British teenagers have lower IQs than 30 years ago, reversing the ‘Flynn effect’, seeing scores rise in 20th century. Professor Flynn believes the drop is due to youth culture stagnating and dumbing down. Is a decline in speaking related? Children find face-to-face conversation ‘too much effort’, preferring to watch YouTube than meet friends or pursue... Continue Reading →
Professor Barnaby Lenon, Dean of Education, looks at the impact of class sizes. Class sizes in the UK are quite large – an average of 25 at primary schools compared to an OECD average of 21. There are mixed opinions amongst researchers about the merits of smaller class sizes. PISA research suggested that small class... Continue Reading →
Current educational headlines and social media posts talk of a crisis in teacher recruitment. Who will join a profession that seems to be haemorrhaging qualified educators every term? But what’s the real story? There must be a reason why people don’t feel attracted to our challenging but utterly rewarding profession. So what makes some wonderful... Continue Reading →
Professor Barnaby Lenon shares his thoughts on becoming a teacher.
Back in 2002 the School of Education trained its first cohort of teachers. There were just 12 on the course. Sam Draper talks to one of those teachers - Judy Gracie, on going the distance and carving out a career in education. In this incredibly demanding profession, with its pressures to rise up the ladder... Continue Reading →
The chance for schools in this funding crippled profession to offer 20 places for training must have seemed like a dream. We ask a few of the successful candidates to reflect on what they gained from the experience and how it impacted on their teaching lives. So what has happened to our cohort? What has... Continue Reading →
Six months into training, the 2018 University of Buckingham PGCE cohort reflect on the good, the bad and the downright terrible days! We want to say thank you for sharing, and give yourselves a break, the best teachers are those that are always learning. https://youtu.be/9UkTXfSREp4
Sam Draper talks to School of Education tutors to find out if they are seeing new trends in the schools they visit. Education has long been a female dominated profession, but suffered from the classical gender pay-gap and glass ceiling to leadership. In the current climate, with the DfE and Ofsted showing awareness of well-being,... Continue Reading →
Just in time for Christmas, University of Buckingham PGCE trainees reveal the books that have helped them through the first term. Paul Dix (2017). When the Adults Change, Everything Changes: Seismic Shifts in School Behaviour. Camarthen Independent Thinking Press. Reviewed by Leah Joseph, PGCE trainee Dix’s writing focuses on fostering a new culture at school which... Continue Reading →
