Archives for Sir Ken Robinson

Why do (some) Teachers on Twitter seem so unwilling to learn?

On a warm Saturday afternoon, a few years ago, I was working in a school (it needs to remain nameless as it would be easy to attribute names to places, and I’ve no desire to name and shame anyone in this piece). Anyway, I was facilitating a student-to-staff training session. It was quite a well-known school, not previously known for progressive pedagogy, but here were an entire cohort of teachers being respectfully asked to allow students to co-design lessons, hold regular conversations about what great learning looked like, and remember the need for engaging lessons. The teachers took all of …

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Gove Gone….. 7 top tips for the new Secretary of State for Education

Last Friday saw another round of inflationary gifts to teachers in England. As The Independent reported ,Tiffany bracelets, opera tickets – even a brace of pheasants – were given to teachers as the academic year drew to a close. But there was no doubting the gift that was most treasured by the vast majority of teachers: the removal of Michael Gove as Secretary of State for Education. His demotion provoked a range of reactions in keeping with the actions of the most divisive head of schooling that I can remember. While Twitter nearly self-combusted with excitement from the rump of educators …

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UK Qualifications Reform: Looking East and Back Isn’t The Answer

Today’s Independent newspaper carries a comment piece, written by me, which has been heavily edited. I was asked to write it in response to the approved leak this week on the UK government’s plan to re-introduce a qualification for ‘less intelligent’ students. The Independent wanted something personal and provocative – sadly, they only went for the personal. The removal of the final two paragraphs – where I criticise Mr Gove for the out-dated copying of the Singaporean system – together with their over-emotive header (“David Price: I was scarred by being classified as ‘thick’, as future generations will be”) makes …

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