In The Earned Autonomy Trap, I made the case for purging the phrase earned autonomy from our professional lexicon. My core argument was that autonomy is undesirable in a knowledge-building profession as it equates to isolation, and that neither teachers nor the system get better when the knowledge-builders are isolated. Instead, I argued, greater expertise … Continue reading Anything goes

Have you been to the gym today? Perhaps you've done some DIY, caught up with some study, or read that non-fiction book that has sat beside your bed for months. If you are a school leader, your mind may be turning to the governors' meeting next week when you will be asked for an update … Continue reading Things can only get better

I recently attended a conference organised by the police about school lockdown procedures. It was an eye-opening insight into how emergency services mobilise in response to possible threats. One of the most important things the various agencies need to do when arriving at the scene of an incident is to quickly develop what they called … Continue reading Developing shared situational awareness

Waves are repeating and periodic disturbance that travels through a medium from one location to another location. secoora.org One of many moments... Recently, I was engaged in a discussion with a colleague about one of our school policies. The policy in question made reference to 'differentiation'. I do not remember exactly how the conversation went, … Continue reading Is CogSci in education a surging wave?

The existential question for a multi-academy trust: are the schools within it better off as a result? By 'better off' I mean do the schools deliver superior outcomes (in the broadest sense) for the children who attend them? If you cannot confidently say yes then there is a problem. If you cannot provide evidence to … Continue reading Leveraging expertise

Chances are, you’ve read one of my blog posts before. Hopefully you got something from it. Perhaps you’ve followed my ramblings for years. You might even be one of those special people (thank you!) who say nice things about my writing. You may have noticed that I haven’t asked you to ‘buy me a coffee’. … Continue reading Carry on Climbing

For the past 13 years, I have had the pleasure of joining groups of 16 and 17 year old students in climbing some of the highest and most scenic mountains in Britain. We call it the 3 Peak Challenge. In the early years, this meant scaling the highest mountain in Wales, England and Scotland in … Continue reading Meritoxicity and the Good Life

But this debate about the relative importance of knowledge and skills, people outside the education world are baffled by it – and they’re right. Everyone with their feet on the ground in the real world knows you need both, and these old arguments, old practices, old divides – they’re holding our children back. Keir Starmer, … Continue reading Those who keep the pendulum swinging