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Posts by Heather Fearn

I’ll be @researchedbrum.bsky.social sharing international curriculum insights. See you there!

1 month ago 0 0 0 0

Either humans learn in the same way or they don’t.

If we are going to have a coherent perspective on SEND then those deciding need to decide which position they are taking.

It can’t be both.

2 months ago 7 3 8 1
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Is there anything I thought I came up with myself that I won’t one day stumble on in a 2017 @michaelfordham.bsky.social blog? It’s like that Keynes quote. Today its this particular schema depiction.

8 months ago 1 0 0 0

Yes!

11 months ago 1 0 0 0

These are big numbers. Subjects come first, expectedly.

11 months ago 2 1 1 0
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There have been 1,038,405 unique downloads of
@Ofstednews
subject research reviews and subject reports.
In school, we learn through subjects and we improve the quality of children's education by improving that subject teaching. This is the reality these numbers speak to. Enormous demand!

11 months ago 2 2 1 0

I’ve used a Freedom of Information request to find out how many unique downloads there have been of the
@Ofstednews
subject Research Reviews and Subject Reports.

How many downloads do you think there have been of these subject docs?

11 months ago 3 1 2 0
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My little spring garden under the oak. Final phase.

11 months ago 1 0 0 0
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Why subjects need their own take on the ‘cogsci revolution’ While the use of cognitive science research can aid teaching, it needs to be filtered and combined with the unique demands of individual subjects, argue Mike Hobbiss and Paul Cline

Yes, subjects need their own take on CURRICULUM using the 'cogsci revolution' - not just pedagogy.
I'm not so keen on the drive to leap just pedagogical, rather than curricular, insights using cog psych which happens even in this article.
www.tes.com/magazine/tea...

11 months ago 4 1 0 0
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RE: the Cinderella subject that needs to go to the ball Religious education is often an afterthought, but it’s a subject that can have a profound, important impact on understanding the world, says this former senior Ofsted inspector

Cinderella must go to the ball. This says Dr Richard Kueh regarding RE www.tes.com/magazine/tea...

1 year ago 4 3 0 0

Much love in Australia for Ofsted’s research reviews and subject reports. Used by some everywhere I go.
I’m thrilled and so proud of our team that put together these seminal documents that enable new discussion of quality edu, by subject, that takes account of what we now know about cognition.

1 year ago 6 2 4 0
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I have to be about the luckiest curriculum geek. I’m now in Sydney’s Blue Mountains for Learning First’s Curriculum Implementation Conference with states systems leaders all talking curriculum. It’s a truly exciting time in Australian education.

1 year ago 2 0 0 0

Yes. First time I’ve read an article on Ofsted that gets what sits behind inspection reliability and validity.

1 year ago 3 0 0 0
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A bird with true conceptual understanding of what it means to fly.
@oldandrewuk.bsky.social @mayak46.bsky.social @katharinebeals.bsky.social @paulkirschner.bsky.social @carlhendrick.substack.com @paulkirschner.bsky.social @nsachdeva.bsky.social @heatherbellaf.bsky.social @gregashman.bsky.social

1 year ago 4 1 1 0

I’ve been digging into the quality of EHCPs, plans that parents are dragged through court sometimes to obtain, and that are bankrupting councils

What’s actually in them? Are they good quality? Personalised? Include interventions backed by evidence? Are they fully funded?

The answer often is no

1 year ago 44 37 3 5
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The SW investigation might be the most important one they've ever run. It's an incredible piece of work and the results are truly shocking. Everyone should read it.

1 year ago 9 16 2 0

New blog! ‘The Teachers’ knowledge that has no name’.

What should we call this knowledge?

heatherfblog.wordpress.com/2025/02/23/t...

With special thanks to @michaelfordham.bsky.social

1 year ago 17 17 9 2

It does so matter!

1 year ago 0 0 0 0

Your final bit on the importance of co-planning highlights why schools serious about curriculum and T&L need to devote as much time as possible to subject team meetings, and to ensure 90% of the time is spent discussing it (and not ESPO, data, behaviour, and other ephemeral asides)

1 year ago 3 1 0 0

Why does crucial teacher knowledge have no name? What should we call it? heatherfblog.wordpress.com/2025/02/23/t...

1 year ago 0 0 0 0

Not sure that's so relevant. The point here is that whatever your Rome, you need to know how to get there.

1 year ago 0 0 1 0

All these sound good!

1 year ago 1 0 0 0

Yes. I liked that. Colleagues wanted something with the sense of 'journey' in it.

1 year ago 0 0 0 0

Yes.

1 year ago 0 0 0 0
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Yes, I'd say it depends on the subject asto how many roads might lead to Rome. I guess my point isn't about what variety in component content might be considered a route to expertise (though a fruitful discussion). Here I'm making a simpler point that such knowledge is a necessity for teachers.

1 year ago 1 0 1 0

Thanks! Definitely agree. It's funny when you think about it - how far lack of this knowledge isn't the the explanation reached for and instead it's often assumed more training in generic teaching activities is needed. That's why I think this form of knowledge needs a name!

1 year ago 2 0 1 0

Outstanding blog. Detailed explanation of why so many of the trainees I've met with excellent academic credentials struggle to explain complex/abstract material.

They don't know what the students should already know or what they need next.

1 year ago 1 1 1 0

I like 'deconstruction' in that it describes the process as well as the intended knowledge coming from that deconstruction. I do think we need a useful and intuitive term for *what* knowledge is arrived at via this process.

1 year ago 1 0 1 0

Makes sense.

1 year ago 0 0 0 0

Yes agree. It's funny how far it is taken for granted that teachers will know what pupils need to learn, step by step, when there is no good reason to presume they will.

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