Richard Harvey-Swanston
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rharveyswanston.bsky.social
Richard Harvey-Swanston
@rharveyswanston.bsky.social
Senior lecturer in education, university of brighton; primary mathematics, ex-teacher & leader; MaST, MA; PhD student.
Connecting and making sense of those memories?
November 30, 2025 at 10:15 AM
That's from Tall and Vinner (1981)
November 9, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Important q and id be interested in @cmooreanderson.bsky.social 's thoughts. Fwiw makes me think of the concept definition v concept image distinction, where concept image is the collective impression of prior experience reenacted in the mind.
November 9, 2025 at 10:33 PM
And in terms of a best way to do something, sure but there's no single aim to judge against and trade offs to consider. I guess that's where we disagree: I don't think there's a best way of deciding what best is.
June 13, 2025 at 10:59 AM
There are some strong arguments why teaching is different to other professionals - they generally point to it being so complex and hard to predict.
June 13, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Ah you're already on the reading list Christian ... It's just that the reading list is really long! I will get there!
June 13, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Thanks. I'm going to have to take a look at that.
June 13, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Certainty is really attractive but my view is it's the enemy of quality and the death of on the ground problem solving/adapting that teaching is all about.
June 13, 2025 at 10:29 AM
I think there's a lot of judgement and adaptation going on when schools borrow from each other. My main critique though is that I just don't think it's feasible to identify best bets for all schools with a degree of accuracy that goes beyond what eef etc. do currently.
June 13, 2025 at 10:29 AM
My view is that expertise in how to implement and adapt 'best' practice from elsewhere is where the gains are. Investing in your teachers, keeping them in the profession longer really matters.
June 13, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Insights into what seem to be features of effective provision are really helpful - and we have good examples of this already./3
June 13, 2025 at 9:14 AM
We can identify what has 'worked' (but we have to agree what that means), and what seem to be the features of effective provision but all research/evaluation is flawed and there are no guarantees. It's what makes the job interesting and why prof. judgement and investing in effective cpd matters. /2
June 13, 2025 at 9:14 AM
How do you know what has worked well in one setting will work well in another?
June 13, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Are we also another step further away from years where we lost (sadly) lots of teachers to early retirement/profession changes? I always wondered if this led to increased negative views about the profession to potential applicants.
April 28, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Improvement still vital in recruitment and retention in primary though. Barrier for primary is long standing routes are often undergraduate - and a traditional degree route is becoming too expensive for many. The new teacher degree apprenticeship routes may be a viable option for many tho.
April 28, 2025 at 10:50 AM
His updates are brilliant aren't they? I have similar concern but primary recruitment didn't fall as slow as some secondary subjects over the past few years, and overall numbers are still relatively(!) high compared to secondary. Cont...
April 28, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Yes - true
April 26, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Really interesting debate but I'm afraid you've lost me with this comparison. Stress as a child at one fixed period in time feels rather distant from accountability year on year, and sidelines other influences on adult stress: parenting, caring for family members, employment future and finances.
April 26, 2025 at 9:50 AM