Emma Rutherford

Co-founder of The SunLit Structured Literacy Project. Leader of Catholic Ed. Ballarat Structured Literacy initiative. Passionate learner and teacher. ☀

[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

[Emma Rutherford @erutherford247]

@DreadSinister But why would anyone be transporting sheep heads? Enough sheep heads to result in an overflow like this? It’s so strange.

[Heidi Beverine-Curry, PhD @drheidibc]

One of my favorite things I’ve ever heard @KJWinEducation say is, “If your instruction is boring, don’t blame phonics.” 💖

[Carl Hendrick @C_Hendrick]

"If we trained air‐traffic controllers the way we train new teachers, we’d tell them that deadly crashes are just how you learn. We’d tell surgeons there’s no substitute for hands‐on experience, and not to worry: Their patient mortality rate will decline over time as they got better and more confident." - @rpondiscio https://t.co/ve4zifQthA

[Emma Rutherford @erutherford247]

@teachbk I respectfully disagree.

[𝗗𝗿 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗹 𝗦𝘄𝗮𝗶𝗻 @NathanielRSwain]

Vocabulary teachers - something to be aware of! Tiers of vocab should not be though as hierarchical like a pyramid !!

[Melanie Johnson @Jaynewithawhy1]

@TomMahoneyEdu @theage Our kids are being disrespected and undermined by having to endure teaching approaches that lack evidence. Their precious time is being wasted - and they don’t get that back. So I’ll choose to advocate for them rather than adults who enjoy the privilege of being literate.

[Emma Rutherford @erutherford247]

@jdtdobson Brilliantly said, James. Thank you. I'm stealing your 'malpractice' line.

[Professor Lorraine Hammond AM @DrLSHammond]

Can someone please tell the union the 25mins of explicit PA & Phonics is not for them. It's for children who will be failed by balanced literacy if nothing changes. https://t.co/UBxOWNjiW5 @PamelaSnow2 @ehanford @SOTLAus @SharingBestPrac

[Emma Rutherford @erutherford247]

@lifeoflottie Regional schools of all sectors and pedagogical persuasions are suffering badly. In Mildura, we face the extra challenge of better pay for CRTs who cross the bridge into NSW.

[Greg Ashman @greg_ashman]

People think they sound very sophisticated saying things like ‘teaching is non-causal’ but it’s typical of educational academia, its inability to speak plainly and its elevation of commonplace ideas as profundities.

Here’s the argument in a different context, shorn of academic language:

Rain does not cause things to get wet because sometimes those things are under cover and sometimes, when the sun comes out, they dry quickly.

It’s a basic misunderstanding or denial of statistical causation. Unless A leads to B 100% of the time in all situations, A does not cause B.

To accept this argument would be to accept absurdities such as that smoking does not cause lung cancer. We can immediately see that this logic would not fare well in the worlds of medicine or epidemiology.

Teaching is clearly causal. It causes learning. It does not do so 100% of the time and we can all accept there is complexity in the relationship, but leave the cod philosophy out of it.

[Tanya Anne Serry PhD @tserry2504]

@rachabuck @AEUVictoria Ironically, these reforms will ⬇️ workload for teachers and educational leaders. And not only ⬇️ teacher burden but ⬆️⬆️ student outcomes. We predict reforms will also ⬆️ teacher satisfaction and retention in the profession. Research project coming soon … with @PamelaSnow2 et al

[Emma Rutherford @erutherford247]

@AustAssocResEd What is evidence then?