EdBlogs

A few weeks ago I wrote about the need for school leaders to be appropriately critical of educational and management gurus. One such guru is John Kotter, whose name is often found on lists of the world's leading management thinkers. But Kotter's influence is not just limited to business – last month, leading educationalist Andy ...

What are they? Up until 2016, all students and schools were measured on how many good GCSE's they achieved at A*- C, including English and mathematics. In October 2013, the government announced that a new secondary school accountability system would be implemented from 2016. It included two new headline measures, Attainment...

What is it? Growth mindset is Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck's theory that learners need to move away from the belief that skills are innate and unchanging – a "fixed mindset". Instead, the thinking goes, students must move towards a "growth mindset", where they believe their capabilities and skills can be developed through effort and...

I recently joined and met with School and University Research Enquiry (SURE), a research group which has connected several schools in Glasgow with the University of Strathclyde to exchange knowledge and conduct new research. The aim is to promote a more evidence-informed approach to educational decision-making and practice. With this in mind, I tho...

​School governance has changed in recent years. Gone are the days of light-touch oversight with a good dose of jolliness; governing boards are now expected to be more business-like rigorous, ensuring that the school fulfils their duty to their students and their budget. Never, then, has it been more important for school leaders and g...