Thoughts on teaching and learning, with some Psychology thrown in for good measure
- Learning Styles: Losing my religionImagine. You’re leading a CPD session based around principles from cognitive science. You’re talking about the use of graphic organisers as a way to help students make meaning with the content they’re learning. And then someone pipes up “Oh yes, that’s a good idea to cater for our visual learners.” How would you respond? HowContinue reading “Learning Styles: Losing my religion”
- “We need more time in departments”A few times each academic year I sit down with our Head and deputies to discuss plans for INSET days. It’s fair to say that I’ve become something of a broken record in these meetings as there’s one thing I’m always asking for – department time. It’s not always easy to get this protected, andContinue reading ““We need more time in departments””
- The lies they tell“I did it but left it on my desk at home” “I brought the wrong folder” “The dog ate my homework” Students tell lots of lies all the time. I don’t mean they’re all complete liars, but most of them are economical with the truth at some point, in some form or another (and manyContinue reading “The lies they tell”
- Observation feedback: time to accentuate the positiveEarlier in my career I was observed teaching a lesson by my Head of Department. I don’t remember what grade I was given (and, given the reliability of lesson grading, let’s be honest it really doesn’t make much difference) and there will have been some strengths highlighted alongside points to improve. I do remember someContinue reading “Observation feedback: time to accentuate the positive”
- No more acronyms? Evaluation in Psychology beyond the GRAVEIn Psychology we have to do lots of evaluation. For clarity (and because this means slightly different things in other subjects) this means discussing the strengths and weaknesses of something. In most cases this is either a theory (or model/explanation), study, treatment or method. It’s pretty common for teachers to have a range of acronymsContinue reading “No more acronyms? Evaluation in Psychology beyond the GRAVE”
- Mini-whiteboards: the emperor’s new clothes? (spoiler: of course not)No one is claiming that mini-whiteboards (MWBs) are a new thing. There are some who seem to be claiming that others are claiming MWBs are a new thing, (see here, too) but no one is, as far as I can tell. MWBs offer some potential solutions to a range of specific problems that all teachersContinue reading “Mini-whiteboards: the emperor’s new clothes? (spoiler: of course not)”
- No more marking in Psychology?When you only teach an A level subject in a secondary school you can find yourself in some awkward conversations around workload. Every time there’s a round of reports or a parents’ evening, there’s a moment when someone realises you only teach 6th Form and you feel almost compelled to apologise for the fact thatContinue reading “No more marking in Psychology?”
- Psychology has an assessment problemThis is the fourth in a series of posts themed around curriculum thinking in Psychology. Inspired by Sarah Jones’ brilliant piece on ‘the small subjects’, here I am hoping to develop that conversation for my own subject. And although this is subject-specific, I hope that anyone with an interest in the important questions about whatContinue reading “Psychology has an assessment problem”
- Schemas: the good, the bad and the reconstructedThere’s a lot of talk about memory in education. Until fairly recently, no one really seemed to be talking about schemas in relation to teaching; now they’re everywhere! The only time I encountered them formally was when looking at Piaget as part of my training. As a Psychology teacher they’re very familiar to me, althoughContinue reading “Schemas: the good, the bad and the reconstructed”
- Developing performance, not managing itJo Castelino’s recent post on teacher development (improvement ain’t a bad word) resonated with me; we’ve all either been or had experience of those who don’t see improvement as something that really applies to them. For many, performance management or appraisal are also considered dirty words, full of negative connotations. But if we want teachersContinue reading “Developing performance, not managing it”
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A Psychology Teacher writes 