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simontombs.bsky.social
@simontombs.bsky.social
62 followers 170 following 1 posts
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barbarableiman.bsky.social
I did this lecture in 2019. Much of what I say here remains v relevant imo. It helps explain what's been going wrong in subject English & the impact of a supposed emphasis on knowledge that has overemphasised memorisation, info 'about' texts', direct instruction, vocab, a 'novice' view of students.
barbarableiman.bsky.social Barbara Bleiman @barbarableiman.bsky.social · Apr 6
In 2019 I did a lecture for @natecommunity.bsky.social Conference on 'the big picture' in curriculum & learning in English. I was reminded of it, seeing an excellent post by @marymyatt.bsky.social this am – one of many she's doing that I strongly agree with. www.englishandmedia.co.uk/blog/big-pic...
Big Picture English - Beyond the Brushstrokes
Full transcript, with slides, of the 2019 Harold Rosen address at the annual NATE conference, delivered by EMC's Barbara Bleiman
www.englishandmedia.co.uk
October 2, 2026 at 6:53 AM
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suecowley.bsky.social
The thing I find interesting about the 'maximise participation' and 'transfer knowledge' narrative is that you can't force people to think. You can get them to copy you but that's not thinking.

You don't have any choice but to encourage, inspire, motivate. All words that seem to have gone awol atm.
September 22, 2026 at 7:02 PM
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suecowley.bsky.social
It's not just about the importance of movement and action for learners. There's some fascinating research showing how the way in which teachers communicate *physically* has a direct effect on cognition. Learning is so much more than just getting learners to shift information into their memories.
September 18, 2026 at 6:33 AM
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suecowley.bsky.social
Sometimes it's about looking at the etymology of a word so that you fit it into the way you think about a concept. Sometimes it's about getting hands on to properly understand how something works. If we flatten learning into simply memory we miss the personal aspects of it where the interest lies.
September 12, 2026 at 7:23 PM
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suecowley.bsky.social
This is an important question: "how is it possible that children can learn something without explicit instruction?".

As the article basically says, "biologically primary" is made up and imo aims to lend support to a particular pedagogy. See the 🧵 below for reasons why.
www.tes.com/magazine/tea...
Why cognitive load may be less important than you think
The idea that our brains can only process so much information at once has become central to evidence-informed teaching, but cognitive load theory should only ever be a ‘rule of thumb’, says Christian ...
www.tes.com
August 26, 2026 at 6:29 AM
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suecowley.bsky.social
As @theniceman.bsky.social says here "You do not teach someone how to make an omelette by chopping up a cold dead omelette and asking them to reassemble it." But that's the framing of learning which we have atm.
whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2026/02/sphe...
Spherical Children in a Vacuum.
I do like the adage that, "There's nothing so practical as a good theory." In CPD, an insightful understanding that equips you to plan and ...
whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com
August 21, 2026 at 7:05 AM
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andreamann.bsky.social
"By writing, you are literally firing up your brain and therefore stirring up your conscious thoughts and something new emerges. You are not, or at least not always, transcribing something already present in your conscious thoughts.“

LOVE this piece. www.historians.org/perspectives...
How Writing Leads to Thinking (and Not the Other Way Around) – AHA
Writing is stressful. Sitting in my computer chair my neck and shoulder muscles almost immediately tense up as I dig around in my brain for the best phrase or even any coherent string of words.
www.historians.org
August 19, 2026 at 11:04 AM
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cmooreanderson.eurosky.social
NEW POST ↓↓↓

● Teaching with the wrong ends of the constructivist stick

christianmooreanderson.com/teaching-wit...
Figure 1. A representation of "Say it how it is": students obtain information about the world as it is, and their meanings are the result. Figure 2. A representation of "It is how you say it": students construct their meanings, and the world is the result.
August 11, 2026 at 1:16 PM
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suecowley.bsky.social
I'm currently working on a book about thinking and I'm coming to the conclusion that the split in educational philosophies is about whether you see learning as neat (transfer of knowledge intact from brain to brain) or as messy (in the body as well as the brain, partly unmanageable process). 🧵 1/3
August 12, 2026 at 5:50 AM
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covingtonedu.bsky.social
"The concern is...epistemic centralisation. That arises when a narrowed and selective translation of the science of learning becomes a comprehensive account of learning. It can then become the benchmark by which other educational knowledge is authorised, marginalised or dismissed."
The science of learning is not the same as learning sciences – and neither explains the whole of teacher professional knowledge
**This is a modest attempt to clarify several frequently conflated fields, identify what current policy framings leave out, and contribute to an ongoing conversation. In yesterday’s AARE blog, as a re...
blog.aare.edu.au
August 7, 2026 at 6:11 AM
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thedissenteryt.bsky.social
New episode (1274), with Dr. Julian Kiverstein. We talk about 4E cognition, phenomenology, culture, and #Science. #Psychology #CognitiveScience #Philosophy

YouTube: youtu.be/KJjXHwMPFyQ
Podcast: bit.ly/4paCJLZ
#1274 Julian Kiverstein: 4E Cognition, Phenomenology, Culture, and Science
YouTube video by The Dissenter
youtu.be
July 2, 2026 at 6:01 PM
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wiringthebrain.bsky.social
The Brain is a Semantic Engine youtu.be/0dK009atOsM - a recent, 25-minute talk (with Henry Potter) at the Beyond Neurocomputationalism workshop
The Brain is a Semantic Engine. Kevin Mitchell (with Henry Potter).
YouTube video by Kevin Mitchell
youtu.be
June 26, 2026 at 7:29 AM
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cmooreanderson.eurosky.social
New post!

● Direct Instruction’s Limits:
⇒ A Nuanced Look at Engelmann’s Ideas

#EduSky #UKEd

christianmooreanderson.com/direct-instr...
The mind as seen by a behavourist. A stimulus is an input, the response is the behaviour. What happens in between isn't important. An adaptation of von Foerster's non-trivial system. He showed how systems can be perfectly fine, yet completely unpredictable as a counter to behaviourism. The following text is from the linked blog post: in von Foerster’s diagram, the person’s intent depends on more than just their perception; it also depends on the meanings they’ve already made. At the same time, the way they actively make sense of the situation draws on those very same meanings. Meanings, then, are central to the model and point to a key distinction. Engelmann argued that students were logic machines; thinking perfectly logically with the logical environment. In this model (and that of enactive cognitive science and variation theory), students think perfectly rationally with the meanings they’ve made. The most interesting bit comes next: notice how the sense-making actively updates the meanings people hold. According to the model, then, when our students perceive something and act in response, we may then think, “hey, they learnt it, they should now respond in the same way if I give them the same stimulus”. This was Engelmann’s idea. But every time the student perceives something, their meanings are updated in some way. The next time we ask them the same question, we may get something different, something we didn’t expect. On the outside, there’s another loop to consider. As students act, they perceive new things. For example, as they answer a question, they perceive our response to them: our body language, our words and tone. They also perceive their classmate’s responses. They make sense of this and continually update their meanings.
May 23, 2026 at 5:45 AM
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cmooreanderson.eurosky.social
In Teaching Meaning, Christian Moore-Anderson gets to the heart of how well-designed teaching can transform student learning. Writing with his distinctive perspective, he shows how many rules of thumb in teaching are half-truths. Greater clarity in our own thinking as teachers, along with a better understanding of what is needed in the minds of students if they are to learn, can make teaching much more effective. Dr. Michael Reiss Professor of Science Education, University of London
May 18, 2026 at 5:20 PM
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cmooreanderson.eurosky.social
Really like this post by @rodjnaquin.bsky.social
Shame he's not around here at the moment:

"Thinking like Socrates in the classroom"

rodjnaquin.substack.com/p/thinking-l...
Thinking like Socrates in the classroom
Question your assumptions, think out loud with others, stay open to being wrong, and embrace the discomfort of inquiry.
rodjnaquin.substack.com
May 14, 2026 at 10:17 AM
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wiringthebrain.bsky.social
My talk tomorrow (May 13th at 5PM Irish time) is on:

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Based (mostly) on this paper: philosophymindscience.org/index.php/ph...
The origins of meaning: From pragmatic control signals to semantic representations | Philosophy and the Mind Sciences
Philosophy and the Mind Sciences (PhiMiSci) focuses on the interface between philosophy of mind, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. PhiMiSci is a peer-reviewed, not-for-profit open-access journal...
philosophymindscience.org
May 12, 2026 at 10:05 AM
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barbarableiman.bsky.social
This is a really awful account of what English currently looks like in some schools - imposed on teachers who feel anxious & demoralised by being required to do things they feel are against the grain of the subject & harmful to their students' development. How common is this? EMC would like to know.
May 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM
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cmooreanderson.eurosky.social
The paperback has finally been published!

If Cognitive Load Theory tells us how to avoid overwhelming students, what comes next? Perfectly clear explanations don't guarantee deep understanding.

Teaching Meaning, explores what works when telling isn't enough.

mybook.to/teachingmean...
The cover of the book Teaching Meaning: What Works When Telling Isn't Enough
May 7, 2026 at 5:25 AM
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mrbates.bsky.social
Christian is one of the only teachers who is providing a totally different way of thinking about teaching.

It is a much needed alternative perspective that focuses on the meaning making that happens between the individuals in the classroom and the teacher.

I am very grateful for his voice.
cmooreanderson.eurosky.social Christian Moore-Anderson @cmooreanderson.eurosky.social · Apr 21
Release day! The ebook & hardback are live.

The first book for teachers based on *enactive* cognitive science, please consider leaving a review when you're done (it really helps).

(Paperback readers: Amazon is having a glitch, so it's slightly delayed.)

mybook.to/teachingmean...
The book cover for Teaching Meaning: What Works When Telling Isn't Enough.
April 21, 2026 at 6:37 PM
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wiringthebrain.bsky.social
I've written about this Systems module here: www.wiringthebrain.com/2023/05/refl...
Reflections on “Systems – the Science of Everything”
Did you ever get the feeling, when you’re working on some problem (scientific or otherwise), that there are some basic principles at play th...
www.wiringthebrain.com
March 18, 2026 at 11:47 AM
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cmooreanderson.eurosky.social
Nice post.
I argue in Teaching Meaning that examples & nonexamples are also limited for communication.
Engelman's ideas came about during behaviourism & early cognitivism; this translates this post: he acts for fluent routine, but has nothing on meaning.
profbeckyallen.substack.com/p/engelmann-...
Engelmann Last
Why the hardest problems in education come before instruction begins
profbeckyallen.substack.com
March 14, 2026 at 4:19 PM
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cmooreanderson.eurosky.social
This podcast episode with @rethinkingjames.bsky.social and @rupertwegerif.bsky.social is fantastic.

"Education as expanding dialogue"

soundcloud.com/rethinking-e...

#EduSky #UKEd
Education as expanding dialogue – Rethinking learning with Professor Rupert Wegerif
“It’s not about teacher-centred or student-centred. I would argue it’s dialogue-centred.” In this episode of the Rethinking Education podcast, Dr James Mannion and The Read David Cameron explore these
soundcloud.com
March 9, 2026 at 6:07 PM
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barbarableiman.bsky.social
What a heart-warming, inspiring blog by Andrew McCallum, describing a superb lesson by English teacher Maddie Lynes! It reinforces the view that drama activities do not just create engagement & pleasure but are a highly effective way of embedding learning.
www.englishandmedia.co.uk/blog/drama-i...
Drama in English: what embodied learning looks like
Revising for GCSE using drama strategies
www.englishandmedia.co.uk
March 9, 2026 at 11:25 AM
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cmooreanderson.eurosky.social
Fantastic read for a Saturday morning:
by @bernardandrews.bsky.social

substack.com/inbox/post/1...
Efficiency is an educational vice
How ‘efficiency’ derailed education
substack.com
March 7, 2026 at 6:38 AM
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diovicen.bsky.social
@tonychemero.bsky.social and I have written a short James Gibson's bio for The Palgrave Encyclopaedia for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology. Check it out! ⬇️
doi.org/10.1007/978-...
James J. Gibson (1904–1979)
In this entry, we detail the academic journey of J. J. Gibson through his career as a perceptual psychologist. We make special emphasis on direct perception and the theory of affordances.
doi.org
March 3, 2026 at 5:41 PM