Measuring progress …………or shooting the goose?
A colleague and I were having a conversation. One of those snatched moments in a corridor when something really happens and you find yourself getting excited about teaching as you share your thoughts, usually finished off with, “We really need to get together and have a proper talk.” Which, of course, teaching being what it … Read more
Deskilling society………
A long drive and a lengthy conversation about skill with someone who knows how to ask the right questions got me thinking about the current issues facing Design Technology education. Well, alright, I have to admit that it usually doesn’t take very much to get me thinking about this but we did cover some new ground. … Read more
The EBacc is dead…..long live the EBacc
It will come as no surprise to many that the weekend has been full of conversations about the surprising events of last week as far as education is concerned. First of all there was the news that Michael Gove had announced that he would not be pursuing the EBacc. Could it be true? Well as it turned … Read more
GCSE option choice………….well, perhaps not too much choice.
All around the country my colleagues are gearing up for the process of selling their subject. Sorry, that should have read, “providing impartial advice and guidance to our pupils regarding their choice of courses for GCSE”. However the current educational landscape has made this more contentious than usual. Schools whose specialism has been Design Technology for years and who have … Read more
Simply the best……….subject to teach.
Well it has been an interesting few weeks; the pre Christmas slog followed by the all too brief holiday and then back to a new term which already seems frighteningly short given the amount of work that we have to cram into the time. Last but not least, snow! For most of you that will seem like … Read more
“It’s a replicator, Jim, but not as we know it”
Well, our 3D printers have arrived and are in action. I cannot recall anything that has so fired the imagination of pupils, staff and parents. Children have been calling in to see what the latest creation is, staff have been struggling to get their heads around how you can print in 3D, parents have … Read more
A deep and dark Govember…….Last chances and opportunities.
Apologies to Simon and Garfunkel for the misquote in the title but a friend recently had to give in to distaff pressure and shave off his blooming Mowvember ‘tache , got me thinking about November puns. In the current media feeding frenzy about what the BBC should or should not have done much seems to go unremarked, not least the continuing, perhaps growing … Read more
How about this for a curriculum review?
After more years teaching than I care to admit to in public I have reached the stage where I really don’t expect to hear anything original by way of an excuse. One of my pupils stopped me in my tracks this week; “My parents are redecorating my little brothers bedroom and he has lots of snakes so … Read more
Education failing in the UK or the UK failing education?
It seems to have been a rather strange week. By chance or intent I have heard a number of public statements that have caused me to think about what schools are for. There may seem to be an obvious answer but let me share a few of the things I have heard and see if I can … Read more
“Home truths for a fraud……….the Gove effect part II.”
(With apologies to Robert Browning) I cannot remember a cabinet reshuffle being anticipated so eagerly by my colleagues. It is not often that you hear staff asking each other questions in the corridor such as, “Have you heard what’s happening?”, ”Has he gone?”, but such was the excited tenor of events during the recent reshuffle. … Read more
