Great response to a BBC News article about what makes a good teacher. The following response is indicative of the rest: “I would have thought that it was quite obvious what makes a good teacher in this day and age. The ability to cope with enormous amounts of administrative paper-work including individual lesson plans for [...]
If you want an insight into how important accent and pronunciation are to learning, check out the latest research on teaching literacy to children. Seems that we learn words based not on BBC English phonics but according to how we process words. No longer can we allow external assessment as this allows for socio-cultural inequality [...]
Discussions here have led us to conclude that the school/college year needs to change. We believe terms should be scrapped or shortened. Semesters should stretch through the summer holidays, while teachers and students should be able to choose when they study. Summer course save on heating bills and result in a reduced carbon footprint. Being [...]
If you ever wondered who is/was responsible for Education Policy in the UK then look no further than this man… Education Reform Lessons from England An Interview with Sir Michael Barber Publication Date: January 13, 2006 England’s education system has undergone rapid and ambitious reform in the past decade. In 1997, a newly-elected Labour government, [...]
Education academic Professor Alan Smithers has said at the recent NUT conference that “unlike previous governments (New Labour) has taken upon itself responsibility for ‘delivery’ through targets and pressure from the centre. “Schools have been reduced almost to factories for producing test and exam scores. “But scores are not the product of education in the [...]
The Six-Lesson Schoolteacher by John Taylor Gatto, New York State Teacher of the Year, 1991 “Call me Mr. Gatto, please. Twenty-six years ago, having nothing better to do, I tried my hand at schoolteaching. My license certifies me as an instructor of English language and literature, but that isn’t what I do at all. What [...]
Why are there so many exam boards? The Edumonolith is the supplier of patronage, we know, but is it really necessary to have exams tailored to every level. Learning doesn’t happen in such a cosy way so why then do we still persist with levels and grades? One exam level to join them all, please. [...]
Interesting reading on the Beeb. Reported that there are now 34,000 students being taught at home. They say there is a dispute regarding the figures. But, are we to believe that these figures are any less reliable than those quoted elsewhere? Are the DfES deliberately sowing the seeds of suspicion in our minds so that [...]
News today that a new curriculum will as they put it ‘excite learning’. Really? Sounds like the end is nigh for the Curriculum. If, with all the changes that have taken place, it still isn’t ‘exciting’ then maybe it needs wholesale reform. We know, why not get rid of it, stop telling teachers what to [...]
Apparently despite the expense and the hours of training, the IWB’s just don’t work. There hasn’t been any sign in improvement of grades in schools that have been using them. Would be interesting to see what impact they’ve had on class atmosphere and attendance, however.
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