James Mannion

I help schools get *even better* at what they do.

[James Mannion @RethinkingJames]

BIG NEWS: I'm launching a new podcast!

Making Change Stick: The Art and Science of School Improvement is for anyone who has watched a brilliant new idea implemented with great fanfare, only to fizzle out with in a few short months.

(And that's basically everyone in education).

This moment has been a long time coming - 12 years, to be precise. I wrote a book about it - Making Change Stick - which came out last year. But a book... is just a book.

And so now I am finally (finally!) at the stage in my journey where I can start dropping these brilliant ideas and strategies into the ears (and eyes) of time-pressed educators through a podcast / YouTube channel.

Every Wednesday at midday I'll publish a short episode with practical tools, research and conversations with educators walking the talk, always focused on two questions:

-> How can we improve outcomes?
-> How can we make it last?

Because great ideas don't improve schools. Implementation does.

Trailer out now!

Episode 1 drops Wed 28th October

Where to listen:

Youtube - https://t.co/AgJsGxLP1N

Apple - https://t.co/52Meqoe63r

Spotify - https://t.co/N9EyOBzRHP

Win a 60-minute implementation coaching session!

To mark the launch, I'm giving away a one-to-one coaching session to help you tackle a real school improvement challenge. Five runners-up will each win a signed copy of Making Change Stick.

To enter, you need to do 3 simple things (it's one thing really):

1. Post something nice about the pod on LinkedIn
2. Include the link: https://t.co/cv2wSxFqMI
3. Tag me (@ James Mannion)

Entries close midnight Sun 15th Nov, and I'll announce the winners (chosen at random) on Mon 16th Nov.

[James Mannion @RethinkingJames]

Starting the week after half-term:

https://t.co/eFocxNgsFn

[Barbara Bleiman 🎓 Education is Conversation @BarbaraBleiman]

Over the years I've seen policies by Ed Secs & advisors - Kenneth Baker, Ken Clarke, Blunkett, Estelle Morris, Gavin Williamson, Michael Barber, Michael Gove, Nick Gibb, Bridget Phillipson, Lucy Powell. I've been cheered/impressed/troubled by policies from reps of all parties. 1/

[James Mannion @RethinkingJames]

@BarbaraBleiman This I agree with also :)

[James Mannion @RethinkingJames]

Lots of hand-wringing about this but I really don't see the problem with a 30-minute dedicated oracy lesson. Yes oracy is underpinned by domain knowledge but aspects of oracy are domain-general and - depending on how it's done of course - I think it's an excellent idea to dedicate time to practising speaking and listening. I have taught many such oracy lessons. Practising turn-taking, exploratory talk, presentational talk, debates - this stuff is really hard to do well in the context of subject learning

[Bodil Isaksen @BodilUK]

@teacherhead @Trivium21c New addition to my kid's timetable this year:

[James Mannion @RethinkingJames]

Yes on reflection I would rephrase that. Obviously turn-taking ane exploratory talk are completely doable in the context of subject learning!! But in my experience, when the aim of a lesson is teaching content, is can be hard to give some of the more complex aspects of oracy the time they deserve because this is not what the lesson is designed to achieve

I say this is somebody who has taught many dedicated oracy lessons and seen and researched the benefits of them.

This is probably a more nuanced arguement than it is sensible to try to make on this platform

[James Mannion @RethinkingJames]

@BarbaraBleiman I agree! I don't think it's either/or. Or it's both/and. But equally, I don't think taught lessons are the right move for every school, and it's probably not the place that you would start

[James Mannion @RethinkingJames]

@BarbaraBleiman I don't think it's a question of hiving it off. But I do think there can be great value in teaching and practising aspects of oracy explicitly as well as embedding it throughout the curriculum

[Barbara Bleiman 🎓 Education is Conversation @BarbaraBleiman]

The way this is written is so telling - heroism in the face of ‘vandalism’, a battle, war, digging in, routed by the Prog ‘enemy’. Honestly, this whole rhetorical stance tells you so much about what’s been wrong & needs to change. Education should not be viewed as a battleground.

[James Mannion @RethinkingJames]

@BarbaraBleiman @ShakinthatChalk That line of thinking fizzles out when you realise that people forget most of what they learn in school anyway because people don't go through life doing a retrieval quiz before breakfast

[Barbara Bleiman 🎓 Education is Conversation @BarbaraBleiman]

@RethinkingJames @ShakinthatChalk I go on and on sharing the blog I wrote in 2017 saying just this - not either/or but both, in response to the absurdly rigid turn away from *any* talk, peer dialogue, student voices, only teacher transmission. Now they want to deny that ‘just tell ‘em’ ever happened. It’s grim!

[James Mannion @RethinkingJames]

@pete84650665 um...

[James Mannion @RethinkingJames]

That's what I hoped you were driving at! You make a good point. It's a bit like how some people who always argue for domain knowledge and against anything generic, can often be found deploying domain-general reasoning – “straw man! ad hom! tone policing!” across any number of domains

[James Mannion @RethinkingJames]

Starting the week after half-term, me and @TaraElietweets are running a 6-week programme - Behaviour Unlocked - combining Tara’s expertise in behaviour and the psychology of mattering with my implementation know-how.

One hour a week after school, online. Low cost, low friction, high impact.

Join us for a weekly dose of fresh ideas, combined with friendly support and gentle accountability, and learn how to improve behaviour by making people feel valued - and that they add value.

Find out more: https://t.co/qFEyXC1Q9V

[James Mannion @RethinkingJames]

@DonaldClark Sorry Donald I'm not sure I catch your jist

[James Mannion @RethinkingJames]

@pete84650665 Alongside subject learning. But if you think giving speaking and listening the recognition it deserves is a vanity project I'm guessing you're about to hop on that bus, random numbers man

[James Mannion @RethinkingJames]

Oracy cope exhibit #39864

[Greg Ashman @greg_ashman]

See my new how2 guide on Oracy

[James Mannion @RethinkingJames]

Starting the week after half-term, me and @HYWEL_ROBERTS (Hywel and I?) are running a 6-week programme - Implementing Botheredness - combining Hywel's pedagogy of botheredness with my implementation know-how.

One hour a week after school, online. Low cost, low friction, high impact.

Join us for a weekly dose of fresh ideas, combined with friendly support and gentle accountability, and learn how to get your students really invested in their learning - by design.

Find out more:

https://t.co/kYIezgsVZD

[James Mannion @RethinkingJames]

@Sugatam

[James Mannion @RethinkingJames]

An excerpt from 'It's time to end the academic obsession (with Sugata Mitra) - on the Rethinking Ed podcast

Full episode: https://t.co/Xhj3xexdoF