A Neuroscience Game-Changer: Connectivity Issues and Learning Difficulties
I’ve spoken before about the disconnect between neuroscience research, with its complexity and nuance, and practical guidance for educators. A new report on the source of learning difficulties has … Continue reading
Which Countries Have the Smartest Education Systems, and in Which Direction Are They Headed?
Although the article by the World Economic Forum linked at the end of this piece is entitled ‘Which countries have the smartest kids?’ it shows nothing of the kind. The … Continue reading
Teacher Wellbeing Index 2019 | Education Support
Work-related stress in the teaching profession has increased for the third consecutive year, with sharp rises in tearfulness, difficulty sleeping and irritability amongst education professionals across the UK according to … Continue reading
The Retreat into Managerialism – Data in Schools
An interesting article by Rebecca Allen about the use, misuse and misinterpretation of data in schools: When the going gets tough, schools make data | FFT Education Datalab Download the … Continue reading
UK PISA Results: Not Much Change, But Some Worrying Developments
This week’s release of the international comparative data on educational performance (PISA) revealed a marginal improvement in performance of UK schools in Maths, but otherwise no breakthroughs in teaching and … Continue reading
Initial Teacher Training reforms in the UK
It has been very pleasing to see Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector for Education, Amanda Spielman becoming more vocal about some of the detrimental practises in schools. Aspects such as ‘Off-rolling’ … Continue reading
Good grades and a desk ‘key for university hopes’ | BBC News
Having a desk to work at, good grades and high expectations from parents, as well as being happy at school, are key factors in encouraging children to go on to … Continue reading
Global Education Report 2019
In the NJ MED‘s 5th Annual Global Education Report this year, students, parents, teachers, educators, and taxpayers from 214 countries participated in the two-month international survey asking How They would … Continue reading
Social media has ‘little effect on girls’ wellbeing’ | BBC News
Getting enough sleep and seeing friends may have a bigger effect on teenage girls’ mental well-being than social media use, a report suggests. The finding comes in the government’s new … Continue reading
Mothers with ‘controlling voice’ fail to persuade teenagers | BBC News
Mothers who talk to their teenage children in a “controlling tone of voice” are more likely to start an argument than get a positive response, according to researchers. The Cardiff … Continue reading
Off to ‘big school’? Some pupils need extra support, says Ofsted | BBC News
Primary schools should identify pupils whose behaviour may be at risk of deteriorating when they reach secondary school, a report for Ofsted suggests. Head teachers told Ofsted some pupils could … Continue reading
Child Development Stages – Charlotte Davies | Fit-2-Learn
Thank you to Charlotte Davies, a Director of Fit-2-Learn, who shared this useful infographic on child development. It outlines and integrates the various stages children need to go through in their … Continue reading
England leads the world in one shameful educational statistic… cyber-bullying!
Head teachers in England are more likely to face problems with pupils bullying online and misusing social media than in any other developed country, an international study says. Teachers also … Continue reading
School break times ‘cut short to cram in more lessons’ | BBC News
School break times have been getting shorter over the past two decades, as teachers try to pack more lessons into the day, a long-term study suggests. Infants in England had … Continue reading
Worsening child poverty harms learning, say teachers | BBC News
Poverty is harming children’s capacity to learn and it’s getting worse, suggests a survey of teachers. Pupils who go to school hungry from cramped, noisy homes where they can’t sleep … Continue reading
Ofsted inspection grades challenged | BBC News
Parents should have more reliable measures than Ofsted grades to compare schools in England, says a report from a new education think tank. The EDSK report challenges the accuracy of … Continue reading
An Open Invitation from the Learning Renaissance to Join Our International Reflective Learning Community Resource
If you represent a school or other learning establishment, you are very welcome to include a link to the Learning Renaissance on your online Continuing Professional Development (CPD) library. There … Continue reading
Time to change OFSTED from quality control to quality assurance
OFSTED has never been fit for purpose because it is based on a premise of quality control which makes the inspection system one that is imposed, rather than a partnership … Continue reading
Child Mental Health: A Crisis in the Making
I’m currently researching a book on preparing students for examinations. In discussions with my publisher, the review committee had suggested that I place more emphasis on student mental health and … Continue reading
Taking Notes By Hand May Be Better Than Digitally, Researchers Say | NPR
Researchers Pam Mueller and Daniel M Oppenheimer found that students remember more via taking notes longhand rather than on a laptop. It has to do with what happens when you’re … Continue reading
How do you improve schools? Start by coaching principals, says new study
It is good to see that my new book on future-proofing schools by focusing on the qualities of leadership appears to be on the money… this US study seems to … Continue reading
Fake news harms children’s self-esteem and trust, say MPs | BBC News
Children with poor literacy skills struggle most to tell which stories are false, says a report. A few weeks ago, Chloe, 13, shared a hoax story about the alleged death of … Continue reading
Women Who Watched ‘The X-Files’ Pursued More Careers in STEM | www.fastcompany.com
The phenomenon has been known as “The Scully Effect”–named after Gillian Anderson’s character Dana Scully – and the Geena Davis Institute proved it’s real. Women who watched The X-Files regularly … Continue reading
Gesundheit! The Surprising Case of Emotional Contagion | Six Seconds
Humans are highly sensitive to emotional signals in the environment. People tend to catch others’ emotions – an effect known as emotional contagion. And to be able to navigate this … Continue reading
Metacognition in Context: How Learners Put Themselves in the Learning
Two students do not approach the same problem from the same direction. Their approach is determined by their metacognitive sense of identity as a learner. To be effective their learning … Continue reading
Global Learning Goals
When you consider education at a global level, certain things become clear – this is a telescopic, rather than a microscopic view of learning internationally: Global Learning Goals. Their new report … Continue reading
Digital Education Policies in Europe and Beyond: Key Design Principles for More Effective Policies | European Commission
An interesting report from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre for Science on effective digital learning strategies. This report offers policy-makers in digital education evidence on how, at the national … Continue reading
