teaching

The Gardener

 Ideas, Inspiration  No Responses »
Apr 022013
 

This was shot in the Autumn of 2012, a season of rain, thunder and floods.  We asked the gardener to tell us about what he likes and dislikes and on some of his philosophical thoughts; he gave us plenty to think about.  I too wish I had someone to do my weeding for me, although I only garden when i am dragged, screaming outside.

With experience and maturity,  the need for meticulous planning disappears.  Someone who knows what they are doing can tell just by walking around and looking what their plans for the day should be.  In our world though, the planning is sometimes taken to be more important than the work itself.

 

The Straight

 Inspiration, Personal Productivity  No Responses »
Oct 122012
 

This video was used to provoke debate in staff development sessions.  It asks a very simple question about learning, school, examinations and life.  Do you ever step off the straight?  The film always provokes some good discussion, and a lot of comment, particularly about the cyclists breathing!

Please feel free to use the film in your own staff development sessions, here are some questions and prompts to get things going.

1) In this school, what is the straight?  Just how much is set down and formally required?  Just how flexible is the curriculum?

2) The cyclist clearly has a sense of adventure as a lot of risks are taken and there is a lot of potential danger.  What are the risks in stepping off the straight in this school?  Is there really, truly, any danger?

3) Who would you need to speak to about stepping off the straight?  Is it right that you have autonomy in your classroom and the freedom to do what you want without clearing it with anyone?  Head of year?  Head of department?  Headteacher?  What would the headteacher say anyway?

4) Why do you think the film is called “The Straight” and not “The Straight and Narrow”?

5) How do you measure it?  Everything is measured in school so how do you measure a journey where you are not sure where you are going?  What would OFSTED say? How do you show the value of using your own initiative?

6) You may know of some alternative approaches to education that value ‘the journey’ more than ‘the destination’.  Why do we not value these approaches more in this country?

Equivalent

 Ideas  No Responses »
Sep 242012
 

There is one word that has really damaged education over the last few years.  You might think that “rigour” is what I’m talking about, after all no one really understands what it is and can define it. But no, I think it is the word “equivalent”.

I see it all the time. There is a music business course being advertised at the moment which is “equivalent to a degree”.  There are courses being advertised leading to vocational qualifications which are “equivalent to 3 A levels”.  It is a word which is so misused and so misunderstood that we are currently butchering about in the school league tables like Sweeney Todd on the piss. Equivalent has ruined it for everybody.

In the world of business there is a clear understanding of words like “price”, “value”, worth” and “cost”.  We know that a Mars bar is a certain price in a shop, but a different price in a supermarket and a different price to the retailer who bought a big box of them from the cash-and-carry.  We also know that when you really, really want one you might be happy to pay twice the normal price for it.  This is basic economics and its understood and accepted. What is also clear is that Mars Bars have a very close competitor at Lidl that looks the same and tastes the same but is cheaper and called something else.  This product is an “equivalent”.  It looks like a Mars Bar, tastes like a Mars Bar and quacks like a Mars Bar. Equivalent.

Not so straightforward in education.  Is a Media Degree equivalent to a Politics degree? Are 3 Alevels equivalent to an apprenticeship? Is 1 GCSE in Maths equivalent to a Vocational qualification in carpentry? When you are building a house, of course, a carpentry qualification is far more valuable than a politics degree.  So does that make them equivalent, or is it that we just don’t understand ”price”, “value”, worth” and “cost”? I don’t think the answer is to get rid of everything because we cant express it as an equivalent of something else.

In English secondary schools at the moment, they are defining equivalent in terms of “Headline Measures” where large qualifications which might take days and years to complete are only valued as “1″ because the equivalence can’t be defined.

To me it seems straightforward.  Vocational qualifications are as valuable as academic ones. It is worth getting this qualification, it will benefit you in your career. The price of studying this subject is you will have less time to study that subject. Let’s stop talking about equivalent and start talking about value.

 

Why the Apple event on Wednesday matters to teachers…

 Ideas, Information, Technology  1 Response »
Sep 102012
 

Not a fanboy.  Please try to keep that in the back of your mind.  Yes, I’m typing this on a Mac, yes I have an iPod.  BUT I have an android phone, several windows PCs and a healthy understanding of the real world.  So please, don’t think this is just a fanboy rant, it’s not.  What it is, is an attempt to point out that we’re at a tipping point in education technology and that the next step, probably made by Apple at their product launch in San Francisco on Wednesday, could change everything.

We’ve had the iPad since the Summer of 2010, an incredibly thin device which uses a touch screen and can fit in an A4 envelope. It can access the web, seamlessly handle your email, manage your media content and a host of other tasks through a wealth of apps. As Steve Jobs used to say it’s “insanely great”. The iPad launched an industry wide rethink of what IT is, what it’s for and who should have it.  Now just about every IT manufacturer has a tablet device, there are a variety of operating systems, and app development is a major growth industry. If you still think IT is sitting behind a massive grey box and a 15 inch CRT monitor or that Microsoft Word and spreadsheets is what the IT curriculum should teach you have missed this revolution completely.

Many schools have ridden the crest of this wave and already brought tablet computers into the classroom.  Schools which issue their learners with their own iPads do exist. Units are being written as we speak allowing you to use tablet computers and mobile devices in art, music and media exams. Companies are already writing apps for classroom teaching, classroom management, assessment and support. The education tablet revolution has started but it it is, at the moment, in the hands of the enthusiast.

It is widely expected that Apple will launch a smaller version of their iPad on Wednesday (I’m not an Apple pundit myself, but Engadget and Macrumors will back me up here) as well as a larger phone, refreshed iMacs and iPods. It could be quite a day. The smaller iPad is a very interesting idea as it comes hot on the heals of the Kindle Fire and a host of other Android based tablet devices.  A smaller screen would bring limitations but it would also bring a cheaper price and perhaps a price so compelling that buying a class set, or indeed one for every learner is financially wise. In the UK you can get an iPad for £329 from the apple store, it’s not the latest model but it’s cheaper than a typical PC laptop. The kindle Fire is £129, just how much would a smaller iPad cost?

The Apple argument will be that the iPad is the only real tablet proposition for schools as there are apps in place, robust app quality control and apps in every subject and for every use. Guaranteed learner engagement in a sleek, brushed aluminium case. Android and the new Windows operating system (which is just around the corner) might argue with that, but the condition is clear.  If Wednesday goes the way the pundits are telling us, we may well be seeing the argument crashing on our desks this week.

If you are not going in this direction, parents will want to know why.

The Secret Peripatetic… episode 2

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Sep 022012
 

Where did it go? Have we really had 6 weeks?! Surely not! I think there is a conspiracy to shorten the days during ALL holidays! It must be in order that children don’t get too used to being free, bored and get up to mischief! Must be!

So, all that time I had planned to read, sort out the house, decorate the bathroom, write my book, catch up with my friends and remember what my hobbies are! The summer holidays are now at an end!!  All good intentions out of the window.  But I haven’t started to relax yet!
Having a husband who is self employed does put the dampeners on things a little. I mean shopping and lunching out every day? Who can sustain such hardship? Let alone the guilt of  breakfasting in bed. . . . not every day mind! (There are only so many repeats of ‘Heir Hunters’ that one can take on a daily basis!).

So what have I seriously been doing that has maliciously taken up all of my holiday time? I suppose I did manage a family break, over all too quickly. But there was still the constant driving here and there delivering one child or another to their various social events. And the cries of ‘mum you’re not at work now’ totally uncalled for . . . . . . . . . . after all, did they want to arrive on time? There is however a slight irony here in that I spend all my working life having to be at the next school like 10 minutes before I set off then embark on my summer holidays only to achieve a fine and 3 penalty points during my 1st week!  Apparently it’s not just the children who get up to mischief!

Roll on term time a safer and more productive use of time! . . . . . . . . . . . No, I don’t really mean that!

The Maths Curriculum

 Ideas  No Responses »
Aug 142012
 

Here’s another excellent talk from TED.  This one from 2010 and the Oxford TEDGlobal. It features Stephen Wolfram who gave us the Mathematica computer program I used to play with in the 90s and Wolfram Alpha which is the best (only) computational search engine.  His huge brain is also behind Siri on the iPhone.

He’s a bit of a maths genius and this talk, I think, is pretty crucial for maths teachers and those re-writing the maths curriculum.  It is yet another great mind pointing out that the curriculum is way out of date, a turn off, irrelevant and wasting talent.

Enjoy.

QTS… Quite a Touchy Subject

 Information, Policy  No Responses »
Jul 292012
 

QTS has been a hard won victory for teachers over many years.  The “professionalisation” of the industry was something which the unions have been after and also something parents have demanded.  Quite right.  The thing is though, here’s the thing, the thing that will get the million angry comments and threats of unsubscription, the thing is though, that it doesn’t necessarily mean anything.

Teachers are not made excellent by having QTS.  Many QTS teachers are excellent.  Many not-qualified teachers are excellent.  Some QTS teachers are awful.

This news item highlights the independent status of academies and kisses bye-bye to the QTS closed shop. A good thing.  It also brings in further challenge and threat and pressure onto teachers who are largely doing a brilliant job.  A bad thing.  You can do this good thing, bad thing for ever though. I’m looking forward to a measured and calm debate on what qualifications truly mean, what are required for what tasks and what skills teachers should have to actually teach.  Any chance of that?  I doubt it.

Briefing – Episode 57, The first 5 minutes…

 Ideas, Inspiration  No Responses »
Jul 202012
 

Lessons are often won or lost in the first five minutes of the class, so having some winning ideas, great plans, strategies and resources at your fingertips is important for successful teaching.

Nothing turns learners off more other than doing yet another word-search.  They might be fine, but they should not be your only idea.  Relate it to the learning, keep it fresh and simple and see where you end up.

Let us know what you use and what you think doesn’t, through the comments box below…

Briefing – Episode 56, Deadlines

 Ideas, Inspection, Personal Productivity  No Responses »
Jul 202012
 

A word crops up in here which many people have problems with.  Assertive – Lots to say on assertiveness that we’ll save for later, but a crucial skill for all teachers is to be assertive.

Draw a line in your mind.  At one end write the word aggressive and at the other, passive.

Aggressive is not good.  If you are in any way aggressive education is not the industry for you, you should leave before you get sacked.  Passive is not good.  If you are in any way passive education is not the industry for you, you should leave before you get sacked.

Assertive is right in the middle.  It’s features are firm but fair. Honest, truthful and clear.

I think I’ve made my point.

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