Andrew Branchflower

Linguist (🇯🇵C1🇨🇳B2🇫🇷🇩🇪B1). Account for language learning, bilingual child rearing and educational resources.

[Andrew Branchflower @afxphilology]

My wife and I were interviewed by @languagelovrsAU about out thoughts regarding language education in Australia, raising multilingual children, as well as how to teach Chinese in a monolingual English speaking country.

https://t.co/psPKHYCYvr

[Anna Stokke @rastokke]

Somehow we've reached a point in education where:
- teaching kids explicitly is controversial
- academic rigour is treated as a threat to student wellbeing
- memorizing math facts is discouraged or considered unnecessary
- practice is dismissed as "drill and kill"
Low expectations are not kindness, and nothing hurts someone's confidence more than falling further behind every year.

[Andrew Branchflower @afxphilology]

@adamboxer1 I still think that a 4 day work/teaching week might be more beneficial because of the diminishing returns I see day to day. But think some kind of 4.5 model would be a reasonable compromise - with a midweek afternoon dedicated to sport/music

[James Dobson @jdtdobson]

I am shocked 😱
88% of surveyed teachers believed in the learning styles neuromyth!

It's the myth that just keeps on persisting...

[Justin Skycak @justinskycak]

The anti-memorization movement has left millions of students unable to think because every elementary operation consumes working memory.

For instance, solving equations feels smooth when basic arithmetic is automatic. It's like moving puzzle pieces around, and you just need to identify how they fit together.

But without automaticity on basic arithmetic, each puzzle piece is a heavy weight. You struggle to move them at all, much less figure out where they're supposed to go.

It’s the same all the way up the ladder of math: from arithmetic, to algebra, to calculus, to all sorts of university-level math and beyond.

[Doug Lemov @Doug_Lemov]

Policy decisions matter. England emphasized knowledge rich curriculum, expanded choice, ensured better teacher training (aligned to cognitive science) by breaking the cartel of providers and relied on wide ranging assessments in which students also had a stake.

Kudos to Nick Gibb for his vision. US states could do this too.

[Doug Lemov @Doug_Lemov]

The Finnish myth will never die.

[Andrew Branchflower @afxphilology]

@MrDanielBuck Ashman’s book for beginning teachers is good too.

[Andrew Branchflower @afxphilology]

Reading Challenge to extend my son.

Suggestion sources: @Doug_Lemov “Reading Reconisidered”, @SusanWiseBauer “Well Trained Mind 3E”, Victorian Premier’s Reading Challenge.

[Jonathan Haidt @JonHaidt]

To be clear, about ed tech:

--I think teachers should have a computer in the classroom and way to show images and videos, if they choose to.

--I think @khanacademy has proven its worth, abundantly. I wish it could be offered on a dedicated device, with no distractions.

--In my several posts about ed tech, teachers often add comments. They rarely praise or defend ed tech.

--I think schools should have a computer room (as at the Waldorf schools that some tech execs seek out for the low-tech classrooms). Students need to learn to use computers and the internet.

--The most damaging mistake seems to have been the 1:1 devices -- putting a Chromebook or tablet on each student's desk. As a UNESCO report said in 2023, the distraction effects seem to exceed whatever benefits a few of the apps might have:
https://t.co/79LBBfxZen

--I don't doubt that some apps which gamify learning have been proven to produce faster or better learning than older methods. BUT: if you gamify a third of the school day, the dopamine effects would cause the other 2/3 to seem more boring. So the net effect in a real classroom may be negative even if some apps showed consistent benefits in controlled tests.

--The big question we need answered is: does giving each student their own device, to use during much of the school day, end up promoting or interfering with education over the course of a year? Horvath's graph suggests that in real classrooms, it interferes.

--Putting devices on every student's desk seems to be the second giant uncontrolled experiment that the tech giants ran on our children, without our informed consent. (Smartphones and social media was the first.) They are already starting up the next one: chatbots for kids, and these will be pushed into schools too despite the already obvious harms.

--We are gathering research on ed tech at https://t.co/0gyIphz5m7. Here is a link to all of our posts about "What Schools and Educators Can Do Now."
https://t.co/R7A6HFXetO
See especially this one, by Mark West:
https://t.co/AOjJ196POs

We will have more to say in future posts.

[Jonathan Haidt @JonHaidt]

I used to think the main damage from social media was to youth mental health. Now I believe that the global destruction of the human ability to pay attention may be even larger.

A meta-analysis shows the damage, to adults as well as teens, from TikTok+
https://t.co/YS0dkQTdj0

[Jean Twenge (author of 10 RULES, GENERATIONS) @jean_twenge]

The "every kid gets a Chromebook" idea has been a failure. Test scores are down. Screens are bad for learning. Plus kids use school-issued devices to watch streaming services, YouTube, and even porn. My latest in @nytimes:
https://t.co/SGcxJWrWHG

[Dylan Wiliam @dylanwiliam]

Students watching a video about cognitive load theory scored higher on delayed tests of factual recall and comprehension if they had to generate a relevant example while retrieving knowledge, or rewatching the video: https://t.co/KSGOvnsomZ ($)

[Andrew Branchflower @afxphilology]

@greg_ashman I’m generally progressive politically, but it’s hard to argue with documented trends. At that point arguing against becomes dogma. So many failed educational strategies need to be euthanised: whole language, learning styles, inquiry/PBL over DI, Role of tech in classrooms

[Rebecca Birch @msrebeccabirch]

My comment in SMH explaining our approach to technology.

TL;DR a minimalist approach that maximises learning, not just shiny things.

Sydney private schools shun laptops in classrooms, implementing digital detox https://t.co/d66a3g2JPg

[Rebecca Birch @msrebeccabirch]

The jury is in. For the most part, tech in the classroom produces poorer learning outcomes.

The article is overly long but chock full of evidence about why we should reconsider its use.

The EdTech Revolution Has Failed https://t.co/2DclD5B8we

[Dr Wes Robertson @ScriptingJapan]

Just a quick note to say this book Life in a New Language is one of the best books I've read this year. A fascinating portrayal of the linguistic difficulties immigrants encounter, focused on the Australian context. Smoothly written, deep in analysis, and clear in message.

[Greg Ashman @greg_ashman]

NEW FREE POST What are we paying for in teacher training?
Survey headline results
[Link in thread]

[こあたん🇦🇺こあらの学校 @KoalaEnglish180]

留学中の女子大生がまとめた英単語リストが有益すぎるからみなさんにもシェアします

[Andrew Branchflower @afxphilology]

@LilahRPGtt Must have Democrat advisers. Literally same thing in the US re: Roe v Wade. “Vote for us, or else no treats”