Category Archives: Teaching and learning

The multilingual citizen in a multicultural society

I want to speak about the experience of being bilingual and bicultural and its educational benefits. I am not an expert or an academic and I have no research findings to share. I have worked in diverse communities for over … Continue reading

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Valuing student research

The continuing growth of the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) in England’s sixth forms is a sign that students, teachers, universities and employers value what it offers. However, less than 10% of advanced level sixth formers have the opportunity to achieve … Continue reading

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Your college interview

How should you approach your sixth form college interview and get the most from the experience? Following my previous posts How to choose a sixth form and How to make a strong college application, here is some advice about getting … Continue reading

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How to make a strong college application

How can students make sure that their sixth form application is as strong as possible and does justice to their achievements, interests and aspirations? If you are in Year 11, you need to be thinking about where you want to … Continue reading

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The keyboard and the music

We spend much of our time in front of keyboards. Our computer keyboard is an essential interface with the world as it appears to us on our screen. We use keys to input letters, form our words and meanings on a virtual page which … Continue reading

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A few things we know about the universe. Science in Society 7

The scale, origin and future of the universe The Earth is one of the 9 known planets which orbit the Sun. It takes one year to make a complete orbit. The planets are very small compared with the distances between … Continue reading

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Better inspection for all?

A critical evaluation of the proposed new Ofsted inspection framework The current Ofsted consultation “Better inspection for all” proposes a new common inspection framework for schools, academies, colleges, training providers and Early Years settings to provide greater coherence in our inspection … Continue reading

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The germ theory of disease. Science in Society 6

Many diseases of humans, other animals and plants are caused by small organisms; microbes, such as bacteria, fungi and viruses which are present in the environment and can be passed on from already infected individuals. Bacteria or fungi may enter … Continue reading

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Education without metaphors?

We love metaphors don’t we? They can help us to express new or complex ideas in term of more familiar ones. They can add richness and drama to our explanations. Good metaphors can help us to understand, organise and interpret … Continue reading

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What’s wrong with bite-sized learning?

The phrase ‘bite-sized learning’ suggests that a substantial, chunky educational programme has been chopped up into smaller pieces which are easy to take in but have lost any sense of overall meaning; little gobbets of knowledge of no real use. … Continue reading

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Learning and xenophilia.

Xenophobia is the fear of difference or the dislike of foreigners. Across Europe we have seen the rise in support for parties espousing xenophobic views. In difficult times, these parties play the blame game and tap into people’s suspicion and … Continue reading

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Homology, analogy and metaphor. Science in Society 5.

Reading ‘Much scientific argument and hypothesis-making proceeds through the use of analogy and metaphor’. Steven Rose. To help us understand a scientific process we often liken it to something we’re already familiar with. We use homology, analogy and metaphor. A … Continue reading

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Mastering my Zenit

For my 12th birthday my dad gave me a Zenit-E single lens reflex camera. This summer, over 40 years later, I came across it while sorting through some boxes, and it all came flooding back. At the time I was … Continue reading

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Debating the Liberal Arts

The Future of Liberal Arts conference: The Liberal Arts and Schools I was delighted to be asked to contribute to the panel on ‘The Liberal Arts and Schools’ at the ‘Future of Liberal Arts’ conference organised by Martin Robinson (author … Continue reading

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Paradigm shift. Science in Society 4

Paradigm shift: the Earth moves away from the centre In Europe 500 years ago, the established paradigm of 2,000 years was built on common sense ideas about the Earth and its place in the universe. This paradigm was summed up by … Continue reading

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