Subject-based learning: let’s blow this baby wide open
Hi everyone. My name is James and I have thought there should be more to education than an almost exclusive focus on a narrow band of [...]
Is everyone OK with fact that we force 30% of children to fail their GCSEs?
In this post I argue that compulsory GCSEs for all, which means enforced failure for some, is profoundly unethical. I also outline an alternative model for secondary school assessments. Educational [...]
Metacognition and self-regulation: harnessing the how of learning
A few months ago I wrote a piece for Optimus Education's Insight magazine, which they have kindly agreed to let me share here. Here's a link if [...]
What’s the point of Philosophy for Children?
As is customary, this blogpost was inspired by a discussion I had on Twitter the other day. The thread is here if you're interested, but in [...]
Self Managed Learning: An interview with Ian Cunningham
A year ago, I began working as a tutor at the Self Managed Learning College in Brighton. It's an alternative education provider for young people aged 9-16 [...]
We need to talk about the army of elephants
I wrote this back in March 2013 in an attempt to map current and historical discourses around education, and to question why some things just don't seem to [...]
The heuristic hippo
On Friday evening I received this series of 3 tweets from Greg Ashman, who writes a blog called Filling the Pail. https://twitter.com/greg_ashman/status/804805816582742016 https://twitter.com/greg_ashman/status/804806702893629440 [...]
Making sense of the learning glossary: should this be “the knowledge” for educators?
This follows on from my last 2 blogs: Learning is meaningless A glossary of learning terms In this post, I would like to explain (to [...]
A glossary of learning terms
In my last post I argued that, for educators at least, the word ‘learning’ is so vague as to be meaningless except as an umbrella [...]
Learning is meaningless
Definitions are important. Everybody knows this. If we can’t be clear about the meanings of the words we use, we should stop using them and [...]
Our presentation on Learning to Learn at researchED 2016
Last month, Kate and I did a talk at the researchED conference entitled 'Rethinking Learning to Learn as a Complex Intervention: Raising the Bar, Closing [...]
The only way is ethics *
Here's the first draft of a short guide to research ethics I've written for the Praxis site. (Praxis is going to develop a fair bit over [...]
Should schools count the opportunity cost? (Spoiler: no)
This is an extended version of an article that appeared in the TES last year. Image: Pixabay There are many ways to win an education [...]
Are exams killing our planet? (Spoiler: Yes)
In this post (first written in 2014), I attempt to set out a long view for education reform. I realise that what follows is quite far removed [...]