Many of us in a position of responsibility in a school right now are grappling with the problem of setting grades for students robbed of their chance to take examinations this summer. As far as complex problems go, this is a beaut! Already, the classic errors associated with solving complex problems can be observed. One … Continue reading A cautionary note about awarding grades

We are embarking on a quest to recreate teaching in a virtual form. At various rates, bound by our technical abilities, every teacher, in every school, is moving from setting souped-up 'homework tasks' to attempting to recreate the surface features of the teaching and learning process. Review - instruct - apply - assess. This is … Continue reading What it feels like to learn

I swear that they were due the week everything fell apart. As we were sending children home because we didn't have the staff to teach them, as we were rapidly formulating contingency plans for the inevitable school closure, even after the atom bomb that was the cancelling of summer exams - even in the middle … Continue reading What it says on the tin

Distance weakens our ability to control. It is an odd feature of human nature which has been brought home to me this week. Visibility is a prerequisite to compliance. Without visibility, consequences cannot be incurred; power cannot be exercised. Contained within a classroom, students are visible to the teacher: 'Sit up, Johnny'; 'Can you get … Continue reading All that’s left is trust

It is at the close to chaos boundary that self-organizing changes can emerge. Bushe and Marshak, 2016 20/20 vision is useless when the fog descends. As long as you can see 10 yards ahead, keep walking in what feels like the right direction. *** The first casualty this week was free speech. As a headteacher, … Continue reading To the edge of chaos

What brings people together on the weekend in large numbers to listen, talk and reflect on education? This question was addressed more than once at the ResearchED Brum event I attended yesterday, and the Cymru event the Saturday before. There were various reasons posited, but for me the most compelling is simply the idea that … Continue reading This is my truth, tell me yours

27 months have passed and the phone is due to ring. I wasn't quite waiting by the phone at one o'clock on Wednesday, but I marked the passing of this moment in my mind. When no-one called, I knew we were home and dry for half term. I didn't want the call, but in another … Continue reading Waiting for Ogod

We introduced a five-minute movement time between lessons this year. It works really well. Every transition (between lessons, start of the day, end of breaks) is five minutes long. Given the layout and size of our school, this is enough time to walk purposefully to the next lesson, get lined up, enter the classroom, get … Continue reading Metamorphic problems

Common and unusual problems I am fortunate to have had little need for medical attention in my life so far, but recently I've been able to observe the great cogs of the NHS turning (oh so slowly) for someone close to me with a rare and chronic condition. The monolithic organisation is littered with specialists … Continue reading The Curse of the Specialist

The fundamental decision I make each day is around how to direct my attention. As a headteacher, I have more autonomy over how I choose to spend my time than anyone else in the school. It is both a blessing and a curse. I can choose to fill my days with meetings, observing teaching, doing … Continue reading Live with complexity, attend to the complicated