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3 May 2026

Tag: teacher training

Critical thinking to critical learning: Generation Y as a case study

Since the 1980s the importance of critical thinking and its taxonomy have been the focus of vigorous debate. The ability to progress in any realm using cognition necessitates questioning and analysing, making subtle distinctions between conclusions and hypotheses. Lipman defines this as “thinking that is conducive to good judgment because it is sensitive to context, […]

‘In teaching there’s rarely a flower growing in a field of weeds’

A wonderful teacher made a true difference in my life. My maths lecturer, Dr Peter Neumann at Oxford University, was so intelligent, but could make what he was teaching accessible to those in his classes, taking pleasure in explaining complicated things in simple ways. There is an art to explanation – he really had it […]

Edition 43 editor’s comment

Imagine if there were a quarter of a million people working with the most vulnerable children in our school system and yet receiving some of the lowest pay, working on insecure contracts that don’t include holiday pay and facing incredibly low pensions. We don’t have to imagine. This is the situation for many teaching assistants […]

Was the removal of assessment levels a good idea? Yes

Liz Goldspink: Was the removal of assessment levels a good idea? No It’s easy to see why people have been anxious about the removal of levels but, until we have gone through the whole year, no one will really know what impact their removal will have. At present, every local authority and school has to […]

3 ideas for improving pupils’ enterprise skills

What if schools were to focus on the soft skills with as much vigour as they do on core subjects and academic rigour? Rigour and results will get students to the interview stage, but it is the soft skills that show the real ingenuity and potential that lasts a lifetime When students leave school or […]

2 ways to switch girls on to engineering

Engineering can be a cool career choice – but ingrained biases mean that girls don’t always agree. One solution is to grab their attention between the ages of 11 and 14; it’s the prime time to turn their perceptions around Women have made great strides in the workforce on many fronts in the past few […]

How to help your school stand out online

The internet has become the primary source of information for parents looking for the best school for their child, which means you need a strong online visibility. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can help 1. Focus on content and structuring The two most crucial elements of optimising your school’s online visibility are making sure your site is regularly […]

Answer the call of technology

Much of the debate about technology in the classroom isn’t above the level of tech = bad, textbooks = good. But forget the negative, technology (and that includes those mobile phones) present enormous opportunities It may surprise you that, given my job title, I’m pretty sceptical about technology as an educational tool in general and […]

How to switch to a cloud-based ICT system

The academies programme has shaken up schools’ traditional support systems, particularly in ICT. However, this reorganisation has created opportunities for the most innovative tick chains to cultivate new infrastructure models. Switching to a cloud-based system has revolutionised AET, the largest multi-academy trust With more than 45,000 staff and student users, our organisation has many challenges […]