Helping Students Develop Their Values… and Your School Ethos
Being proactive and asking students to record their own values is a useful exercise in developing a philosophical understanding of what motivates and impassions people. building an ethos based on … Continue reading
Dumbing Down the Profession… Headteachers in their Twenties!
One element of the transfer of accountability from local educational authorities to the Multi Academy Trusts has been the appointment of younger and younger heads. There is certainly a recruitment … Continue reading
The Madness of Standardisation in Learning
In contrast to a recent post regarding project based learning, here is an article from the Guardian exploring what teachers and students are enduring in the standardised testing regime currently in … Continue reading
Project-Based Learning: A Study
One of the joys of my primary school was the summer opportunity to complete an extended project. We were left to our own devices for almost two weeks and had … Continue reading
How to Design a School That Prioritizes Kindness and Caring | MindShift
It says much about the state of our society when you need to start explicitly trying to build kindness into your school’s DNA. How far has capitalism taken us … Continue reading
Set to Fail – The Reluctant Learners
We’ve all been there as teachers… the Year 9 student who oozes negativity, seems determined to disrupt the learning of others and drives you to distraction with every comment. My … Continue reading
Artificial Intelligence – Some Things to Know
An article by Ray Williams regarding Artificial Intelligence and the impact it will have on our lives in the near future… We are on the verge of a technological revolution … Continue reading
Learning Styles Myth Debunked
Over a decade ago the idea that students exhibited learning styles was gaining ground. The underlying assumption was that students had a preferred learning style with might involve receiving written … Continue reading
10 charts that show the effect of tuition fees | BBC News
University tuition fees in England have become a political battleground – with renewed calls that they should be scrapped.When they were increased a few years ago to £9,000 they became … Continue reading
The Neuroscience of Mindfulness
I often complain that neuroscience research is so nuanced as to have no practical benefits to learning. Here is an article by Kristyna Zapletal that is prepared to venture into practicality: … Continue reading
Every Child Needs a Mentor (ECNAM)
Mentoring provides a different paradigm for learning that stresses partnership and empowerment for the student in the relationship with the teacher/mentor. Mentor Herman Stewart posted this case study from his … Continue reading
Can a scholarship in peace studies really make a difference? | BBC | Dhruti Shah
“What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word.” And with that, in Act One, Scene One, Tybalt, the violent “Prince of Cats” in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet … Continue reading
A Riposte to the Traditional Written Exam
This is a forthright and provocative attack on standard written examinations from the CEO of Yacapaca, Ian Grove-Stephensen. It certainly resonates with my experience… It is long past time to … Continue reading
Lean Processes in Learning
Lean processes, meaning achieving your desired outcome with minimal or no wastage, have been applied in manufacturing processes for some time. You can see it in automotive and aeronautical engineering … Continue reading
Montessori Secondary School: Teachers as Guides
The Montessori educational philosophy is well established at primary level as a child development focussed philosophy of letting children discover their own interests and develop at a pace appropriate to the … Continue reading
Reaching Students With Emotional Disturbances | Edutopia
Seasoned educator Dr Lori Desautels shares four ideas for supporting students who have suffered emotional trauma. The encouraging news is that young people have the innate capacity to bounce back from … Continue reading
7 Rules of Proactive Leadership | Tomas Kucera | LinkedIn
Although purposed for a wider business environment, I found this outline of proactive leadership quite compelling for an educational setting… Crisis. Panic. Urgency. These are some of the words with … Continue reading
4 Steps to Better Writers | Edutopia
Guest blogger Brian Sztabnik isolates four steps to becoming a better writer – Purpose, Organization, Evidence and Thesis (POET) – and, with this pre-writing exercise, encourages his students to ‘be … Continue reading
Digital Portfolios – The Art of Reflection | Edutopia
By collecting their learning artefacts and compiling them into portfolios, students should have an opportunity to reflect upon their experiences and see their own growth. Read the full article here: … Continue reading
A Code for Leadership Action from Don Miguel Ruiz
Strati Georgopoulos cites the Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz as a pattern for leadership and personal development:
Mentoring, Observations and the Reflective School
This article by Deborah McVey rang some important bells for me on what we aim to achieve through lesson observation and the attitudes and behaviours we need to take into … Continue reading
What is Emotional Self-Awareness?
Emotional Intelligence expert Daniel Goleman explains the connection between your emotions and your ability to lead. First in a series. Emotional Self-Awareness is the ability to understand your own emotions … Continue reading
Promoting Change in an Organisation
Elizabeth Dukes explores the psychological and organisational dimensions of change in an organisation. Too often leaders are so busy promoting change that they gloss over the psychological resistance in the teams … Continue reading
Some thoughtful career advice from Bill Gates…
Bill Gates gives advice to new graduates on the future of working and the sunrise industries… Congratulations! You’ve just accomplished something I never managed to do—earn a college degree. Between … Continue reading
The Politics of Entitlement Which Wastes Talent
I’ve had the experience of working with schools internationally which are fee paying and state supported. The common perception is that the ‘top’ schools provide an exceptional and high grade … Continue reading
Metacognition: Learning How to Learn, Revisited
As we enter examination season once again a number of parents have asked me about study skills techniques. Interesting how this always comes up as a graft on element at … Continue reading
UN warns of millions missing school in conflict zones | BBC News
Warfare and conflict are preventing 25 million young people from getting any access to school, says Unicef. The United Nations children’s agency warns of the long-term cost of political violence, … Continue reading
