I’m curious where the motivation to hang on to custom-and-practice comes from when it doesn’t make the difference we ideally want. I’m sure you all know Einstein’s neat quote on this one.. In an education setting, is it because of the culture of an organisation, or more specifically the proclivities of a particular senior leader? Or could it be laziness? Or do we just blame someone else? Do you know what I mean? For instance, blaming learners if something doesn’t […]

Bear with me here, I promise this isn’t trumpet-blowing: ‘Today has been fantastic in igniting that fire in my belly.’ Bryson Futureskills ‘It was a simmering pot of ideas.’ East Coast College ‘Like peering through the curtain to a brave new world.’ JTL Training ‘An eye opening insight into what should have been done years ago.’ Newcastle Sixth Form College ‘Like being released from prison!’ Nottingham College ‘Blown my mind. An awakening.’ Stoke College ‘Stratospheric. Inspirational. Thank you for reigniting […]

There’s a big difference between ‘gamification’ and ‘game-based learning’. An example of gamification is the introduction of fun and friendly competition to check on learning, such as Kahoot. While this can significantly improve learning momentum in a lesson, it isn’t without it’s issues, which I’ll say more about in a moment. Game-based learning is very different. It doesn’t simply check on learning, it produces the learning. Imagine that – all of the learning in the lesson comes from the playing […]

When do you feel is the best time to evaluate your self-assessment strategy? In January, when you’re into the new year and halfway through your annual cycle? After Easter, when some begin to think about the annual ‘syphoning off’ in preparation for the end of the year (and when there’s still time to make changes)? Or October, when system architects are at their most aware of the challenges of this work? I hope you’ll agree with me that self assessment […]

Never take Ofsted’s (or Estyn’s, or ETI’s or Education Scotland’s) lead on self assessment; if you do, it is likely to give you major problems. This is what we’ll be looking at in this week’s open session on Friday (June 24th): www.ccqi.org.uk/SAR. Many education providers find the logic of building their self-assessment system on the rock of the inspection framework inescapable. Inspectors may even infer (particularly the part-time ones) that this is exactly what you should do.. but you really […]