The term ‘threshold concept’ has made an appearance in three teaching practice conversations this past week. Not a new education practice term, like Cognitive Load Theory, there has been interest in this construct for ten or more years, it is not as pervasive or currently as popular as Responsive Teaching for example. One suggests that…
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There are a whole lot of things in this world of ours you haven’t started wondering about yet. Old-Green-Grasshopper Time to read, write, reflect and connect-the-dots this past month has deepen my conviction that teaching and the leading the development of teachers is a messy business. Teacher development is informed, artful and responsive more than it…
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The #IOEDebates offers a rich vein of educational thinking. Panelists are dedicated experts within their education field. Hence the debates are often a level or two above a chance encounter, water-cooler conversation. Chaired by Professor Becky Francis, Director, UCL Institute of Education, What if… we re-designed our school testing and assessment system from scratch? brought Tim…
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We are all well aware that since becoming Ofsted’s chief inspector back in January 2017, Amanda Spielman made it clear that curriculum will be a key focus. Then in the next breadth, one expects to hear the terms, “breadth and balance.” The first phase was for Ofsted to investigate how much the new common inspection framework,…
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We travelled up the night before, enjoyed staff time together and walked in beautiful sunshine to Leeds Beckett Campus. We soaked up the welcoming atmosphere (a little more familiar and established than Southern Rocks) before heading to the sports hall for the opening address. Again 200+ teachers and educations giving up the FA Cup and…
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Four teachers from our school have travelled up from Hindhead in Surrey to support our older sister, Northern Rocks, #nrocks18, at Leeds Beckett University. Again, the turn out demonstrates the appetite for self directed professional development. Why are we here? We are here to spend valuable time together, talking about teaching (and leading) to meet with…
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