"The TES School Awards are a real showcase for schools involved in best practice. It’s crucial that all schools learn from those that are doing things exceptionally well, or trying out innovative ideas. If you want to shout about your achievements, and gain widespread publicity and credit for your great work make sure you enter." That was Michael Gove’s advice to ... read more and comment →
“I think it’s a brilliant idea. The longer students spend in school the better they will do,” commented Mr Gove about the decision by Greenacre Primary School in Great Yarmouth to extend the school day to up to 6pm for older pupils when the school becomes an academy. Attendance would be compulsory. A free after-school club would be available on ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by Rebecca Hanson: "The proposal to remove work related learning form KS4 came from Alison Wolf's report on vocational education. Here are some criticisms of what she said: Firstly she claimed that "Fewer and fewer employers are willing to accommodate young people under 16 ......"
Comment + Debate Once again Mr Gove shows he is moving away from the high-performing countries he admires. He extolled their curricula but was out-of-step with their proposals. He said he had researched international exam systems so that England could have a system which equals the world’s best but his ideas disregard what these countries are doing (see FAQs above). He has praised ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by Rebecca Hanson: "Funnily enought that's exactly the same point I was making to Nick Gibb today at ACME. I asked him how it was that the government had analysed maths curriculums of the best countries in the world - Finland where maths ......"
Comment + Debate
Michael Gove's latest attack on teachers and school governors is unprecedented for an Education Secretary. Sure, we've had Secretaries of State who have enjoyed taking pot shots at the unions and at teachers at times, but Michael Gove's aggressive assaults on the profession are unique, not only in their wide-ranging nature, but also in their wrong-headedness. His latest barrage of ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by Rebecca Hanson: "Thank you for the complement John. I've taken care to distill out the elements of how I worked with Erica to help anyone who is facing a similar situation achieve the same end and that blog is here: http://mathseducationandallthat.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/ten-hours-with-erica-recommendations.html The ......"
Comment + Debate Teachers in local authority (LA) maintained schools are “held back by the terms and conditions, the restrictive practices, which work against children’s welfare,” said Michael Gove. What are these unacceptable “terms and conditions”? Could it be the hours that teachers work? The OECD found that in England working hours in teaching are already “fairly long compared to many other OECD countries”* ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by Rebecca Hanson: "In Finland it is expected that teachers will also be enthusiastic learners and will therefore be role models for their students to help them also become so. So teachers need time to be able to explore and nurture their wider interests. ......"
Comment + Debate In a speech launching the National Curriculum Review Mr Gove said that the expert panel would contain “some of the most innovative and inspiring education academics currently working in this country.” One of these experts was Professor Mary James who was quoted by Stephen Twigg, Shadow Secretary of State for Education, in the House of Commons on 18 June. Mr Twigg ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by Francis Gilbert: "It's quite shocking that Gove has denigrated Mary James in this way. She's the President of the British Educational Research Association, BERA, (http://www.bera.ac.uk/) which prides itself upon its scholarship and painstaking analysis of evidence. The trouble is that Gove probably ......"
Comment + Debate Time and again the Local Schools Network has exposed misrepresentation by Secretary of State, Michael Gove, and the Department for Education. Here are ten examples: 1 Academies perform better than other schools – not true. 2 Converter academies drive up standards – evidence doesn’t exist. 3 Maths standards have fallen over 30 years – Gove misled Commons. 4 Standard of food in academies is ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by Janet Downs: "I wonder if the West London Free School will link to the Spectator article on their website. There are usually links to Young's articles, blogs and so on and the website's doing a splendid job in promoting his book ......"
Comment + Debate "Academy converters and free schools are helping to drive up standards for all children, particularly the most disadvantaged," Mr Gove told the Education Select Committee on 31 January 2012. On 9th March I submitted a Freedom of Information Request asking for the evidence which underpinned this statement. On 2nd May I received a belated reply. The Department for Education (DfE) appeared ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by Allan Beavis: "Quite right Sarah. There is no evidence "yet"? How long do we have to wait for something that has failed in countries that adopted this way before Gove did? The problem Gove has is that those countries which have versions of ......"
Comment + Debate
Michael Gove, in his Spectator speech the other day, said that he had been eager to find out more about educational transformation in other countries including Sweden, Finland, Singapore, Shanghai (not a country, but never mind) Florida and Michelle Rhee's Washington DC. I don’t know whether he has ever invited Finland’s Pasi Sahlberg over to introduce the Finnish model as ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by roslyn: "As a parent I cant believe Michael Goves judgement. Scary. Is he bored of Katherine Birbalsingh or something?..."
Comment + Debate New Orleans’ schools that survived Hurricane Katrina were closed indefinitely by the City authorities. Many teachers, who had suffered themselves in the disaster, tried to enter schools to clean up but were met by armed guards, TES reports. The state intervened, reopened the schools using the Charter model and sacked all existing teachers who were replaced by young, idealistic college graduates. ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by Rebecca Hanson: "http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/parent_governor_at_woodside_high..."
Comment + Debate