On valuing staff...

 (This post has been deliberately delayed by a couple of months)

Earlier this afternoon, I managed to grab a moment with a colleague from one of our associate colleges to arrange a visit and to contribute a guest session to the course at her centre. We agreed the date and how my session would fit into the overall scheme of work. Straightforward. And then to the logistics--routine and trivial, of course.

Not any more. Not only have I been unable to observe students' teaching practice on several occasions because I have not got a CRB* clearance--I haven't "failed" it, but the university won't pay for it, and I don't see why I should do so from my own pocket... But at a completely different level, my colleague informed me that the date we had just agreed was also that of her routine annual "performance review". Without going into detail, this is all about targets. And if she does not satisfy the inquisition  panel she may no longer be employed by the time I get there.

(She continues to be employed, but this kind of punitive approach to management is getting ever more common in colleges--I was prompted actually to post by this reminder of an alternative vision, albeit in the school sector.)

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* Now the even more Orwellian "Disclosure and Barring Service"; isn't it oxymoronic (or just moronic?) to call such an agency a "service"?

On knowing one's limits...

Last week my son called, seeking esoteric information about me. Do my ears have lobes?* What colour are my eyes? What's the term which describes my eyelids?**

Why? It's for my (step) grand-daughter's homework. On genetics. In primary school. Brilliant! I'm all for it.

Up to a point. As S and I discussed, since our son is not her biological father, it's all theoretical, and for once
that may be a Good Thing. And they didn't ask about blood group, thank goodness...

But. It's a minefield. How many primary school teachers (who are generalists--they teach children rather than subjects) are able to field questions about Mendelian genetics--particularly when they come from kids who begin to wonder about who they are? It's a Pandora's box.

My concern here is not really about transitory dissonances or the ethical issues (important though they are), but about teachers trying to teach things they themselves don't really understand. It's quite a courageous act to concede one's limitations, particularly in the face of children's expectations but with a required curriculum that may not be much of an option.

There are of course more and more topics like this, and there is no way teachers can keep up. The media fill the gaps, but often with scant regard for the accuracy or suitability of the information they put out, and with ever easier informal access to information, the authority of the teacher is undermined. That may well not be a Bad Thing--I was certainly taught a great deal of rubbish at school--but it calls for a re-think. Perhaps it is another push in the direction of a "new educational paradigm"; but even that can't be taken at face value.

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*  "How long have you known me for?" I asked. Of course you don't register such things with your nearest and dearest...

** epicanthic fold. Actually it's wrong, because in my case the fold is at the outer end of the eye--most famously exhibited by SuperMac.  But it's good enough for present purposes...

Items to Share: 26 May

Education Focus

• Encouraging Moral Behaviour | websofsubstance  Interesting discussion of conflicting moral principles (principally inclusivity versus utilitarianism) in the practice of class management. Good case-study.

• What makes great school leadership? | Pragmatic Education  A good piece, although easier said than done...

• A Don’s Life: Can computers mark exams? Mary Beard engages with the MOOC question.

• To encourage creativity, Mr Gove, you must first understand what it is | Ken Robinson | The Guardian  Contesting the view that you can only be creative when you have mastered the basics.

• The OFSTED Teaching Style | Scenes From The Battleground  Ofsted reports analysed on the basis of the boiler-plate phrases they appear to use, indicate discrepancies between espoused theories and theories-in-use--and probably between the leadership and the rank and file of the organisation.

Other Business

• How Creativity in Humor, Art, and Science Works: Arthur Koestler's Theory of Bisociation | Brain Pickings  Excellent attempt to condense the argument of Koestler's The Act of Creation (1964). His reputation has suffered since his death, but this book, The Ghost in the Machine (1967) and The Sleepwalkers (1959) are fascinating and highly readable. 

• Presence, Not Praise: How To Cultivate a Healthy Relationship with Achievement | Brain Pickings (again) On Stephen Grosz, building on Carol Dweck.

• Small Talk | The Point Magazine  Good overview, taking in Goffman, Heidegger and Malinowski--so it's not exactly an example of the genre.

• Beyond the Pale | The Weekly Standard "At ‘white privilege’ conferences, a lengthening list of victims issue an ever-more-detailed indictment of Western civilization"

Items to Share: 19 May

Education Focus

• The God of Data by Rob Barratt (video--with thanks to Neil Burton for the link)

• Don't Go Back to School: How to Fuel the Internal Engine of Lifelong Learning | Brain Pickings On learning beyond formal institutions, which is of course where we learn practically everything that matters.

• Donald Clark Plan B: MOOC on Human-Computer Interaction: 7 fails in screen design How can a course about something be so poor at the same thing? Although strangely it is not that unusual, as in most courses on how to teach...

Other Business

• ISS Music Video Putting Chris Hadfield's cover of Space Oddity into context.

• Freelancing Rules of Thumb | The Freelancery Seriously tongue-in-cheek--clearly rings bells with commenters.  

• Growing Concern that News Photos Are Being Excessively Manipulated - Spiegel Online ...and what are the boundaries?  

• Crime and Punishment: Juvenile offenders study Russian literature - The Washington Post  

Items to Share: 12 May

Education Focus

• Ken Robinson: How to escape education's death valley | Video on TED.com Sir Ken's latest.  

• Princeton Alumni Weekly: The future of education? Quite a long and considered article on MOOCs. 

• Peace, love and understanding | websofsubstance Harry Webb on using rote-learnt rules to solve maths problems--is it acceptable? 

• David Foster Wallace’s Commencement Speech “This is Water,” Remixed in a Short Video Rather hyped, but interesting 

• infed.org | Informal learning: theory, practice and experience 

Other Business

• Doctor Who Is the Greatest Jew on TV – Tablet Magazine ? 

• Are you inside the circle or outside? | Daniel Pink  Annotated global map--where the people are. 

• How to Spot a Weak Argument by Daniel Dennett. Simple, and it must surely be accurate... 

• He Conceived the Mathematics of Roughness by Jim Holt | The New York Review of Books On Benoit Mandelbrot 

• Philosophy, lit, etc.: A Kierkegaard bicentennial roundup I started gathering pieces on SK's 200th birthday, and then found that Paul Raymont had done it already.

• Your 5-Step Self-Defence Program Against Neuro-Nonsense | Psychology Today      

• The psychology of menus | Life and style | The Guardian