... 3/3
Our "ask" was threefold:
- Did Futures change what & how students learn? (YES)
- Do the ➕ outweigh the ➖? (YES)
- Is it sustainable & scalable (Mainly yes, with good supports).
👏 all colleagues in DCU & @dcuioe.bsky.social, especially in @eqievaluation.bsky.social & @joeoharadcu.bsky.social

... 2/3
✔️Students’ own reports suggest Futures develops key transversal skills (www.dcu.ie/sites/defaul...)
👀 Extended observations of CBL in practice
www.dcu.ie/sites/defaul...
✔️Futures model of assessment may help maintain student engagement
www.dcu.ie/sites/defaul...

Happy to share that DCU Futures evaluation is now out! Link below for details on the *8* reports that comprised the evaluation. We cover student & staff views, observations of CBL events, grades & progression, etc.

What did @hadjertaibi.bsky.social & I find?
1/3 ...
www.dcu.ie/eqi/news/202...

2/2 ... Tales has shifted from Dublin-centric to a nationwide reach, DEIS schools now the majority of workshop targets & feedback from young "Word Warriors" show they feel more creative & more confident.

More on Tales here:
🔗https://tinyurl.com/3weeyvwh

#edchatie #speirgorm #edusky

Fighting Words’ Workshop Provision to DEIS Schools: A Review of 2022-2025 Over the past three years, Fighting Words has delivered a dedicated initiative focused on engaging with DEIS schools across Ireland. This

🚨My evaluation of "Tales to Scale" now out! Tales directly targets DEIS schools for delivery of Fighting Words' workshops. Funded by Rethink Ireland, my review looks at Tales in its first 3 years.

🔗https://tinyurl.com/se75nx7x

🔎What did we see? Tales has scaled up & scaled out ...
#edchatie 1/2

So fed up staring out at the unending rain that I charted Met Eireann data. Dublin's February rainfall up to Feb 12 only is well past TOTAL monthly averages. And when you prorate to get the 2026 rainfall, this horror is revealed.
#Dublin is more #SpeirDubh than #SpeirGorm. Please send snorkels!

Pollinators have been disappearing. It’s time to bring them back!
Whether you’re tending a yard, a community garden, a local park, or even just a tiny balcony, our Bring Back the Pollinators program has you covered with guides, videos, free events, & more!
Get started ➡️ bringbackthepollinators.org

❓Asked to take part in the European Vocational Teacher Survey? Please do! A major EU survey of the needs & experiences of VET/FET teachers. Outcomes will shape EU policy & the future of teacher development in #VET & #FET.

🔗www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/projects/vocational-t...

Time trends in the male to female ratio for autism incidence: population based, prospectively collected, birth cohort study Objectives To examine changes in the male to female ratio in diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) over a 35 year period, providing temporal trends in diagnosis (incidence rate), the male to fem...

www.bmj.com/content/392/... Autistic girls & women: By age 20, they were diagnosing pretty much equal numbers of men & women.
Huge study, whole population of Sweden born 1985-2020.
Not 1 in 10.
Not 1 in 4.
Not 1 in 3.
Equal numbers, just about.

100 years of research, most based on the wrong info.

Lá fhéile Bríde sona daoibh from Capel St. Pagan Goddess or Christian saint, she’s having a moment here anyway 😉
#StBrigid #Imbolc #Brigit

Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio) YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free

Chronic absenteeism twice as prevalent in Deis schools, report shows Over one-third of students in the most disadvantaged schools missed 20 or more days in 2023-24

Not just Ireland. Internationally, huge absence increases since Covid, esp. in special & low-SES schools. DEY response is to target parents, rather than any health-related intervention. Clean air is a more effective intervention than hot air. #edchatie #SpeirGorm
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/educ...

Happy New Year 2026 from duuurty Dublin. We may bung up lights to hide derelict sites, but we do have some lovely spots too.

Photo of a page from Omar El Akkad's ONE DAY EVERYONE WILL ALWAYS HAVE BEEN AGAINST THIS that reads: Some of the least established writers I know, the ones who have to work all manner of side jobs just to make ends meet, are actively putting their literary careers at risk by calling for an end to the wholesale murder of a people. Meanwhile, so many of the most established writers are either totally silent or engaged in the tritest finger-wagging about just how terrible it would be for the art if we get too shrill about this sort of thing. Yes, the killing happens now, but there'll be plenty of time later to write very moving stories about the shape and shade of the bones.

"Yes, the killing happens now, but there'll be plenty of time later to write very moving stories about the shape and shade of the bones."

The precision of this. My god.

Silicon Valley is lighting hundreds of billions of dollars on fire to generate this slop.

Independent Panel to review Baseline School Funding announced Education Minister Paul Givan has announced the independent panel to undertake the Review of Baseline School Funding Provided Through the Common Funding Formula (CFF).

🚨Minister Givan has appointed me to a panel to review aspects of Northern Ireland's school funding model. I worked on the last major review (way back in 2012-13) & have published on effects of different models, so looking forward to it!
🔗 www.education-ni.gov.uk/news/indepen...
#edusky #speirgorm

I'm not generally a big fan of the clergy but Brother Kevin will be greatly missed. The incredible work of the Capuchin Day Centre in providing meals and supports to those in need is quite a legacy. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.
#RIPBrKevin #SpeirGorm

School fees: how to save €50,000 to pay for children’s school or college costs When should you start saving? ‘When a child is born’

Another @irishtimes.com article flogging the services of private schools. Research shows NO academic "added-value" from them. Want your child to succeed? Read & talk to them as much as possible, as young as possible. Be a parent, not an investor. #SpeirGorm #edusky
www.irishtimes.com/your-money/2...

... 2/2
Ysandre & Saidhbhin, both in second level:
museumofchildhood.ie/b-s-is-my-na...
museumofchildhood.ie/not-just-col...

All 10 fabulous finalists listed below, & will be published in the next few weeks. Well done to all our writers.
museumofchildhood.ie/bloomsday-20...
We'll be in touch.

Thrilled to announce the 10 finalists in @museumofchildhood.bsky.social #Bloomsday young writer competition.

Caterina's entry was the judges' fav:
museumofchildhood.ie/sarjena/
And she's still in primary school! Wow.

She just pipped ... 1/2

Mykonos & Santorini are equally awful. I know Naxos is not like it used to be but still lovely compared to the gruesome twosome. Rural Crete still offers a real escape from crowds.

😂Fair point.

Santorini is the Temple Bar of Greece. A cultural and ecological dead zone. Some of the nearby Cyclades like Syros and Naxos place much more value on local products, local farm traditions, with at least some awareness of the environment.

Apparently coordinated political assassinations at this early stage in Trump’s dismantling of democracy is beyond my worst imaginings. Just awful.

Image shows a young Victorian woman wearing a form of bloomers, being gleefully pushed on her bike by female friends, dressed in more conservative clothes

Rare to write about bloomers, cycling, sexism & State Exams in one article! Blog on the almost total absence of teen girls cycling to school, why it matters & what we must do.
🔗 museumofchildhood.ie/where-are-th...
#cycling #school #SpeirGorm
@dublincycling.bsky.social @roisiningle.bsky.social

Journalists are adding extra checks to keep ahead of the fake experts Fake experts and SEO: How journalists must adopt new checks to keep one step ahead of AI-generated responses provided by fake experts.

"Barbara Santini is a psychologist who has been quoted hundreds of times in news publications around the world - including the Telegraph, BBC and Independent - and who, I can now state with certainty, does not exist."
pressgazette.co.uk/news/fake-ex...

Image shows a young Victorian woman wearing a form of bloomers, being gleefully pushed on her bike by female friends, dressed in more conservative clothes

Rare to write about bloomers, cycling, sexism & State Exams in one article! Blog on the almost total absence of teen girls cycling to school, why it matters & what we must do.
🔗 museumofchildhood.ie/where-are-th...
#cycling #school #SpeirGorm
@dublincycling.bsky.social @roisiningle.bsky.social

Today I asked AI to summarise an academic paper. The actual results were the opposite to what was hypothesised (and to what others had shown). The AI summary assumed the study had found what everyone else had found. Hot tip: don’t use a stochastic parrot to summarise an outlier paper. #academicsky 🧪

The Irish summer is a no-show, so channeling a bit of Greece to cheer me up. Homemade Freddo Espresso, the coffee of the Gods! Not a bad effort for an ιρλανδέζα but it doesn’t taste the same in the rain.☔️ ☹️