Blogwatch – Compassion, Low Expectations, Bullying And How To Recruit A Good Teacher
Our pick of the posts that caught our attention over the past week…
- by Teachwire
‘It’s truly sickening what we have become in our desperation to standardise and verify everything’ First up, here’s Debra Kidd, occasionally of this parish, with a powerful post on why the modern obsession with recording data and quantifying performance is breeding educational inequalities and punishing the compassionate. Read post
‘If we don’t believe children can be successful they’ll usually prove us right’ David Didau dissects the issue of low-level class disruption, how it can be fuelled by low expectations on the part of teachers and what can be done to tackle it. Read post
‘Learning to deal with in-school politics is vital for teachers at any stage of their career’ If you’re the sort whose natural inclination is to keep your head down and stay out of your school’s staffroom politics, here’s a UKEdChat post that might make you think differently… Read post
‘It took rather too long for me to realise the potential and power of strong self-awareness’ ‘Know thyself’, counsels Andy Buck, reflecting on the importance of self-awareness when it comes to taking on a leadership role and concluding with some helpful advice for ways in which leaders can develop their emotional intelligence. Read post
‘What is most important is that teachers are learners’ With an NAHT survey today flagging up the finding that 79% of teaching posts are difficult to fill, this considered post by Richard Bruford on what secondary schools should be looking for when recruiting good teachers makes for interesting reading… Read post
‘Not one of them had courage to tell the perpetrators that what they were doing was wrong’ To coincide with this year’s Anti-Bullying Week, Special Needs Jungle heard from a mother and daughter about their respective experiences of bullying, and their suggestions for what schools and parents can do identify and deal with it. Read post
‘Most bullying behaviour is an offence under the Assault Act, but because we call it bullying we lessen the impact’ Taking a rather different tack, this provocatively titled op-ed at The Huffington Post questions whether the term ‘bullying’ is itself actually hindering schools in dealing with issues of aggressive behaviour and harassment among pupils. Read post
‘It could mark a sea change in policy direction – Let’s focus on what is most likely to work‘ And finally, leaving things on a more positive note, here’s a post by Stephen Tierney, on why three women are giving members of the profession reasons to be cheerful in the coming months… Read post
