As a parent, do you visit the Kindle Store looking for fun books to read with your children? What categories do you look under? As a parent, just being with your child around a book seems out of place in our busy lives. And what a difference it seems when you imagine having fun and … Read more
What do you think is meant by ‘doing the basics’? A debate rages around what constitutes essential knowledge and skills at every level of schooling – from early years to higher education. I want to propose that the arts sector has the ability to shift the debate by showing how there is no knowledge, … Read more
Writing nonsense is challenging but Roald Dahl’s style of nonsense humour shows how a great author can craft humorous experiences in glorious ways. Books like George’s Marvellous Medicine, The Twits and The Magic Finger are usually the first exposure children have of nonsense literature. And there are more benefits to be had. I’ve also experienced … Read more
The size of data, the ‘knowledge economy’ and just about anything we can imagine in a Web 2.0 age feels overwhelming. This is why it’s useful to view case studies of what others are doing in applying technologies creatively, to see what is possible and how you stand it relation to the fast evolving scene. I recommend … Read more
The EducationHQ News Team presents an interesting article on classroom teacher Benjamin Kilby who is researching the Philosophy for Children (P4C) method. Mr Kilby is most interested in enabling gender-equitable dialogue. As the treasurer of the Victorian Association of Philosophy in Schools, he is also at the forefront of the advocacy group that beings the methodology … Read more
I want to consider what it means to do ‘high-order thinking’ in arts education. The terms ‘high’ and ‘low order’ is commonly associated with Bloom’s Taxonomy, the basis of many marking keys for courses and exams in primary, secondary and tertiary education since the 1950s. In the past, I believe that its hierarchy of six … Read more
There’s good research showing the benefits of kids and parents reading together. Scholastic’s seventh edition of Kids And Family Reading Report builds on the theme for kids and parents reading together beyond the early years. Alarmingly, the research shows a rapid decline after a child turns 9. The infographic, contained within Scholastic’s 2017 report, shows … Read more
I find the categorisation of people into ‘thinkers’ and ‘doers’ rubbish: depending on the context, you can be damned or praised for being either. More significantly, the separation diverts us from dealing with a more important question of how thoughts and actions are inevitably, even if inexplicably, related. According to cognitive linguists George Lakoff and … Read more
There would be little disagreement on the importance of drama and literacy, including broadening and deepening the vocabulary of young people. In the preface to Teaching effective vocabulary , the 2008 Chief Adviser on School Standards in the UK, Sue Hackman, compares having a good vocabulary to ‘an artist’s palette of colours’. Vocabulary is more than a … Read more
Walk into the self-help section of the Kindle Store or your favourite book store, thumb through a lifestyle magazine, and what are you likely to find? Many books on parenting. Parents never stop being told what they should be doing as parents! Parenting brings with it an avalanche of advice, social criticism, psychology, and news … Read more