Anseo.net Newsletter #9

The Press Release people in the Department of Education were busy writing to every local paper in the country as each one congratulated their local TD on securing funding for ICT for their school. They all followed the same format unless the TD was asked for a quote and it was funny to see how they hadn’t a clue how it worked with some of them urging schools to apply for it.

More gifts to the Vatican were announced as €800m is being used to fund 90 school building projects. I’ll find out how much of that is being handed over to the State in Rome. 

There are calls for schools to teach students in secondary school about the Mother and Baby Homes. It might raise questions about what parts of history we don’t teach in Ireland. 

Across the Irish Sea, the UK education systems seems to be falling apart as teachers across the country are finding schools are becoming so violent that they are becoming unsafe.

The Guardian asks whether apps that condense non-fiction books into 15 minute reads are damaging critical thinking.

If you think things are bad over here, this podcast from NPR talks about the teacher shortage in the US. After reading all that, you might need a “brain break” so here are 10 ideas for your classroom!

Here are some X posts I enjoyed over the last couple of weeks:

• Thoughts on why teaching is not as respected as is once was (via @conorsmurf)
• When Optimism turns to Toxic Positivity (via @Mark_J_Henry)
• Simon Harris’s Appointment from a Teacher Lens (via @NaAmadan)
• A PQ on why the grant for the summer programme was halved (via @CatrionaGolden)
• Why those fighting for equality should remain worried (via @Editorialz)
• Not educational but it reminds me of when teachers speak to the class about an obviously unacceptable thing and their email inbox the next day (via @CathalCroweTD)