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  • The unions’ cause is just, but I’m ambivalent about striking – and I shudder at the legacy of the ’80s disputes

    Recently we have had localised strikes over pay, badly behaved pupils, redundancies and cuts to school services, but the biggest ones in a generation are on the way over pensions. While the majority of us were not surprised that the most left-wing of the unions, the NUT, voted to strike over pensions last week, you…

  • How did Edinburgh influence the writing of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?

    I think I’m getting a bit better at making these videos now. I produced this video for my GCSE pupils who have not been to Edinburgh but really need to know how the city influenced the writing of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde for their English Literature exam. Robert Louis Stevenson had a love-hate relationship with…

  • The unfair representation of a collective group in two media platforms

    Ryan Linham has written interesting answer to an A Level OCR Media Studies question here. What are the strengths and weaknesses of his answer?

  • Media Studies: John Dunford, Head of Media Studies, and student blog links.

    The Head of Media Studies at my school has his blog here. It is full of useful links and information. A2 students: http://linhamr3m4.wordpress.com/ http://danielbmedia.wordpress.com/ http://alexoconnor2.wordpress.com/ http://missemilystevens.wordpress.com/ http://joannebones.wordpress.com/ http://www.lukedarlingslifeblog.blogspot.com/ http://mollycliftona2.wordpress.com/ http://rachelhelsby2.wordpress.com/

  • Collective Identity — Media Studies, Youth Demonisation

    There’s a useful blog on Collective Identity connected with Youth Demonisation here, devised by a chief examiner at OCR.

  • The classroom should be a place of learning – but not for teachers

    Michael Gove’s plans to move teacher training out of universities will provoke protest at teachers’ conferences No article on matters educational is complete without a disquisition on standards. So here’s one, right at the top. The coalition’s plans to replace teacher-training at university with on-the-job learning will mean that standards – standards in teaching, that…

  • How to understand Shakespearean language: modernise it and make it fun.

  • How to analyse a poem: a Gilbert vodcast on “The Sick Rose”

    Motivated by the £10K offered to my school for winning The Dream Teacher competition, I’ve decided to start videoing little sections of my “teacherly” explanations and uploading them to YouTube. My videos are not of great quality, but I think my enthusiasm comes through! Like thousands of teachers up and down the country, I do this…

  • Yoga for all pupils, and other alternative schools

    Schools with a difference are enjoying a renaissance — but what sort of education do they offer? Yoga, meditation, gardening and learning through play — not your traditional school fare. But “alternative” education has never been a hotter topic for many parents in Britain. Tired of a diet of uniforms and exams that many schools…

  • My joy that my son is going to the local, much-improved comprehensive

    My wife and I learnt today, on National Offer Day, that our son, in Year 6, is going to the local comprehensive in Tower Hamlets, our first choice school. We are both delighted that he’s going to the school for several reasons. Firstly, the school really is “on the up”. My son will certainly get…

  • The omens don’t look good for Gove’s Troops To Teachers programme

    Guess how many military personnel have applied to become teachers as part of the Teach First Leadership Development Programme this year? Five. And guess how many have been hired? Zero. The Teach First figures for last year are similarly dismal with eleven military personnel applying, and two being hired. To put these figures in context,…

  • Birbalsingh has changed her tune since she was Head of Languages

    IMPORTANT NOTE: “Katharine Birbalsingh has asked us not to name any of her previous schools in our blogs and comments  as the ‘Ordinary School’ featured in  ‘To Miss with Love’ is fictional.” Since reading her fictional diatribe against state education, To Miss With Love, and writing a review of it for The Observer,  I’ve been starting to investigate…

  • State schools: are they failing our children?

    The state school depicted in Katharine Birbalsingh’s novel doesn’t resemble any school I’ve encountered recently – as a teacher, parent or researcher. Towards the end of the book, despite the school being riddled with poor behaviour and teaching, it’s judged to be “good, with outstanding features” by Ofsted. The comprehensive where I now teach was…

  • My analysis shows that the link between child poverty and poor results is still very strong

    My analysis of the 2009-2010 GCSE results shows that poverty is still very strongly connected with low academic attainment. In fact, from the results I’ve analysed, poverty seems still to be the deciding factor in how children do at school. This research endorses a raft of research which shows the connection between poverty and low…

  • Should the state be funding schools which were founded by a racist mystic?

    The news that there are 25 Steiner schools seeking to be funded as “free schools” and that there is already one which has state funds should be deeply troubling for most right-minded people. Steiner schools have the reputation in this country for being rather progressive, liberal schools with some quirky ideas, but basically perfect for…

  • Our analysis challenges the idea that free schools will save money or improve standards

    Exclusive analysis conducted by the LSN shows the free schools project is going to be a very inefficient use of resources and will not, in all probability, raise standards. This is because the vast majority of free schools that are going to be set up will be small in size and our analysis of the…

  • Why does Gove believe dead languages and Ancient History are more important to learn than the Arts, R.E, Sports and Technology?

    It’s official. Finally, Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, has proclaimed that Ancient History is more important than a whole raft of subjects that might actually teach our teenagers something of value. If you look at the list of “approved GCSEs” for the English Baccalaureate, you’ll see that Ancient History sits proudly there as an approved…

  • If Gove likes Finland’s schools so much, why doesn’t he imitate them?

    The new results from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are about to be published which compare the achievements of education systems across the globe. The latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is expected to show the achievements of UK and Swedish schools falling behind, while Finnish schools are surging ahead. Michael…

  • Are our exams really dumbed down?

    The latest PISA results appear to indicate that the UK is slipping down the league tables in terms of literacy and numeracy. Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, has indicated that major reforms are needed for our exams. But I wonder if he is actually aware that major reforms have already happened to the exams system;…

  • Latest Ofsted report proves co-operation, not competition, improves schools

    Ofsted’s new report on the London Challenge needs to be taken seriously by the Coalition government because it conclusively shows that when schools co-operate with each other, everyone is a winner. The London Challenge enabled schools to work with other and share best practice and pool resources. It appears that everyone benefitted from this: good…

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