Last week I spoke at the Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai. I took part in a debate on the following topic: This house believes 21st century learners need their heads filled with pure facts. I spoke for the motion, together with Nick Gibb, the Minister of State for School Standards in the UK. Speaking… Read more »
Read more
Recently, a friend of mine sent me a link to Oxford University’s History Aptitude Tests (HAT). These tests are designed for 18 year olds applying for admission to Oxford. I really liked the look of them – the one I saw was interesting, challenging, covered a broad range of historical eras and I can imagine… Read more »
Read more
Yesterday I went to a brilliant day of professional development at Ark Globe Academy called Teach Like a Top Athlete: Coaching and Mastery Methods. I went to a workshop run by the amazing Jo Facer on Mastery Planning, and one by the equally amazing Dan Lavipour and Michael Slavinsky called What Can Teachers Learn From… Read more »
Read more
I spent yesterday at the Michaela Community School Debating Education event, which was absolutely brilliant. I spoke against the motion ‘Sir Ken is right: traditional education kills creativity’, and Guy Claxton spoke for it. Here are some of my notes from this debate, and the day. It’s about methods, not aims I agree with Sir… Read more »
Read more
On Thursday evening I had the privilege of hearing ED Hirsch give the Policy Exchange education lecture. Hirsch in person was much like Hirsch the author: self-effacing, erudite, quietly compelling and wryly humorous. He spoke about what the best kind of early education should look like, and stressed the egalitarian effect of teaching knowledge to… Read more »
Read more
Nicky Morgan’s comments today have started a debate over whether pupils really do need to have to learn their times tables by the end of primary. I think they should and I’m not going to rehearse the arguments here. What I do want to do is to ask what other maths facts it’s useful for… Read more »
Read more
Today I was on the Daily Politics soapbox talking about why facts are vital for learning. Click on the image below to see the video on the BBC website. For more information about the research I refer to, see my book, Seven Myths about Education, available here. The short video was filmed at the Ragged School… Read more »
Read more
In my presentation at the ARK Summit on Monday I compared the English 2007 National Curriculum in Chemistry to grade 7 (that’s year 8) of E.D. Hirsch’s Core Knowledge Curriculum. Chemistry content in KS4 Science National Curriculum (years 10 & 11) (Link here, p. 224) Chemistry content in Grade 7 Core Knowledge Curriculum (year 8… Read more »
Read more
A couple of months ago my mother bought her first iPhone. I was showing her how various bits and pieces on it worked, and I thought I’d show her how Siri worked. Much as I love the iPhone, I tend to think Siri is a bit of a gimmick. The one thing I do use… Read more »
Read more
For words, like nature, half reveal And half conceal the soul within Alfred Tennyson, In Memoriam A lot of the time, I hear people say that the tired old ‘knowledge-skills’ debate is a false dichotomy. This is of course true. Knowledge and skills are not polar opposites. But a lot of people who say that… Read more »
Read more