For fans of Michael Gove

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Amber
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Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

For fans of Michael Gove

Post by Amber »

http://www.goveversusreality.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just in case you are finding yourself persuaded by his use of 'evidence'.
stroudydad
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Re: For fans of Michael Gove

Post by stroudydad »

#govevreality :-)
Loopyloulou
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Re: For fans of Michael Gove

Post by Loopyloulou »

Just sour grapes. Andrew Bethell (who is the man behind the video) ran "Teachers TV" which had its funding withdrawn by Michael Gove. The real problem was that in order to attract funding from the then Labour government in the first place, "Teachers TV" was very politically biased to the left. It is no wonder that with a change of government it has been shown the door.
Loopy
Amber
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Re: For fans of Michael Gove

Post by Amber »

Loopyloulou wrote:Just sour grapes.
But still true nonetheless. There are plenty of respected, peer-reviewed academic papers saying exactly the same thing, written by people with no political axe to grind. If Bethell, using a platform not really available to established academics, brings it to greater public attention, then that has to be a good thing.

Gove's use of international 'evidence' to support his reforms is a prime example of the misuse of information and the attempt to delude the public by appearing to cite examples of 'what works' from abroad. In fact most of the reforms he cites do not 'work' abroad in quite the way he would have us believe; and if they do, they don't do it against a background of a UK coalition government, but against their own culture and traditions, which I note he is not proposing to transplant over here. Yet.
Guest55
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Re: For fans of Michael Gove

Post by Guest55 »

"Teachers TV" was very politically biased to the left.
LLL - I don't know whether you actually visited their website but it had some great teaching resources. 'From good to outstanding' was an interesting series on teachers trying to improve their teaching - it was/is a good source of discussion for department/staff meetings.

There were lots of clips you could show to put topics in 'real-life' contexts and plenty of other useful ideas.

I'm not sure what is 'politically biased' about that!
Loopyloulou
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Re: For fans of Michael Gove

Post by Loopyloulou »

I agree that there was much good on the channel. But while Labour were in power there were appearances by Estelle Morris, David Blunkett, Clare Short, Tony Benn, Roy Hattersley, David Miliband, Jacqui Smith, Cherie Booth, Guardian columnist and Labour education activist Fiona Millar and many other overt Labour supporters. The only look in for the rest of the UK political class were appearances by Boris Johnson, David Willets and Nick Gibb (Conservatives) Simon Hughes (Lib Dems ) and finally George Galloway (Respect). The lesson is that if Teachers TV had been more politically neutral it might still be broadcasting today.

To Amber, what is truth? Someone else's opinion perhaps? The lesson for Michael Gove (and indeed all politicians) is that he might find more success if he used less spin.
Loopy
Amber
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Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: For fans of Michael Gove

Post by Amber »

Loopyloulou wrote:To Amber, what is truth?
Yes, a very good question. I think it is easier to say in this context what it is not. And what it is not is something to be found coming out of the mouth of a politician.
Loopyloulou wrote: The lesson for Michael Gove (and indeed all politicians) is that he might find more success if he used less spin.
Well I think sadly he is achieving success, if success is to be defined by getting his fizzog all over the papers, earning a big fat salary; and getting his ideas talked about as if they were worthy of one single moment's thought. He has an awful lot of influence; whether that is success I don't know, but it's a shame some more informed people don't get a taste of it. But that is 21st century British politics. I don't think listening to today's politicians is too different from watching some of the old Soviet tractor production/potato harvest type films full of happy peasants, skipping around to music and a commentary telling of continued improvement, in the face of much evidence to the contrary.
Guest55
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Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: For fans of Michael Gove

Post by Guest55 »

LLL - do you honestly think any teacher had time to watch that sort of stuff? I used to only use the website and search it for teaching resources as did all the teachers I know.

Fortunately most of the resources ARE still available via TES or other websites.
mystery
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Re: For fans of Michael Gove

Post by mystery »

I am extremely annoyed that gove has made flexi schooling almost impossible. The latest clarification on the dfe website states that schools can still get permission, but it has to be classified as authorised absence. Ofsted then wallops the school for this. I would like to ask him face to face why he thinks that the occasional day of one to one tuition by the right person could be detrimental to a child's education. He could leave it in head teachers' hands to exercise their discretion and not punish them via their absence stats for saying yes.

I prefer some bits of his draft primary curriculum to the current one; no doubt some bits are worse. His changes are patchy - some seem to have involved a good deal of thought, whether or not you like the final outcome, others are just the usual political quick fix.
Guest55
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Re: For fans of Michael Gove

Post by Guest55 »

I prefer some bits of his draft primary curriculum to the current one
Mystery - which bits? No-one I know thinks it is better and in some subjects e.g. history it is dire and uninspiring.
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