behaviour Management: Some Thoughts
It has often struck me when I’ve seen parents reprimanding their children in public that it is often the parents who seem more out of control than their children. The … Continue reading
Homework… What is it Good For? Absolutely Nothing!
The issue of homework has been a thorn in my side since I started teaching. The standard thinking is that it develops independent learning skills, extends the work of the … Continue reading
Digitising Revision: The Basis of a Student Performance Breakthrough in Your School
This article is an abridged version of techniques expanded upon in a new book: Re-Examining Success: Raising pupils’ examination performance at secondary school: systems, techniques, processes and partners by David … Continue reading
Three Pathways to Learning Transformation in Schools: Part 1: Identifying the Problems
From November 2019: Flagship city school rapped and downgraded by Ofsted for ‘removing’ pupils ahead of GCSE exams | Birmingham Live Holte School in Lozells was one of a number … Continue reading
Re-Examining Success launched!
Crikey, it has only been out for a couple of days and already a bestseller in Blackwells… No.3 in educational strategies and policy!
A Diagram of Student Engagement Patterns from Ruby Jo Walker et al
I am indebted to Daniel Sobel for bringing this infographic to my attention. It was compiled by Ruby Jo Walker and associates and seeks to describe the range of levels … Continue reading
Tomatis: Linking Sound Processing and Learning
I have become very interested in the work of Charlotte Davies in the field of Tomatis research. It is only in the last year that this significant aspect of learning … Continue reading
Why INSET Fails to Change Learning in Schools
No-one was more excited than I in 1988 when a statutory obligation was built into the Education Reform Act requiring each school to provide five closure days a year when … Continue reading
The 2020 Critical Publishing Catalogue: The Answer to Questions That Have Been Challenging Schools
It is a really exciting time to be part of the Critical Publishing stable of authors. They have tapped into a rich vein of experience and focus with their Practical … Continue reading
Learning Technologies and How to Develop and Deploy Them: Changing the Paradigm
I generally take a sceptical view of educational technology because the implementers tend to want to shoe-horn in new technologies without going to the trouble of the professional development required … Continue reading
Thought For The Day: The Perfect Metaphor for the ‘Stuck Schools’ Conundrum from Bishop Desmond Tutu
Bett 2020… Learning Paradise Deferred?
The siren call of the BETT Conference, the world’s largest educational technology exhibition is sounding again at the ExCel Centre in the heart of London Docklands. It will showcase the … Continue reading
Stuck Schools: Diagnosis, Treatment and Sustainable Improvement
Ross Morrison McGill’s article on the unintended consequences of labelling ‘stuck’ schools resonated with me. As always, Ross Morrison McGill is on the money in his analysis of why schools … Continue reading
The Place of the Arts in the Curriculum
In all the clamour for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) in the curriculum, Arts subjects are increasingly marginalised. Sometimes it feels like they are regarded as ‘the icing’ on … Continue reading
The Unequal Playing Field of Education
In my new book, Re-Examining Success, out in March 2020, I outline ways in which the current examination system disproportionately favours those from relatively settled and well off homes. To … Continue reading
Change Management: The Paucity of Project Planning Skills and Cultural Change in Schools
I’m always fascinated when principals tell me how busy they are. It seems that since some of them have become the CEO’s of a number of schools, their perceived workload … Continue reading
A week in the life of the Learning Renaissance blog…
When the redoubtable Sue Cowley helped me to post what I thought was my own research into educational initiatives, I thought it would have a small and parochial level of … Continue reading
A Danish Lesson For the UK: How to Sort Out the Apprenticeship Mess!
In the last ten years the apprenticeship system in the UK, always brittle, has been thrown into turmoil. For the most part the blame lies with the Tory government for … Continue reading
Thought For The Day: The Beauty of Failure
This certainly rings true for me. The limited successes I’ve enjoyed in my career have been a cause for some celebration, but little learning. By contrast, my failures have had … Continue reading
A damning view of Ofsted… and a potential way forward: Re-examining what we mean by success in schools
Two things that have happened in the last week have revealed the systemic failure of the Ofsted model of inspection. Firstly Mary Bousted published a damning article on the coming … Continue reading
Thought For The Day: Integrity
You only find integrity when beliefs align with words and actions. This should find space on the wall of every senior leader…
