Heather Fearn

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.

Yes!

These are big numbers. Subjects come first, expectedly.

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!

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?

My little spring garden under the oak. Final phase.

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...

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...

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

It does so matter!

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)

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

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

All these sound good!

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

Yes.

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.

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!

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.

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.

Makes sense.

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.

Yep!

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