Rethinking Education

Today’s show features a conversation with four inspirational women who have taken matters into their own hands and set up alternative schools in recent years - 3 in the UK and one in the Dominican Republic. Avid listeners of the Rethinking Education podcast will probably know that the one in the DR is my good friend, co-author and Learning to Learn copilot Kate McAllister, who featured in Episode 9. My other 3 guests today are people that I have come to know only very recently, as a result of having set up this podcast. They are Kath Pratt, who has set up an alternative school called Soweni, down on the cliffs of Cornwall; Hayley Peacock, who has set up a proudly progressive private school called Atelier 21, in Crawley; and Lucy Stephens, who has set up a democratic school in Croydon, known as the New School, which is free to attend because it is funded by private philanthropists, rather fascinatingly. Links: Soweni: https://www.soweni.com/landing-page Hive: https://thehive.school/about Atelier 21: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP80Nt5ynps New School: https://www.thenewschool.org.uk/ Guardian article about the New School: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/mar/13/a-community-of-equals-the-private-school-with-no-fees-set-up-by-a-south-london-teacher First Follower: Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ Glossary of acronyms: AP: Alternative provision IB: International Baccalaureate PYP: Primary Years Programme PWC: PricewaterhouseCoopers SCITT: School-centred Initial Teacher Training The Rethinking Education podcast is hosted and produced by Dr James Mannion. You can contact him at rethinking-ed.org/contact, or via @RethinkingJames on Twitter. You can join the Rethinking Education Mighty Network here: rethinking-education.mn.co

Episode 2 of Rethinking Education Campfire Conversations, a series of live-streamed, group conversations with people who want to rethink and reform education so as to bring about a more harmonious, less hair-raising state of world affairs. Today's episode features a conversation between James Mannion, Kate McAllister, Kath Pratt, Sarah Fraser, Natalie Rothwell-Warn, and two special guests: Lottie Cooke, a member of Pupil Power, a community of young people who are working together to rethink education from the ground up; and Kulvarn Atwal, the head teacher of two schools in EastLondon, who is doing a really impressive job of reforming education from the top down. To view the video, join the Rethinking Education Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/rethinkinged To join the Rethinking Education Mighty Network, visit: rethinking-education.mn.co/feed

Naheeda Maharasingam is the headteacher at Rathfern Primary School in London, the Leader of Rathfern Teacher Research Network, and a local leader of education. In this conversation, Naheeda outlines her homespun framework for school improvement - the 3 Ms - metacognition, malleable intelligence and moral purpose - and outlines how the curriculum at Rathfern is underpinned by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). LINKS Naheeda's talk to the Chartered College of Teaching on diversifying and decolonising the curriculum: https://my.chartered.college/2020/07/webinar-diversifying-and-decolonising-the-curriculum/ Ash Sarkar's critique of the race report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DR0fTtTlf0 The opera Rathfern scholars made recently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1ab9If7cY8 An article about the opera Rathfern scholars made recently: https://www.dramaandtheatre.co.uk/features/article/everything-is-possible-a-boat-in-an-endless-blue-sea An article by Naheeda on teaching through the UN Sustainable Goals https://impact.chartered.college/article/implementing-sustainable-development-goals-social-action-london-primary-school/ A recent article by Lottie Cooke from Pupil Power, detailing her vision for the future of education: https://www.getrevue.co/profile/innovatejournal/issues/innovate-journal-issue-2-485387 The Rethinking Education podcast is hosted and produced by Dr James Mannion. You can contact him at rethinking-ed.org/contact, or via @RethinkingJames on Twitter. You can join the Rethinking Education Mighty Network here: https://rethinking-education.mn.co

Episode 1 of the Rethinking Education Campfire Conversations. A series of fortnightly fireside chats spontaneous, unplanned group conversations to run alongside the podcast. Today's episode features a conversation between James Mannion, Kate McAllister, Kath Pratt, Sarah Fraser, Grace McAllister and Natalie Rothwell-Warn. To view the video, visit: https://youtu.be/13Isyk_MzgA To join the Rethinking Education Mighty Network, visit: https://rethinking-education.mn.co/feed

Professor Guy Claxton is a hugely influential academic, thinker and author of over 30 books on learning, intelligence and creativity, including Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind, Wise Up, What’s the point of school, Intelligence in the flesh, Educating Ruby and The Learning Power Approach. Guy previously appeared on the Rethinking Education podcast, an episode you can access here: https://soundcloud.com/rethinking-ed-podcast/re07-guy-claxton. Guy’s latest book, The future of teaching and the myths that hold it back, is a blistering critique of what is increasingly a neotraditional orthodoxy. Here are some of the incredible things people have written about the book: "So much simplistic nonsense is being touted about “direct instruction” and the “knowledge rich curriculum”, it is great to see someone finally talking sense. As a practising cognitive scientist, Guy Claxton in perfectly equipped to take us beyond the familiar slanging-match between traditionalists and progressives. He illuminates, with his trademark wit and style, complex issues such as the function of knowledge, the psychology of creative and critical thinking, the true nature of memory, the culture of the classroom, and the many purposes of education. A timely tour de force." (John Hattie, Laureate Professor, Melbourne Graduate School of Education) "This is the book I’ve been longing to read for at least six years. The surgical dismantling of myths and misinformation, the clarity of explanation of complex ideas, the clear examples from real schools, and the humour peppered throughout had me punching the air, laughing, and then thinking hard to process those ah-ha moments. I’ll read it again and again." (Dr Debra Kidd, author of A Curriculum of Hope) "This is the book that was crying out to be written. Systematically, and with refreshing clarity, Guy challenges many of the assumptions that have held sway in education for the last decade. I defy anyone not to be challenged, stimulated, and inspired by the breadth of Guy’s expertise. His is no cheap or superficial assault on current orthodoxy but a fair-minded, forensic pulling apart of partial, lazy or simply wrong-headed thinking that too many have fallen for in the desire for simple truths." (Peter Hyman, co-founder of School 21 and Big Education) The Rethinking Education podcast is hosted and produced by Dr James Mannion. You can contact him at rethinking-ed.org/contact, or via @RethinkingJames on Twitter.

Kath Murdoch is a well known and hugely popular teacher, writer, university lecturer and consultant who has worked for many years with teachers and students in schools all over the planet. The author of 15 books and numerous articles for teachers – including the best selling ‘The Power of Inquiry’ (2015) - Kath is widely respected for her work in the field of inquiry-based learning in which she has taught, researched and published for well over 30 years. In fact, so popular is Kath’s work in the field of inquiry learning that she was recently described to me by a teacher in an International School as the Beyonce of the PYP (the Primary Years Programme, the International Baccalaureate curriculum for 3 to 12 year olds). Here's where you can buy 'The Power of Inquiry': UK: https://store.kortext.com/the-power-of-inquiry-793815 Australia: https://www.kathmurdoch.com.au/where-to-buy USA: https://www.follettibstore.com/search Here's Kath's website: https://www.kathmurdoch.com.au/ And here's her TED talk, The Power of Ummmm...: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFt15Ig64Yg The Rethinking Education podcast is hosted and produced by Dr James Mannion. You can contact him at rethinking-ed.org/contact, or via @RethinkingJames on Twitter.

Rachel Macfarlane is the Director of Education Services at Herts for Learning, providing the strategic lead for all education services to schools across all phases. Prior to joining Herts for Learning, Rachel was the Principal of Isaac Newton Academy in Ilford, in the London borough of Redbridge. She opened this non-selective all-through academy for 4-18 year olds in 2012, the school was rated Outstanding by Ofsted when inspected in 2014, and when they received their first set of results in 2017, they went straight into the top 1% of schools in the country. Rachel has recently written a fantastic book about how to close the disadvantage gap, called Obstetrics for Schools. Since the invention of obstetrics, the infant mortality rate has decreased by several orders of magnitude. In the book, Rachel makes a compelling case that if we can import some of this thinking into education, maybe we do the same for the disadvantage gap, and perhaps even get beyond the point where one third of young people leave school after 12 years branded a failure. Here are a few of the really quite astonishing things people have written about Rachel’s book: "Obstetrics for Schools takes a bleak account of poverty, disadvantage and underachievement and – using real-life case studies and data – shows that it doesn’t have to be like this. If ever there were a time to recalibrate our education system around equity, it’s now. If ever there were a book to help us to do it, it’s this one." (Geoff Barton, General Secretary, Association of School and College Leaders) "It is a disgrace that we can accept that a third of our children will fail at school. Such a rate of attrition, and such inequity, is no longer tolerated in childbirth, and it should not be tolerated in schools. Medicine has developed robust procedures to make sure this doesn’t happen – but where are the equivalents in education? Thankfully, they are right here, in Rachel Macfarlane’s brilliant Obstetrics for Schools. Wise, passionate, compassionate and, above all, practical, this book is an intimate guide to reducing the poverty gap in education. Every head teacher, administrator and minister of education should read it and be judged on their responses to it. If this doesn’t happen, it will only show that we as a society still don’t really care, and that intellectual and ethical torpor still rule the roost." (Guy Claxton, author of The Learning Power Approach: Teaching Learners to Teach Themselves) "Rachel Macfarlane’s book is exactly what we all need right now. The perfect antidote to COVID-19 gloom, it’s a stirring call to arms in the fight against education inequality. Rachel counters the defeatist acceptance that the education system will inevitably fail some students and, through a series of case studies, shows how it is possible to ensure that every student receives a great education. Accessible, practical and inspiring, Obstetrics for Schools is a great read for anyone who cares about education." (Lucy Heller, Chief Executive, Ark) Here are some articles either by or about Rachel: https://arkonline.org/blog/rachel-macfarlane-how-our-brand-new-school-went-straight-top-1 https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/jul/01/leaders-schools-g2g-g4g-talking-heads https://www.headteacher-update.com/best-practice-article/knowledge-and-skills-how-you-can-achieve-both-in-your-school-guy-claxton-education-1/228451/ https://bigeducation.org/lfl-content/the-responsibility-of-educators-to-nurture-strong-relationships-with-learners-and-their-families/ https://www.hertsforlearning.co.uk/news/great-expectations-new-herts-learning-leadership-programme-launches-hertfordshire-schools https://theeducation.exchange/the-role-of-the-teacher-as-facilitator-of-out-of-school-learning/ The Rethinking Education podcast is hosted and produced by Dr James Mannion. You can contact him at rethinking-ed.org/contact, or via @RethinkingJames on Twitter.

Ian Gilbert is a globally renowned educational thinker, innovator, entrepreneur, speaker and award-winning editor and writer, who was listed by the IB magazine as one of their top 15 ‘educational visionaries’. Ian has authored many brilliant books including the Little Book of Thunks, Independent Thinking and Why do I need a teacher when I’ve got Google? - all three of which we discuss in this conversation. He is also a skilled editor and has curated and edited many more excellent tomes, including notably The Working Class: Poverty, Education and Alternative Voices. This is a fascinating conversation in which we discuss thunks - Ian’s brilliant invention for making children’s brains hurt; neoliberalism, the ideology that underpins so many of our educational woes; and our shared love of philosophy for children, an approach that has been in the headlines this week for all the wrong reasons. To name just a few juicy morsels. Here are some of the books we talked about in this podcast: The Little Book of Thunks - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005R25LKK/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0 A tin of thunks - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/A-Tin-of-Thunks-by-Ian-Gilbert-/164501869061?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5337839255&customid=&toolid=10001 Independent thinking - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00GY5781Y/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p2_i5 Why do I need a teacher when I've got Google? - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00LC9DHT4/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p2_i3 The Working Class: Poverty, Education and Alternative Voices - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07BB8GP3F/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2 The Rethinking Education podcast is hosted and produced by Dr James Mannion. You can contact him at rethinking-ed.org/contact, or via @RethinkingJames on Twitter.

Adam Boxer is Head of Science at what he describes as a “great” secondary comprehensive school in North London, and a prolific tweeter and blogger. His blog, A Chemical Orthodoxy, recently tipped over a million readers, and considering Adam only joined the fold of bloggers fairly recently, that’s really quite impressive. As you will hear, this is the thin end of the wedge of Adam’s prodigious output, and he is a rare example of someone who has been able to have a significant impact on the school system while teaching full-time. This, as ever, is a fascinating conversation in which we discuss neotraditionalism, practical tips on behaviour management and reducing workload, and the thin slither of Twitter beef that led to his coming on the show. Links to interesting stuff we talked about: Adam’s blog - A Chemical Orthodoxy: https://achemicalorthodoxy.wordpress.com/ Adam’s YouTube channel of Science videos - Boxer’s shorts: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBHqVPDozD6Dg3tRN1-JSgg/videos Cog Sci Sci, the organisation Adam founded for science teachers with an interest in cognitive science: https://cogscisci.wordpress.com/resources/ Carousel Learning - a website app based on retrieval roulette: https://app.carousel-learning.com/teacher/access Adam’s videos and blogs on behaviour: https://achemicalorthodoxy.wordpress.com/behaviour/ The Rethinking Education podcast is hosted and produced by Dr James Mannion. You can contact him at rethinking-ed.org/contact, or via @RethinkingJames on Twitter.

Ross McGill really needs no introduction. Through his alter ego Teacher Toolkit, Ross is something of a publishing powerhouse, with a quarter of a million followers on Twitter - by far the biggest following of anyone in education. A teacher and school leader with decades of experience, Ross now works as a consultant and has worked in over 200 schools, colleges and universities across the UK and around the world. Ross also has one the most influential education blogs on the planet, with around 12 million hits. He has also published five books, the most recent being Mark Plan Teach 2.0. This is a fascinating, wide-ranging conversation in which we discuss the perils of EduTwitter; the way in which teaching is becoming a much more sure-footed, evidence-informed profession; and the trouble with Ofsted, an organisation Ross refers to as the Grim Reaper. Here's a link to the verbal feedback report and toolkit Ross developed alongside Mark Quinn at UCL Institute of Education: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/widening-participation/teachers-and-education-professionals/teacher-research-projects/verbal-feedback-project. And here's a blog by Mark Quinn outlining the key findings: https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/tag/verbal-feedback-in-schools/. The Rethinking Education podcast is hosted and produced by Dr James Mannion. You can contact him at rethinking-ed.org/contact, or via @RethinkingJames on Twitter.