Debra Kidd

Across the world educators and policy makers are reaching for solutions to the very slippery problem of how to ensure consistency and quality in our education systems. There is an unwillingness to accept and live with uncertainty and yet each solution throws up more problems - many of them unexpected. This is because education, indeed the human brain, is a complex adaptive system in which outcomes emerge as more than a sum of their component parts. Drawing predominantly on the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze, Becoming Mobius argues that teachers can and should learn to love uncertainty and complexity; that they should seek to become pedagogical activists working within a system while remaining outside of it - becoming like a Mobius strip both in and out. It argues that the interesting stuff in classrooms exists in the minute details, the pivotal moments of interactions, in relationships and in the affective dimension and that having faith in becoming attuned, and listening to the ?gutterances? of others leads teaching into a new world of possibility. This is an honest, challenging and incredibly profound book that makes you stop and think - deeply - about what you do, why you do it and the effect it has. You will never look at teaching in the same light again.

The Complex Matter of Education

Becoming Mobius

Education is in need of a revolution. Immorality and deception. Arrogance and greed. Misconceptions and misguidance. We have allowed powerful institutions to manipulate the fear of parents and teachers to the extent that neither can see how to proceed without being told what to think. This book explores how the so-called accountability and quality systems in our country - Ofsted and exams - have been used to straightjacket teachers into compliance.

We Are at the Time I Write This, in Need of a Revolution in Education - This Is a Strong Statement and I Don't Use It Lightly: Notes from the Front Line

Teaching

Hywel Roberts

Hywel Roberts and Debra Kidd's Uncharted Territories: Adventures in learning is a book of prompts, provocations and possibilities designed to nourish creativity and generate ideas that will get teachers and pupils excited about learning. In this time of high-stakes testing, growing mental health issues among young people and increasing pressure on teachers to focus on rote repetition and practice papers, we have to step back and ask: "What is the purpose of education?" If you think it is to get children through tests, then this book is probably not for you. If, however, you think it is to develop wisdom in children - the capacity to think, to apply knowledge, to empathise, to weigh up evidence, to consider consequences and to make informed choices - then this book is most definitely for you. Rooted in practice and grounded in research, Uncharted Territories invites a reassessment of what curriculum coverage can look like and provides an abundance of hooks into exploratory learning that place learners - of whatever age - knee-deep in dilemma, so that they are thinking deeply, analytically and imaginatively. These are not knowledge organisers or schemes of work; rather they are inspirational forays into imagined contexts for learning which, as fantastical as they may appear, always have the real world as their destination. Signposted by story starters and inductive questions - not to mention the beautiful illustrations which are sure to fire children's imaginations - Hywel and Debra's innovative routes to learning will help teachers stray from the beaten track of the curriculum and instil in learners a sense of purpose as they discover, manipulate and apply knowledge and skills across a range of collaborative, cross-curricular problem-solving contexts. Each chapter focuses on a different place - such as a remote castle or a mysterious cave, where the learning will be applied and challenged - and is packed with starting points and "what ifs ...?" to establish rich landscapes for exploration and a wide range of opportunities for discussion and writing. To help map out the territory ahead, Hywel and Debra guide the teacher around the key learning landmarks linked to each context's overarching concepts and lines of inquiry, and point out the many different curriculum areas to which the explorations naturally lend themselves to. The authors go further by offering transferable ideas which can be adjusted to work with whatever age group, as well as a variety of context-based tasks to enable the teacher to explore how elements of, for example, literacy and/or numeracy could be incorporated in order to save curriculum time. While Uncharted Territories is a rallying call to arms for the imagination, in each of its chapters Hywel and Debra also delve into the why in order to present the teacher with a comprehensive debrief of the learning processes and the theoretical and academic underpinning. Furthermore, the authors provide a helpful listing of drama techniques and relevant books and poems that can be incorporated into the learning journeys, as well as useful advice on how to assess and evidence their outcomes. Designed for use with learners of all ages, from early years to secondary.

Adventures In Learning

Uncharted Territories

Our current education system is overloaded with amendments, additions and adjustments which have been designed to keep an outdated model in the air. But it is crashing. And as it comes down, we see the battle of blame begin. It is time to take our vocation back, to learn to trust ourselves and each other and, crucially, to take control of the direction of education and policy. We have allowed powerful institutions to manipulate the fear of parents and teachers to the extent that neither can see how to proceed without being told what to think. Covering education policy, PISA testing, Ofsted, exams, pedagogy and much more, this book explores how the so-called accountability and quality systems in our country have been used to straightjacket teachers into compliance, even when flying in the face of emerging knowledge and understanding about learning. This is a narrative of hope. Of how the system could be different. It offers tales from within the classroom of learning in spite, but without spite. Of hope, of laughter, of gentle subversion. This is a call to arms in a pedagogical revolution. Will you answer it?

Teaching: Notes From the Front Line

David Jackson

Guy Claxton

Ross Morrison McGill

Mark Stevenson

Henry Stewart

Mick Waters

David Price

John Rees

Claudia Barwell

Madeleine Holt

Jim Knight

Neil Roskilly

Valerie Hannon

Liz Robinson

Too often, we think of school as a fixed-rail path we all have to follow: teachers teach, students learn, exams are taken, futures set. That's how it's been since the introduction of compulsory schooling in the 19th century. But parents, teachers and corporations around the world are now voicing their dissatisfaction with education systems that are no longer fit for purpose. Too many of our young people are not being adequately prepared for the unprecedented challenges they will face in a world that is changing as rapidly as ours is. We should be preparing them for the test of life, not a life of tests. A group of distinctive voices – working in education and beyond – has produced a collection of essays that presents a call to action, a positive way forward, and a programme of change. Education Forward challenges us all to find another story for the future of schools.

Moving Schools into the Future

Education Forward

Debra Kidd

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