Embracing your ancestry
There is complexity in the faces of your ancestors and the jobs they held: manager, milliner, miner. The pastimes they enjoyed: dancing, writing, walking. The
Online communities
A collection of articles, research, blogs and videos exploring effective practice in the creation of online communities within the education sector and beyond. View and
Early Career Framework
A spreadsheet of the Early Career Framework. Useful for CPD and mentoring activity planning. View, download and use
Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework
A spreadsheet of the Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework created by Lizzy Ford at Summit Learning Trust. Useful for planning. View, download and use
What’s in a pause?
As we enter another period of national lockdown, I reflect on the power of a pause. Last year, I thoroughly enjoyed reading and scribbling all
Quality online learning
Having worked in a Further Education College for many years, I’m all too aware how the gears of the quality department will already be ramping
What do you see?
When asked the question, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ What do you see? You seek an answer but archaeologist, artist,
Next time you see a tandem…
Walking. One foot in front of the other. Lost in a world before or after. The jangle of a bell pulls you back to the
Curating what I consume
I recently left behind the land of Twitter with its discriminatory algorithm, warring factions and complex ideas distilled into soundbites with the hope of discovering
Fighting the algorithm
August has featured the word ‘algorithm’ far more than most months in living memory, especially for those of us working in the world of education.
Urgent and important
A continuing journey with workload and delegation. When I was a teacher, I was largely able to dictate my own workload around my timetable; when
On connection and learning in this strange world
Today, I was invited to be on a panel for FutureLearn’s Festival of Education. I sat alongside other ‘How to Teach Online‘ course mentors in
One foot in front of the other
Growing up, we would walk. Holidays would see us trek from our campsite to not so nearby places for lunch and back again, whatever the
The joy of disconnecting
As I sit under the boughs of a large oak tree, I gaze upwards through the sun-dappled leaves and catch a glimpse of possibility. It’s
The magical actions that make a difference are close to nothing at all
‘The magical actions that make a difference are close to nothing at all’ (Poynton, 2019). These words have been imprinted on my soul since I
Online discussions for learning
At work, I design, create and facilitate online learning for teachers. There are many challenges to be overcome when you’re a teacher who’s unlikely to
The right kind of 10% braver?
I’ve realised that for a long time, I was doing 10% braver all wrong. I’m writing this in case some of you are doing it
The making of a MOOC
The scenario of being asked to use a virtual learning environment, a set of laptops or devices, or indeed an interactive whiteboard is likely to
One year on
One year ago, I was leaving a job that had me trapped in a cycle of despair and a fight with values that were not
2018: A year of reading
2018 saw the completion of my library at home and a commitment to more reading. Being an English teacher had lead to far less reading
A Necessary Journey
My awareness of race and the need for representation in both education and society were not inherent in me at an early age, rather it
#WomenEd Unconference 4
Today’s WomenEd Unconference was to be an event unlike others I’d attended previously. It wouldn’t be my first, I wouldn’t be presenting, I wouldn’t be
Monthly Twitter Collections
Each month, I collate blogs, research papers, and reflections from the education community on Twitter. I began doing this for participants and mentors on the
Where can teachers and educators locate existing research?
Open access unless otherwise indicated. An ever-growing list. BES (Iterative Best Evidence Synthesis) The New Zealand Ministry of Education’s best evidence synthesis iterations draw
Design for how people learn
In recent months, I’ve become more engaged with the field of cognitive science and what it has to teach us about effective learning. This began
Embracing Difference
30 days ago, I started working at the Chartered College of Teaching. This time has absolutely flown by and I found myself arriving at the
2017: The year of the coach
Imagine, if you will, a small Quentin Blake sketch of a woman. She’s eagerly skipping around the empty page of a book – leaving sparks
Guest Post – Understanding Depression and Low Mood in Young People
This guest post comes from Emma Currie, a tutor mentor who writes about her recent completion of an online course via Future Learn. After recently
Guest Blog – Technology: A propaedeutic enchiridion!
One of my favourite things to do if I get a free(!) bit of time at work is to talk to Ken Crow (Games Development
Guest Blog – What good schools know and do
Monday 6 November 2017 and John Hattie was going to be in Sheffield. It would be an opportunity to meet the man himself. Unfortunately (or
Guest Blog – A Day Out at Google HQ
This guest blog comes from Nick Hart, a Lecturer in Engineering at The Sheffield College. He and colleagues have recently made the move to Google
An Experiment within an Experiment, Informed by Evidence within Evidence #CPDinFE
The feeling I experience at this moment in time will be familiar to many an educator. It is the end of the first half-term of
Developing Evidence-Informed CPD in FE and Skills Settings
When I read about the CPD taking place with staff at Oldham College and the fab Rachel Irving (read about it here), I was thrilled to