Deb Niven
@debniven.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer English in Education and EdD researcher at Sheffield Hallam.
Reposted by Deb Niven
We're so sorry to hear of the death of Aidan Chambers. Not only did he write wonderful YA novels, he also gave us one of the great books on reading with young people - Tell Me: Children Reading + Talk uk.bookshop.org/p/books/tell...
Tell Me (children, Reading & Talk) with the Reading Environment a book by Aidan Chambers.
This product has no description
uk.bookshop.org
May 13, 2025 at 6:55 AM
We're so sorry to hear of the death of Aidan Chambers. Not only did he write wonderful YA novels, he also gave us one of the great books on reading with young people - Tell Me: Children Reading + Talk uk.bookshop.org/p/books/tell...
Reposted by Deb Niven
This from on Oracy and 4 interconnected aspects. Many thanks to Oracy Cambridge & James Mannion for suggesting that I write a guest blog! oracycambridge.org/oracy-four-i...
Oracy: Four Interconnected Aspects - ORACY CAMBRIDGE
A guest post by Barbara Bleiman Learning to talk, learning through talk There has been lots of debate in recent months about oracy and what it is. There are many…
oracycambridge.org
September 4, 2024 at 2:47 PM
This from on Oracy and 4 interconnected aspects. Many thanks to Oracy Cambridge & James Mannion for suggesting that I write a guest blog! oracycambridge.org/oracy-four-i...
Reposted by Deb Niven
A quick reverie about #Botheredness
www.independentthinking.co.uk/resources/si...
Please share (if you like it)😃
www.independentthinking.co.uk/resources/si...
Please share (if you like it)😃
Six Quick Things on Botheredness | Independent Thinking
To bring the curriculum to life to get engaged and motivated children takes 'botheredness'. Associate Hywel Robert explains more in our latest Six Quick Things
www.independentthinking.co.uk
January 18, 2025 at 10:42 AM
A quick reverie about #Botheredness
www.independentthinking.co.uk/resources/si...
Please share (if you like it)😃
www.independentthinking.co.uk/resources/si...
Please share (if you like it)😃
Reposted by Deb Niven
Fab interview with Teresa Cremin outlining key elements of reading and writing for pleasure pedagogy.
'You can be socially motivated as a reader or writer, and I think we underestimate that in school.'
www.tes.com/magazine/tea...
'You can be socially motivated as a reader or writer, and I think we underestimate that in school.'
www.tes.com/magazine/tea...
What works to get children reading for pleasure
Fewer children in England report that they enjoy reading, but what can be done to reverse the trend? Zofia Niemtus speaks to researcher Teresa Cremin to find out
www.tes.com
January 2, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Fab interview with Teresa Cremin outlining key elements of reading and writing for pleasure pedagogy.
'You can be socially motivated as a reader or writer, and I think we underestimate that in school.'
www.tes.com/magazine/tea...
'You can be socially motivated as a reader or writer, and I think we underestimate that in school.'
www.tes.com/magazine/tea...
Reposted by Deb Niven
Last year, lots of us were talking about #oracy. Here’s a quick retrospective:
Oracy isn’t new. A useful discussion of what oracy means and why it matters to children’s learning and personal development is here, via our ‘Speaking Volumes’ papers:
oracyeducationcommission.co.uk/wp-content/u...
Oracy isn’t new. A useful discussion of what oracy means and why it matters to children’s learning and personal development is here, via our ‘Speaking Volumes’ papers:
oracyeducationcommission.co.uk/wp-content/u...
January 10, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Last year, lots of us were talking about #oracy. Here’s a quick retrospective:
Oracy isn’t new. A useful discussion of what oracy means and why it matters to children’s learning and personal development is here, via our ‘Speaking Volumes’ papers:
oracyeducationcommission.co.uk/wp-content/u...
Oracy isn’t new. A useful discussion of what oracy means and why it matters to children’s learning and personal development is here, via our ‘Speaking Volumes’ papers:
oracyeducationcommission.co.uk/wp-content/u...
The wonderful Rhythmical Mike came to speak to our PGCE English cohort this morning. He performed his spoken word poetry and demonstrated a range of approaches to encourage and inspire young people to write poetry. Such a brilliant end to the term! #edusky #rhythmicalmike
December 20, 2024 at 5:56 PM
The wonderful Rhythmical Mike came to speak to our PGCE English cohort this morning. He performed his spoken word poetry and demonstrated a range of approaches to encourage and inspire young people to write poetry. Such a brilliant end to the term! #edusky #rhythmicalmike
Reposted by Deb Niven
'Reform GCSE English as a priority ... [including] re-balancing the focus on both written and spoken English with explicit teaching of, and recognition for, spoken language knowledge and skills': Pearson's submission to the ongoing Curriculum & Assessment Review: www.pearson.com/content/dam/...
December 9, 2024 at 4:00 PM
'Reform GCSE English as a priority ... [including] re-balancing the focus on both written and spoken English with explicit teaching of, and recognition for, spoken language knowledge and skills': Pearson's submission to the ongoing Curriculum & Assessment Review: www.pearson.com/content/dam/...
Reposted by Deb Niven
Not sure why, but tonight I looked back at a piece I wrote some 20 or more years ago - a tribute to English teachers. It's all a bit 'Dead Poets Society', I suppose, but also, perhaps, a reminder of why English as a subject matters. And why its teachers do. www.geoffbarton.co.uk/files/englis...
December 6, 2024 at 9:47 PM
Not sure why, but tonight I looked back at a piece I wrote some 20 or more years ago - a tribute to English teachers. It's all a bit 'Dead Poets Society', I suppose, but also, perhaps, a reminder of why English as a subject matters. And why its teachers do. www.geoffbarton.co.uk/files/englis...
So worrying to conceive of a future where arts and humanities education is limited to a privileged few who can afford to engage in learning for its own sake.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
The Guardian view on humanities in universities: closing English Literature courses signals a crisis
With degrees disappearing and reading rates plummeting, the arts face a critical moment in education and culture
www.theguardian.com
December 6, 2024 at 6:54 AM
So worrying to conceive of a future where arts and humanities education is limited to a privileged few who can afford to engage in learning for its own sake.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Reposted by Deb Niven
i have secured funding to run a summer school for secondary school teachers on language and social in/justice. it'll be over 3 days and involve teachers engaging with linguistic justice theory and applying this to practice. more details soon but feel free to express interest!💜
December 2, 2024 at 1:28 PM
i have secured funding to run a summer school for secondary school teachers on language and social in/justice. it'll be over 3 days and involve teachers engaging with linguistic justice theory and applying this to practice. more details soon but feel free to express interest!💜
Reposted by Deb Niven
📖 Litdrive CPD 📖
Macbeth: Enjoy this session entitled 'Macbeth and a question of agency' from David Alderson @MrAldersonTeach 🐝
Find it here: https://buff.ly/41RKbPX
#LitdriveCPD #TeamEnglish
Macbeth: Enjoy this session entitled 'Macbeth and a question of agency' from David Alderson @MrAldersonTeach 🐝
Find it here: https://buff.ly/41RKbPX
#LitdriveCPD #TeamEnglish
November 30, 2024 at 8:00 AM
📖 Litdrive CPD 📖
Macbeth: Enjoy this session entitled 'Macbeth and a question of agency' from David Alderson @MrAldersonTeach 🐝
Find it here: https://buff.ly/41RKbPX
#LitdriveCPD #TeamEnglish
Macbeth: Enjoy this session entitled 'Macbeth and a question of agency' from David Alderson @MrAldersonTeach 🐝
Find it here: https://buff.ly/41RKbPX
#LitdriveCPD #TeamEnglish
Reposted by Deb Niven
I felt I had to reply to Amanda Spielman on X & the article in The Times on text choices, the canon & relatability. Both offered simplistic, throwaway ideas about choices, showing lack of understanding both of contemporary literature & of what develops literary knowledge in young people.
November 28, 2024 at 9:13 AM
I felt I had to reply to Amanda Spielman on X & the article in The Times on text choices, the canon & relatability. Both offered simplistic, throwaway ideas about choices, showing lack of understanding both of contemporary literature & of what develops literary knowledge in young people.
Reposted by Deb Niven
Caution, tentativeness, sensitivity to context & judgement should have been built in by those heavily promoting their use. Suggesting that teachers misunderstood the original idea or weren't 'faithful' to it isn't fair. Here's me in 2017 on knowledge organisers! englishandmedia.co.uk/blog/an-agen...
An agenda for knowledge – organising without false limits
How do we decide what knowledge to teach – 'knowledge organisers' or 'agendas'?
englishandmedia.co.uk
November 27, 2024 at 1:23 PM
Caution, tentativeness, sensitivity to context & judgement should have been built in by those heavily promoting their use. Suggesting that teachers misunderstood the original idea or weren't 'faithful' to it isn't fair. Here's me in 2017 on knowledge organisers! englishandmedia.co.uk/blog/an-agen...
Reposted by Deb Niven
A lot is justified in the name of exam results. It’s okay to control every moment of a child’s day, if the school can show they get excellent exam results. It’s okay for parents to be complaining, and children to be protesting, if the school can show improving exam results. /1
November 24, 2024 at 12:38 PM
A lot is justified in the name of exam results. It’s okay to control every moment of a child’s day, if the school can show they get excellent exam results. It’s okay for parents to be complaining, and children to be protesting, if the school can show improving exam results. /1
Reposted by Deb Niven
A superbly, clear, analytical, and characteristically constructive submission to the #CurriculumandAssessment review from m'colls @ascl-uk.bsky.social. A particular hat-tip to @tommiddlehurst.bsky.social.
We really have to do something about #TheForgottenThird: www.ascl.org.uk/News/Our-new...
We really have to do something about #TheForgottenThird: www.ascl.org.uk/News/Our-new...
November 22, 2024 at 5:05 PM
A superbly, clear, analytical, and characteristically constructive submission to the #CurriculumandAssessment review from m'colls @ascl-uk.bsky.social. A particular hat-tip to @tommiddlehurst.bsky.social.
We really have to do something about #TheForgottenThird: www.ascl.org.uk/News/Our-new...
We really have to do something about #TheForgottenThird: www.ascl.org.uk/News/Our-new...
Reposted by Deb Niven
Wonderful vision for English teaching from one of the @engmediacentre.bsky.social Associate Teachers that we included in our column for the latest Teaching English @thecockerill.bsky.social
November 22, 2024 at 8:46 AM
Wonderful vision for English teaching from one of the @engmediacentre.bsky.social Associate Teachers that we included in our column for the latest Teaching English @thecockerill.bsky.social
Reposted by Deb Niven
I spent today in Manchester at a brilliant focus group event centred around Reimagining Teacher Education. It’s the next stage of a British Academy/Leverhulme funded project run by Viv Ellis (Monash) & @iancushing.bsky.social (MMU).
Teacher Education in Crisis
How was the crisis of teacher supply, teaching quality, and the crisis of confidence in initial teacher education (ITE) policy formation in England constructed?…
www.bloomsbury.com
November 22, 2024 at 6:21 PM
I spent today in Manchester at a brilliant focus group event centred around Reimagining Teacher Education. It’s the next stage of a British Academy/Leverhulme funded project run by Viv Ellis (Monash) & @iancushing.bsky.social (MMU).
Delighted to have been part of the Reimagining Teacher Education focus group. Thank you @iancushing.bsky.social and Viv Ellis for organising such a thought-provoking and affirmative meeting of minds 😊
Brooks building looking good and ready to host a forum on reimagining teacher education, as part of our BritishAcademy funded study by me and Viv Ellis 🤗 we are speculating what teacher education can and could be for the future ⏭️
November 22, 2024 at 4:21 PM
Delighted to have been part of the Reimagining Teacher Education focus group. Thank you @iancushing.bsky.social and Viv Ellis for organising such a thought-provoking and affirmative meeting of minds 😊
Reposted by Deb Niven
Jonathan Rosa and I had the amazing opportunity to work with an undergraduate student and a high school student to "translate" our "Undoing Appropriateness" article for high school students. The final product is available for free here:
demystifyinglanguage.fordham.edu/articles/lan...
demystifyinglanguage.fordham.edu/articles/lan...
Language is Not the Problem, Racism is the Problem – Demystifying Language Project
Students of color are always being told that they need to change the way they speak. But what if, instead, educators changed the way they listen?
demystifyinglanguage.fordham.edu
November 21, 2024 at 4:08 PM
Jonathan Rosa and I had the amazing opportunity to work with an undergraduate student and a high school student to "translate" our "Undoing Appropriateness" article for high school students. The final product is available for free here:
demystifyinglanguage.fordham.edu/articles/lan...
demystifyinglanguage.fordham.edu/articles/lan...
Reposted by Deb Niven
When we ignore the role of curiosity and motivation in learning, we make it harder for children. Learning isn't just a process of remembering information. It starts with a desire to know and that drives everything which follows.
November 21, 2024 at 3:20 PM
When we ignore the role of curiosity and motivation in learning, we make it harder for children. Learning isn't just a process of remembering information. It starts with a desire to know and that drives everything which follows.
Reposted by Deb Niven
🚨Need to fill 30 minutes this week?
✨How about a wholesome experience of Oracy and democracy?
Why not press play on these resources and help your pupils contribute to the Curriculum and Assessment Review?
Available for Primary, Secondary and post 16...
🙏🏼
✨How about a wholesome experience of Oracy and democracy?
Why not press play on these resources and help your pupils contribute to the Curriculum and Assessment Review?
Available for Primary, Secondary and post 16...
🙏🏼
At @findingmyvoice.bsky.social we are so chuffed with the massive take up for the Curriculum and Assessment Review pupil voice resources.
If you haven't accessed them yet, here they are!
findingmyvoice.co.uk/curriculum-a...
If you haven't accessed them yet, here they are!
findingmyvoice.co.uk/curriculum-a...
Curriculum and Assessment Review - Finding My Voice
Resources for Young Voices The expert team on the Curriculum and Assessment Review panel are collecting views from stakeholders to share their perspective on potential improvements to the current curr...
findingmyvoice.co.uk
November 18, 2024 at 8:05 PM
🚨Need to fill 30 minutes this week?
✨How about a wholesome experience of Oracy and democracy?
Why not press play on these resources and help your pupils contribute to the Curriculum and Assessment Review?
Available for Primary, Secondary and post 16...
🙏🏼
✨How about a wholesome experience of Oracy and democracy?
Why not press play on these resources and help your pupils contribute to the Curriculum and Assessment Review?
Available for Primary, Secondary and post 16...
🙏🏼
Reposted by Deb Niven
"if you’re forced to teach to the test, then the context you have to set (even in an inclusive-values school) will be one that a number of pupils will struggle with"
The causes of the SEND crisis - and 9 steps to fix it
Government policy in two core areas has resulted in the current crisis in SEND. To now ensure every young person is supported, we need to do these nine things, argues Warren Carratt
www.tes.com
November 17, 2024 at 4:30 PM
"if you’re forced to teach to the test, then the context you have to set (even in an inclusive-values school) will be one that a number of pupils will struggle with"
Reposted by Deb Niven
1. The challenge in primary education lies not merely in imparting knowledge but in ensuring pupils can apply it meaningfully. As Jerome Bruner observed, “Knowledge is not a set of facts to be amassed but a set of possibilities to be acted upon.” Without application, knowledge risks stagnation.
November 15, 2024 at 6:55 PM
1. The challenge in primary education lies not merely in imparting knowledge but in ensuring pupils can apply it meaningfully. As Jerome Bruner observed, “Knowledge is not a set of facts to be amassed but a set of possibilities to be acted upon.” Without application, knowledge risks stagnation.
Reposted by Deb Niven
🧵THREAD🧵
After the release of the “Use of teaching assistants in schools” in September, I have spent the last few weeks reading, internalising and reflecting on what this research from the DfE essentially tells us (with strengths & developments needed)
After the release of the “Use of teaching assistants in schools” in September, I have spent the last few weeks reading, internalising and reflecting on what this research from the DfE essentially tells us (with strengths & developments needed)
November 11, 2024 at 7:05 PM
🧵THREAD🧵
After the release of the “Use of teaching assistants in schools” in September, I have spent the last few weeks reading, internalising and reflecting on what this research from the DfE essentially tells us (with strengths & developments needed)
After the release of the “Use of teaching assistants in schools” in September, I have spent the last few weeks reading, internalising and reflecting on what this research from the DfE essentially tells us (with strengths & developments needed)
