If we were to design an assessment system focused on maximising learning, we wouldn’t create a Key Stage 3 "No Man’s Land" followed by the high-stakes pressure of GCSE jeopardy. Yet, this is precisely the experience many students face in today’s education system — a period of inconsistent focus in the early years of secondary …
Continue reading GCSE Jeopardy and the Difficulty with Second Chances
In Mr Barton’s Maths Podcast (around 3:14:00), Mark McCourt shared a view that I instinctively disagreed with. He argued that technology could never replace classroom teachers because, evolutionarily, we are predisposed to value pedagogy and learning from other humans—a concept he referred to as ‘human ontogeny’ (I’d never heard this word). While this is an …
Continue reading Artificial Incentives: Will students feel motivated to work for their AI-masters?
Given the free choice between spending a day at school or at home gaming, many (most?) students would pick gaming. The gaming industry has become the master of engagement. Perhaps this isn’t relevant to educators since we have legal instruments to make schooling an act of coercion rather than persuasion. However, coercion has its limits …
Five years ago, I decided to read a book about gaming by Jane McGonigal called ‘Reality is Broken - Why games make us better and how they can change the world.’ I read this book as a non-gamer and as a sceptic that we can use the principles of gaming to create compelling learning environments …
These three blogs (part I, part II, part III here) are based on a talk I gave at Headteachers' Roundtable Summit in March 2019. My thoughts on this topic have been extensively shaped by conversations with Ben White, a psychology teacher in Kent. Neither of us yet know what we think! Our beliefs about our …
These three blogs (part I, part II here, part III) are based on a talk I gave at Headteachers' Roundtable Summit in March 2019. My thoughts on this topic have been extensively shaped by conversations with Ben White, a psychology teacher in Kent. Neither of us yet know what we think! The two fundamental jobs …
Continue reading Writing the rules of the grading game (part II): The games children play
These three blogs (part I here, part II, part III) are based on a talk I gave at Headteachers' Roundtable Summit in March 2019. My thoughts on this topic have been extensively shaped by conversations with Ben White, a psychology teacher in Kent. Neither of us yet know what we think! Teachers are rarely trained …
Continue reading Writing the rules of the grading game (part I): The grade changes the child
Becky Allen 