For the last 18 months, I have been co-authoring a book with Becky Allen and Ben White. It is called The Next Big Thing in School Improvement. The book is about the perpetual novelty that we experience in education. In the run up to publication, we will be publishing a series of blog posts which … Continue reading The searing memories of the curriculum era
Category: School improvement
Which disciplines offer most to education knowledge-building?
For those who choose to spend time thinking about education, not just doing it, they will immediately stumble across a question: what should I spend time thinking about? This question is taxing me of late for a number of reasons. I have recently finished writing a book. The process of writing requires that you think … Continue reading Which disciplines offer most to education knowledge-building?
Are you ready for the Next Big Thing?
For the last 18 months, I have been co-authoring a book with Becky Allen and Ben White. It is called The Next Big Thing in School Improvement. The book is about the perpetual novelty that we experience in education. In the run up to publication, we will be publishing a series of blog posts which … Continue reading Are you ready for the Next Big Thing?
Stuck schools
Knowsley is a local authority area to the East of Liverpool. It is a geographically fragmented borough, comprising swathes of countryside, the two old Lancashire towns of Preston and Whiston, and several areas of unattached housing. It is one of the most deprived parts of the country. Around 20% of working-age people in Knowsley receive … Continue reading Stuck schools
The School Improvement Story
“Indiana Jones plays no role in the outcome of the story. If he weren’t in the film, it would turn out exactly the same… If he weren’t in the movie, the Nazis would still have found the Ark, taken it to the island, opened it up, and all died, just like they did.”Amy's analysis of … Continue reading The School Improvement Story
Getting better all the time
Me used to be angry young manMe hiding me head in the sandYou gave me the word, I finally heardI'm doing the best that I canLennon and McCartney, Getting Better Now, I am as prone to making simplistic statements on which to hang policy as the next school leader. I recently wrote a discussion paper … Continue reading Getting better all the time
The School Leader as Plumber
Problems are gritty, grounded, local. We only understand them close up, case by case. We're tempted by high level solutions when we should be getting down and dirty. The solution may lay in the idiosyncratic and pragmatic, not the intellectual.Michael Blastland, The Hidden Half (2019) I'm going to go out on a limb here and … Continue reading The School Leader as Plumber
Who tells your story?
This isn't a post about Brexit... but it starts there. As we lurch towards the distinct possibility of a no-deal, you would be right to be concerned about what happens next. Whichever side of the debate you are on, no-one should be taking this possibility lightly. It is a problem we should all care about … Continue reading Who tells your story?
Perhaps the best solutions are not where everyone is looking
In the early 1970s, the psychophysicist Howard Moskowitz proved that there was no such thing as the perfect Pepsi. He had been asked by the company to establish the optimum amount of the sweetener to include in their new diet drink. They knew that this magic amount was somewhere between 8% and 12%, and they … Continue reading Perhaps the best solutions are not where everyone is looking
If the answer is curriculum, what was the question?
It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.Douglas Adams In The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the supercomputer Deep Thought is built to find the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe and Everything. Over 7 million years later it generates the answer: 42. However, … Continue reading If the answer is curriculum, what was the question?
Matthew Evans 