Kev Neil

Head of Science, AoEA Accredited Educational Advisor. Hampshire, UK. Bow ties are cool.

[Mary Myatt @MaryMyatt]

1/ What are pupils being included in?

Inclusion is too often discussed in terms of interventions, adaptations, support plans.

These matter. But they're not the whole story.

[Kev Neil @MrNeil1859]

This 1000%

[David Didau @DavidDidau]

We’re often fooled by what looks like effective teaching - charisma, energy, confidence - but engagement isn’t learning. Great teaching requires both subject expertise and the ability to make complex ideas clear to novices.
https://t.co/CXZ8y3yAOK

[Carl Hendrick @C_Hendrick]

This is a hugely important piece by @PamelaSnow2. A very insightful application of cognitive load theory to neurodivergence and trauma-informed classroom practice. To the best of my knowledge there is no research on this topic and this has really illuminated my understanding on the topic both as a researcher but more importantly as a SEN parent. I do hope Pam explores this area further. https://t.co/O7YD4EDFbA

[Tom Bennett OBE @tombennett71]

Exactly this. Why leave it to the point of disaster before children learn that actions have consequences?

[Kev Neil @MrNeil1859]

@BradleyKBusch @Inner_Drive Yes please.

[Adam Boxer @adamboxer1]

Anyone who has tried to improve T&L across a school knows that consistency is massively important.

And you cannot achieve consistency without shared understanding.

And you cannot achieve shared understanding without precise definitions.

[Kev Neil @MrNeil1859]

Back at CERN.

[Katharine Birbalsingh @Miss_Snuffy]

I am asking us all to recognise how the existence of Ofsted, an institution that measures, necessarily alters what schools do, and it isn’t always better, often this makes things worse.

We school leaders must see beyond what Ofsted wants, or purports to want.

[Dale Chu @Dale_Chu]

Schools are wading through what @McCormickProf calls the age of feeling. What we feel is right can override what we know is effective. In my latest for @educationgadfly, I unpack the trouble for education when conviction equals truth.

[Tom Bennett OBE @tombennett71]

True. This includes:
1. ‘Decide the consequence for yourself’
2. ‘Use a restorative conversation’ MID LESSON
3. ‘Give them three warnings, then move them, then corridor, then chat then…’
4. ‘Do all the detentions yourself, plus admin plus follow up plus escalation’

[Andrew Old @oldandrewuk]

The central purpose of a school is learning. Teachers are not therapists, clergy, politicians, or stand in parents. Our role is to teach.

[Katharine Birbalsingh @Miss_Snuffy]

Yes… I have been saying all of this for years of course.

No one is listening. 🙄

[SoL in the Wild @SoLInTheWild]

One of the biggest drivers in my shift toward explicit instruction has been simplifying everything. I used to try to gamify, activify, and engagify every lesson—bells, whistles, and all. It wasn’t sustainable, and it wasn’t especially effective. I taught under the impression that I had to “make it fun.”

One of the best lessons I taught all year happened today, and here’s what it required: a visualizer, a blank outline map of the Caribbean, and all the critical content I know to explicitly teach my students with. That’s it. Add in lots of questions, choral response, turn-and-talk, concrete examples, active observation, and show calls, and you have everything you need for an effective and engaging lesson.

In previous years, I would have turned this simple Caribbean geography lesson into a high-energy, activity-based experience: stations, a gallery walk, or some kind of puzzle or game. There would be movement, noise, and “engagement,” but most of the new information would be lost in the shuffle. Working memory would be so overloaded that very little would actually stick.

Now I know teaching explicitly and simply is the most effective way to make learning happen.

[Andrew Old @oldandrewuk]

It is a myth that worthwhile learning must be enjoyable or entertaining. Much of it is simply work that needs doing. Lessons can include some fun, but fun is not an essential feature of learning.

[Katharine Birbalsingh @Miss_Snuffy]

Came across this from a while ago.👇

How do we build resilience in children?

By holding the line and seeming unreasonable to others but sensible to that which is true.

Hold your standards high and they will reach up to you. ✊🏾

[Pritesh Raichura @Mr_Raichura]

Another example of the DfE further abdicating themselves of their responsibility to offer high quality education to all children.

The quality of this will be appalling. It takes zero account of human behaviour & motivation. Oh & there’s increased screen time. Wonderful.

[Adam Boxer @adamboxer1]

Number of science teachers in the country = 40000ish

Number of science teachers writing the new national curriculum for science = 0

[Tom Bennett OBE @tombennett71]

Creativity isn’t corroded by emphasising a knowledge-rich curriculum based on secure retention of domain expertise; it is *unlocked* by it. Otherwise, what else is it? A magical talent acquired by birth, a lucky accident, the gift of the Muses?

[Barry Smith @BarryNSmith79]

@AdamHighcliffe U want to understand the acronym? https://t.co/5iL0Zm697K

[Pritesh Raichura @Mr_Raichura]

There are lots of ways secondary schools can reduce truanting, but they are not easy to implement. They require high consistency amongst staff & leadership that will analyse every detail of a system. Successful implementation of the following requires a LOT of thought. 1/