197: Innovation School with David Miller
David Miller is Director of the Innovation School at Kelvinside Academy. David has had a long career in education and in 2008 was the recipient of the Guardian Award for UK Teacher of the Year. In the same year, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and made a National Teaching Fellow of the UK Teaching Awards.
Since 2008, David has been a consultant with BBC Learning and a Judge for the UK Teaching Awards, the Scottish Education Awards, for the Institute of Ideas – Debating Matters. David is a Visiting Fellow on the Masters in Teaching and Learning for Edgehill University, and a Visiting Tutor to postgraduate students of Glasgow University’s Faculty of Education.
David has been a Lead Researcher on an EU Lifelong Learning Programme looking at Digital Storytelling and the use of emerging technologies in the English Classroom.
In 2012, David was head-hunted to act as Chief Learning Architect for a Kuato Studios, building educational games that utilised next generation Artificial Intelligence. The games went on to win a number of international accolades, including a special mention at President Obama’s final Science Fair in 2016.
In, 2018, David became Director of the Innovation School at Kelvinside – a unique partnership with NuVu in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Questions asked on the Learning on Fire Podcast Interview
1. Who are you?
2. What does your life look like now and how is it different from when you were growing up?
3. What was valuable about your school experience?
4. Which teachers do you remember and why?
5. Who did you admire when you were young?
6. What was it about that person that had such an impact?
7. What was the best piece of advice you have ever been given and who gave it to you?
8. What advice would you give your younger self?
9. What does your future look like?
10. What podcast, book, video, film, song or other resource has had the biggest impact on your life and why?
Website
https://www.kelvinside.org/innovation-school
Social media information
Twitter: @davidmiller_uk
Resources mentioned
196: Broad and balanced curriculum Q&A with Dr. Tony Eaude
Towards a balanced and broadly-based curriculum was the theme of the National Association for Primary Education conference in March 2021. The keynote lecture was given by Dr. Tony Eaude.
This is a follow up Q&A that I hosted and taken from a subsequent Facebook live event. NAPE has been a long term supporter of the Education on Fire podcast and I have been involved with the association for over 5 years, the last 18 months as vice chair. I thought this discussion was very insightful and wanted to give you the opportunity to hear it.
The original full lecture can be found on the NAPE YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/YI_tiHvKxOk
Tony suggested four main arguments for a balanced and broadly-based primary curriculum:
- that the law states that schools must offer this (as it does) and that Ofsted expect this (at least from 7 years old);
- one based on how children create coherent, robust and flexible identities, enhancing their well-being and founded on a sense of agency;
- one based on a conception of democratic citizenship in which children are increasingly enabled to deal with complex ideas right from the start; and
- a social justice one that such a curriculum will open up opportunities from which many children, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, will otherwise be excluded.
Questions & comments from conference delegates
Retired Headteacher
- Dr Eaude’s argument for a balanced and broadly based curriculum is compelling. Moving forwards, is it possible for schools to work with the current National Curriculum Framework to achieve this?
- Do Academies, rather than Local Authority schools, have the most potential and freedom to develop such curriculum experiences?
- Where (in England) is curriculum innovation to be found at present?
- What is the National Association of Primary Education’s role in this argument?
As a student in my final year of an undergraduate course, I am currently working on an assignment about my own educational philosophy which very much aligns with Dr. Eaude’s Schiller speech. Embarking into my NQT year in September I know the best way to change this is starting in my own classroom. However big questions arise with that:
- What can I do beyond that? If there is not enough support or like-minded colleagues,
- How can I reach out to ensure this way of teaching the curriculum is opened up on to all the children in the community?
- Where can I find more support?
For more information about Dr. Tony Eaude please visit his website https://edperspectives.org.uk/
More information about NAPE is available at https://nape.org.uk/
To find out more about Christian Schiller HMI please click on the link below
https://nape.org.uk/publications
The Schiller Book, published by NAPE, ‘In His Own Words’, can be purchased for only £5.
The full lecture can be found on the NAPE YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/YI_tiHvKxOk
195: Sharpen the new platform for smart note taking
Aidan Whytock is the founder of Sharpen, the new platform for smart note taking. A successful actor and entrepreneur, Aidan has drawn on his background to design a tool specifically for the education sector to provide a revolutionary new way to access and apply learning.
Sharpen fills a real gap in the education landscape for more efficient online collaboration between learners, teachers, and peers. By combining real-time communication with lesson notes that can be recalled and revisited instantly, Sharpen facilitates better, more collaborative peer to peer revision in a personalised and interactive way that effectively takes the user back in time.
Drawing on the proven methodology that learners remember more when multiple senses are stimulated, Sharpen replicates this within the platform, empowering learners to create smart notes to remember more and perform better.
Website
Social Media Information
https://www.facebook.com/sharpennotes
Show Sponsor
Xientifica SOS, written by Daniel Phelps, is a unique children’s adventure for young people aged 8-12–adult. It’s ‘Where science meets adventure’. It’s not a science book, it is a children’s adventure novel which has science in it.’
Xientifica SOS provides a perfect platform for discussions and encourages children to ask questions, so is not only ideal for lone-reading or as a class book, but perfect for home schooling too.
Xientifica SOS can be bought on Amazon and is available on Kindle or in paperback
Go to Amazon – or to find out more (and listen to extracts from the book) – go to Xientifica.com (with an X)…X I E N T I F I C A
Homepage: https://xientifica.com/
Twitter @xientifica
Show Sponsor
The National Association for Primary Education speaks for young children and all who live and work with them. Get a FREE e-copy of their professional journal at nape.org.uk/journal
nTUPXxrfYcbOlaWxEKtn
194: Montessori Centre International with Maccs Pescatore
Maccs Pescatore is the CEO of Montessori Centre International (MCI), a leading provider of, and facilitator in the provision of Montessori training and education in the UK and around the world. It provides the sector’s marker of quality assurance through its Standards & Training Accreditation Review (STAR) framework. Resources are made available to parents and carers through its online hub, the Montessori Network.
MCI is part of The Montessori Group, a central hub for Montessori philosophy in the UK.
The Montessori Group also includes Montessori St Nicholas, which carries out social impact programmes and initiatives. In 2020, the charity partnered with Leeds Beckett University to create the International Montessori Institute.
Maccs trained as a Chartered Accountant with Coopers & Lybrand before moving into industry. She spent 13 years with Tate & Lyle Plc and ASR Group in the FMCG sector where she held a variety of senior finance positions in divisions in the UK and Europe.
In recent years, working alongside commercial and operational colleagues, she has combined her passion for business with her affinity for working in changing environments, being instrumental in turning around underperforming businesses, repositioning and moving organisation into new markets.
https://www.montessoritraining.org.uk/
Social Media Information
Twitter: @Maccs_Pesc
www.linkedin.com/in/maccspescatore/
£50,000 for the first year of a scholarship supporting Leeds Beckett Montessori degree students
The International Montessori Institute, a centre within the Carnegie School of Education at Leeds Beckett University (LBU), has launched a scholarship programme to support the next generation of Montessori educators. The Institute was established in August 2020 and will provide the UK’s first dedicated undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Montessori education.
Funded by the Montessori Group, the first scholarships of £2,000 each will be awarded to 25 students who are studying on the BA (Hons) Primary Education Accelerated Degree (Montessori) in the 2021/22 academic year. The relationship between the Carnegie School of Education and the Montessori Group means that further scholarships will be awarded in the future years of the partnership.
This scholarship will be first awarded in the next academic year, with applicants to LBU able to apply for the scholarship as part of their application to the university.
Leonor Stjepic, Chief Executive Officer of the Montessori Group said: “We are so pleased that the Montessori St Nicholas charity is able to support new teachers in this way. We hope that this funding will broaden access to higher education study for a significant number of students and in doing so, enhance the experiences of the children who will be guided and supported by the next generation of high-quality teachers. The experiences of trainees as they prepare to work in the education sector can be greatly affected by financial constraints; we want to ensure that students taking the Montessori pathway will have the best possible start to their experience with the International Montessori Institute.”
The Montessori model of education is unique in encouraging young children to learn through curiosity with an emphasis on individual progress and giving children opportunities to engage with the learning environment.
Centre Director of the International Montessori Institute, James Archer said: “We are delighted that these scholarships will be available to support people as they study the Montessori Method at degree level. Education for opportunity, social inclusion and reconstruction is one of the four key strands of our work and we are therefore thrilled to offer these unique scholarships. The opportunities provided by these scholarships will be truly transformational to people choosing to come and study at the International Montessori Institute, and in turn they will help to transform the lives of the children they work with through their careers.
“The BA (Hons) Education (Accelerated Degree) Montessori, gives students the opportunity to gain a full BA degree focussed on the Montessori philosophy of education. The programme prepares students for a fulfilling career working with children across primary and early years phases drawing on the Montessori method.”
Applications are now open for BA (Hons) Primary Education Accelerated Degree (Montessori) for the 2021/22 academic year. To find more about the programme and to apply please visit: https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/courses/primary-education-accelerated-degree-montessori-ba/
Show Sponsor
Xientifica SOS, written by Daniel Phelps, is a unique children’s adventure for young people aged 8-12–adult. It’s ‘Where science meets adventure’. It’s not a science book, it is a children’s adventure novel which has science in it.’
Xientifica SOS provides a perfect platform for discussions and encourages children to ask questions, so is not only ideal for lone-reading or as a class book, but perfect for home schooling too.
Xientifica SOS can be bought on Amazon and is available on Kindle or in paperback
Go to Amazon – or to find out more (and listen to extracts from the book) – go to Xientifica.com (with an X)…X I E N T I F I C A
Homepage: https://xientifica.com/
Twitter @xientifica
Show Sponsor
The National Association for Primary Education speaks for young children and all who live and work with them. Get a FREE e-copy of their professional journal at nape.org.uk/journal
193: Organization for Social Media Safety
After a long career in business, Ed Peisner founded the Organization for Social Media Safety in 2016 after his teenage son Jordan was viciously assaulted in West Hills, CA.
The attack was filmed and uploaded to social media by an associate of the attacker. The video went viral, viewed by millions, and Jordan was left with serious and life-long injuries from the assault. Ed decided to dedicate himself to the goal of ensuring that no other family had to endure such a terrible ordeal.
Now, Ed travels the country as the National Education Director for the Organization for Social Media Safety teaching thousands of students, parents, and educators how to stay safe on social media.
Marc Berkman serves as the CEO of the Organization for Social Media Safety (OFSMS) where he has grown OFSMS into a prominent national consumer protection organization that has taught social media safety skills to thousands of students, parents, and educators across the country and developed essential social media safety legislation like Jordan’s Law, the nation’s first law to deter social media-motivated violence.
Previously, Marc served for over a decade as a senior advisor to members of Congress and the California State Assembly. During his time as a legislative aide, he developed and helped pass into law numerous legislative initiatives to protect vulnerable children and families.
Marc received his JD from Columbia Law School and his BA from UC Berkeley.
He lives with his wife and two children in Los Angeles, CA.
Website
Social Media Information
https://www.facebook.com/ofsms
https://www.instagram.com/org4socialmediasafety/
Show Sponsor
Xientifica SOS, written by Daniel Phelps, is a unique children’s adventure for young people aged 8-12–adult. It’s ‘Where science meets adventure’. It’s not a science book, it is a children’s adventure novel which has science in it.’
Xientifica SOS provides a perfect platform for discussions and encourages children to ask questions, so is not only ideal for lone-reading or as a class book, but perfect for home schooling too.
Xientifica SOS can be bought on Amazon and is available on Kindle or in paperback
Go to Amazon – or to find out more (and listen to extracts from the book) – go to Xientifica.com (with an X)…X I E N T I F I C A
Homepage: https://xientifica.com/
Twitter @xientifica
Show Sponsor
The National Association for Primary Education speaks for young children and all who live and work with them. Get a FREE e-copy of their professional journal at nape.org.uk/journal