Tes Podagogy

“The reason we are having so many issues in the US,” states ED Hirsch, emeritus professor at the University of Virginia, “is that there isn’t that commonality of culture, and for any human tribe to stick together they need that commonality.”

For Hirsch, the lack of that commonality - causing huge political rifts and leading to protests such as the Black Lives Matter movement - is down to a failure of education.

And in this episode, he explains why that has happened and how we can fix it.

You can watch this interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMpX033XR7w&feature=youtu.be

In our new weekly chat about the current issue of Tes, we explore our 4 September cover article that delves into the back story of how Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction came to be and that route into being matters.

“Deep cleaning does not make a lot of sense,” explains Jack Gilbert, professor of paediatrics at the University of California and a specialist in microbes and the immune system. “It is stage craft – security theater.”

On this episode of Tes Podagogy, Gilbert talks about managing the risk of coronavirus transmission in schools, how to have a healthy immune system, the unseen microbes impacting your health in classrooms and... public toilets.

You can also watch this podcast here:

Working from home is something we have all had to get used to very quickly – whether we live alone or surrounded by flat mates or family members, especially young children who have a seemingly never ending list of demands and find the most inopportune moments to voice them.

In the second of their Tes Lockdown podcast series Tes’s Jon Severs, Grainne Hallahan and Dan Worth discuss how they are making working from home work for them, the issues they have encountered and ways to make the process as smooth as possible.

In a new format for the Podagogy podcast, Tes commissioning editor Jon Severs chats to Senior Content Writer Grainne Hallahan and deputy commissioning editor Dan Worth about the challenges of remote learning and how we might overcome them.

We mention:

Dan's article on remote learning: https://www.tes.com/magazine/article/coronavirus-how-maximise-distance-learning

Grainne's article about YouTube: https://www.tes.com/magazine/article/edutubers-will-they-really-change-how-you-teach

Our coronavirus guides: https://www.tes.com/news/hub/features

“I think it is an enormous mistake to still have the GCSE examination at 16,” states Michael Young, professor of education at the UCL Institute of Education.

For those that know his work – particularly his research on powerful knowledge and curriculum – such comments will not come as a surprise: an education system that is geared to examinations and accountability is the opposite of what he thinks our children need.

On this episode, Professor Young talks about scrapping not just examinations at 16 years old, but literacy and numeracy, too. He also talks about subject specialisms, the role of education and the power of knowledge to grant access to adulthood for children.

“The earlier you go, the more likely you are to pick up kids who may just catch up on their own – they’re just late starters,” states Dorothy Bishop, professor of developmental neuropsychology at the University of Oxford.

At a time when education systems across the world are pushing for educational interventions at ever younger ages, Bishop argues this ignores a huge amount of evidence about what are 4 and 5 year olds should be doing in school - and whether they should be in school at that age at all.

Curriculum design should be at the forefront of what schools do, but are they equipped to do it and does the system let them do it? Professor Mark Priestly talks you through how to build a curriculum and what may stand in your way.

John Hattie wrote one of the most famous books in education: Visible Learning. It was dubbed the 'holy grail' of teaching on its release, but has since attracted criticism. In this podcast, professor Hattie answers his critics, explains his view on education and pinpoints what he thinks will truly make teachers great.

While some say it causes behaviour issues and wastes time, new research suggests peer learning can be one of the most effective tools in the classroom, claim two academics. Patrick Leman, dean and professor of psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London, and Dr Harriet Tenanbaum, reader in developmental psychology at the University of Surrey explain all.