Carol Dweck’s research on the dichotomy of the growth and fixed mindset has proven near ubiquitous in schools over the past couple of years. It has proven the topic of a thousand …
Thinking Hard…and Motivation
Are you struggling to motivate your horizontal students too? So we have found the secret to learning…thinking hard. Part one of this series – you can find it here – explored what …
Successful Learning by Stealth
What does this lovely old lady reveal positive messages about student success? Why is her story potentially so powerful? Nola Ochs is a special lady. So special she appears in the Guinness …
Teaching and Trust
(Nomads II, by Pablo Jurado Ruiz) Every once in a while the bleak personal stories of our students are opened up to us like a drawer of knives. We get a brief …
The Problem with Teaching Character
You can’t read or hear about an Education Secretary (see here) or Shadow Secretary (see here) lately without chewing on a bit of GRIT and being told about how we should all …
The Problem with Growth Mindset
I was brought up by my family to believe that you got your just rewards for working hard. It is a belief that has stayed with me and nourished me throughout my …
Mastering Boredom – The Secret to Success
Many a debate is sparked in education about the need for ‘engagement‘ in teaching and learning. Some dismiss ‘engagement‘ as the bastard language of OFSTED to encourage an adventure playground style approach …
Winning Ugly & ‘Gritty’ Learning
13-year-old Arvind Mahankali from New York (correctly spelled “knaidel,” a word for a small mass of leavened dough, to win the American national competition) Americans love a ‘Spelling Bee‘. They are unique …