Thinking Curriculum: The One Stop Shop

Thinking deeply about curriculum is new to most of us. For a long time, we've focussed a lot more on the how than we have on the what. Recent changes in mood have been revelatory to me and, I imagine, many others....

A teacher sets an assignment

https://youtu.be/Xb5rxuIeF6o     I took a bit of a punt with this one, so please go easy. Loosely based on a thought experiment from SlateStarCodex here. Also I made a mistake at one point and said "fanart" instead of "fanfiction"...

Planning smarter: rethinking the short, medium and long term

A lot has changed recently. The new emphasis on curriculum and knowledge have led many to think about their teaching in completely different ways. For me, one of the big shifts has been the move from my teaching being resource-...

What to do after a mock? Assessment, sampling, inferences and more

A common question in the #CogSciSci email group is what to do after students have done an assessment or a mock. Most commonly, people spend a lesson "going over" the paper, where the teacher goes through each question and students make...

Thinking, Pairing and Sharing – good use of time?

I was recently discussing the use of a Think, Pair, Share (TPS) with a colleague. It does what it says on the tin: you pose a question or a text and have students first think about it, then pair up...

The generic and the disciplinary: finding a balance

Yesterday, I posted a blog arguing that "teaching and learning" is dead. It generated some really fascinating conversations online, and I wanted to pick up on something a couple of people raised: it may be the case that curriculum comes...

Teaching and Learning is Dead

We've all been there: formal observation with a non-specialist. Being told that our AfL was sub-par, that our activities weren't engaging enough, that we hadn't appropriately differentiated for SEN, EAL, PP, G&T, HPA, LPA etc etc. It's incredibly frustrating to...

Modelling Curricular Thinking: Inspired by Ben Ranson

I was just settling in for a well-earned evening playing video games on my laptop when I saw this thread by Ben Ranson: https://twitter.com/ThatBenRanson/status/1092498480445227009 The reason why Ben's thread is important is because it models curricular thinking. Most of us...

Core and hinterland: What’s what and why it matters

In 1918, the Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to a war criminal. In the early years of the 20th century, German scientist Fritz Haber developed a process to artificially synthesise ammonia, a vital component of agricultural fertilisers. A reaction...