I hope you had a good St. Patrick’s Weekend. I’m delighted to release a second free online course and this time it comes with a follow along video. Scroll down to access it.
I send a newsletter every two weeks, and I know you won’t agree with everything I write, but I hope you’ll agree there’s something for you each fortnight.
In this newsletter:
📺 In the Media
🎙 Who Will Own the Solar Panels?
💭 Education Stories over the last few weeks
🧵 Some threads
🤖 My Second Free Course
Please pass on this newsletter to your friends and please encourage them to subscribe so it comes to their inbox every 2 weeks.
Latest Podcast Episode
On this week’s show, I’ll be talking about solar panels and schools, but maybe not from the angle you might be expecting. This episode is all about cognitive dissonance.
After years and years of sporadically trying, I finally got a letter published in the Irish Times. Unsurprisingly it’s about the role of religion in schools but it’s more about how we don’t see the role of religion in schools while judging a country that does.
I was also briefly on RTE Drivetime talking about a headteacher removing mirrors in his school because the kids were spending too much time in the bathroom. Is there a thing in the UK where principals are competing to be the must inhumane to their students? (Interview from around 26:30)
A survey of over 21,000 parents revealed that seven in ten of them think Covid education shutdowns hampered child’s social development. By “complete” coincidence, a study in Mary Immaculate College revealed that children were less ‘ready’ to start school and have more emotional problems since pandemic, according to surveys from Junior Infant teachers.
Could it be the pandemic made kids’ less developed or is there something else? In the UK, could the reason lie in the fact that schools are now expected to supervise the brushing of children’s teeth? Perhaps Denmark’s banning of phones in schools is where we’ll find the reason? South African schools are simply going to take it on themselves.
Meanwhile, RTE shocked everyone by revealing there are some schools where enrollments are so low, there are more staff then pupils. Emma O’Kelly explored why very small schools don’t close down. However, it’s not just small schools at risk of closing. Because of chronic underfunding, a school has said it will close soon if they don’t receive emergency funding.
You can read all the stories I found interesting here!
Given how “threadful” X has become, I’ve decided to focus on anything I can find on social media that might be of interest. Some of them I’ve found and some of them I’ve made. Let me know what you think.
- Trina Golden is no longer on X but she is still helping out online. Summer Programme padlet (Instagram)
- Muinteoir Chukwurah shares a quote that resonates for any minority in the education system (Instagram)
- If other jobs were like teaching (X)
- School admissions according to Foil, Arms and Hog (Instagram)
- The five most dangerous foods in the world (X)
Do you remember the card game, Top Trumps? I used to love it. When I was young, I used to make my own sets of cards using cereal box cardboard….
To access the course, all you need to do is click the button below. There’s no sign in, passwords or anything like that. It’s all yours to share with whoever you like. Now, wasn’t it worth sifting through my mad thoughts on the education system?
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