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Education research must be really frustrating for many as it appears to contradict itself over time, and differing settings. This situation reminds me of story given by Martin Seligman (2004) in his very entertaining TED lecture. He explains: So they came to me — CNN — and they said, “Professor Seligman, would you tell us about…

Polyglot Benny Lewis learned languages late in life. Through his experience, he challenges traditional notions of learning and believes that learning languages can be made easy if learners are passionate about literature, people and culture. Instead of a formal method, he advocates a more PBL approach, where the problem is “how do I survive on holiday?”…

Education debate is all too often polarised. Progressives vs Traditionalists, Competition vs Collaboration, Testing vs Trust. And so on. A cynic might say that this makes for good headlines as a quick look at BBC reporting of phonics will show: “Phonics lessons are ‘almost abuse’” (BBC News, 2014a) Or “Phonics is the “best way” to…

Stanford University’s ‘Year of Learning’ … In a year long, strategy encompasing all disciplines, Stanford take a fresh look at the latest research on learning and teaching role of technology in developing and supporting learning and teaching the changing demography of education as the world goes global I really recommend their blog    All too…

Paul Mason, economics editor of Channel Four, describes information technology as both product and disrupter of Capitalism. His thesis, written in his book,  PostCapitalism: A guide to the future,  is that for a very long time Capitalism has confounded its critics by being more adaptable than could be imagined. However, Information Technology, he opines, poses…

June 29, 2007…  Less than ten years ago.  This was the day the iPhone was released.  How the world has changed since then… The pace of this change is exponential. Think explosive. Think accelerating. Think of the Gemino Curse which almost killed Harry Potter when raiding a vault in Gringott’s Bank.  A nifty dramatisation of compounding…

Meta-cognitive interventions are one of the most cost-effective things teachers and schools can do, according to the Sutton Trust and the EEF toolkit. But how do we help pupils become better learners?  This is the subject of a rigorous longitudinal study by James Mannion and Neil Mercer (2016), at the University of Cambridge. They develop…

Perennial questions that keep resurfacing: What’s the Finnish secret?  and Should UK education become more like Finland? Perhaps though, we have more in common with Finland than we think? The 2010 OECD report on education in Finland lists a number similarities to UK initiatives: A core curriculum that has become increasingly less prescriptive Choice for…

We now live in a relentless, evidence based race to brilliance…  or so some would say. If you can’t measure progress, current rhetoric holds that progress didn’t take place!  ergo… If you can’t test it,  don’t teach it…  some say. Others reject regular progress testing…  but who is right? The recent debate about a Singaporean…

Chess Champs have Superior Memory !! or do they? It seems obvious – surely Chess Champs are champs because they have superior memory?  Or maybe they have mastered their learning style?  Or perhaps they just have better genetics? Such claims are the enemy of hope.  Students that hope to excel. Parents that dream for their…