Adapt: A Bismarckian approach to innovation?
I like continuums. They exemplify (for me at least) a great way for thinking about supposedly easy historical interpretation questions (see Ian Dawson’s work here). I also find them useful for thinking...
View ArticleSusan Boyle, historical knowledge & the Black Death
One binary pairing we never seem to tire of in education is the knowledge/skills division. Lately, the prominence given to ‘knowledge’ has become fashionable in the media and as a History teacher, I...
View ArticleTalkin’ loud and sayin’ nothin’? Progressive v Traditional teachers
Like a dull knife, just ain’t cutting. Just talkin’ loud and sayin’ nothin’ James Brown Premature polarisation of viewpoints is the chief device by which the education community maintains the...
View ArticleTeaching at the Wren Academy – Part 1
One of the things that interests me intensely are the stereotypes people have of the independent and state sectors. Many of these views stem from the fact that they have not set foot in some of the...
View ArticleTeaching at the Wren Academy – Part 2
As I got in the cab on my way from the Tube (I did not want to be late) this morning, the driver freely offered his opinion on the Wren: it really is an excellent school. He has no children there but...
View ArticleTeaching at the Wren Academy – Part 3
Today was my final day at the Wren Academy and as I left the school, I had more questions than answers. This is a good thing. After my first lesson, Ruth and I had a discussion around differentiation...
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Tweaks for the new academic year
R2D2 as the ‘Pomodoro’ master. Image from http://www.truffleshuffle.co.uk/store/star-wars-r2d2-kitchen-timer-p-15483.html This year, I have made a few small adjustments to my teaching. Part of it will...
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Digitising Cultural Heritage
The amazing Biblioteca Angelica, Rome Last week I spent a day and a half in Rome at the Biblioteca Angelica working with Europeana on digital cultural heritage and education. The Europeana Foundation...
View ArticleResearch notes
I mentioned earlier this year that I was slightly frustrated by talk about educational research in schools. So I decided to do something about it and applied to do a Masters at the University of...
View ArticleThe problem of a single story
Robert Peal’s article in the TES on Friday ‘History’s an adventure – don’t cut it short’ left me feeling slightly bemused. In the piece, Peal argues that current history textbooks lack an extended...
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Frameworks and narratives
In our first history department meeting last week, we discussed the school’s new approach to ‘Building Learning Power’ and how we could create resources to use the language and ideas to structure...
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When writing about history teaching goes very, very wrong.
The Daily Mail’s article, ‘GCSE pupils to be taught that the nation’s earliest inhabitants were Africans who were in Britain before the English‘ marshals an impressive array of commentators apparently...
View ArticleHow not to ‘whitewash’
The #RhodesMustFall campaign has been interesting because the main goal to remove the statue of Cecil Rhodes, imperialist and benefactor, has failed. Equally interesting has been the opposition, which...
View ArticleBeyond the modern obsession of ‘progressive’ and ‘traditional’ education
One puzzling aspect of the debate surrounding education on Social Media is starting with the ‘Romantic’ period and blaming Rousseau and his work Emile for the problems in our modern age. The creation...
View ArticleIs Rousseau a traditional educator?
As an undergrad student, I was not that impressed with Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The phrase, ‘man is born free but everywhere else he is in chains’ seemed too simple a rationalisation for thinking about...
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Designing an Oxbridge programme
Emmanuelle, the Regent’s Park College tortoise. I recently took a group of students (mostly from my Form) to Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford so they could learn more about the application...
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I contain multitudes
Biblioteca Angelica, Rome I’ve be reading and thinking a lot about of Rousseau of late and pondering the ongoing representation of ‘traditional’ and ‘progressive’ education. My original intention in...
View ArticleEverything is good as it leaves the hands of the Author
*This is the first in a series of posts examining some of the foundational assumptions/ideas/theories used to justify recent educational debates/policy directions and despite the appearance of...
View ArticleAbsent from the curriculum
On the 4th December 2018, I was invited to take part in a panel discussion hosted by the Runnymede Trust and the Institute of Historical Research about Black and Asian British history on the school...
View ArticleTeaching ‘race’ and racism in English history classrooms
The events of the last week in the USA have brought tears of sorrow, anger and frustration. This has also been mirrored in the UK regarding Grenfell, the Windrush scandal and the disproportionate...
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