Cracking open the flipped learning model

So I am super excited about rolling out a flipped-model topic for the next term, Sept-Dec! I’ve wanted to experiment with this pedagogy for a while, especially after listening to experts talk about the success they’d had at an education convention I attended back in 2013 when I was still studying at uni. One of …

The Last Jedi & Shakespeare: some teaching ideas!

While sojourning in Paris over the summer holiday, I dipped into the ol’ Shakespeare & Co for a meander. I found this awesome parody in the Shakespeare section- apparently the author Ian Doescher has written parodies for all the Star Wars episodes and it’s actually been around for a while, so as usual, I’m just …

Teaching representation in film: Black Panther and taking on White Hollywood

"I have seen gods fly. I have seen men build weapons that I couldn't even imagine. I have seen aliens drop from the sky. But I have never seen anything like this." As a white person, I have my endless pick of superheros who look like me represented in the media (male of course, which …

Why schools need to get woke

Recently, I was in Ireland for my 27th birthday. On the plane home, I was seated next to a man who introduced himself to me as “Big Jim.” A friendly northern Irishman, Big Jim was pretty forthcoming about the fact that he apparently spent 18 years in jail for crimes he committed during the Irish …

Children of Blood and Bone

Best-selling fantasy often embodies leitmotifs of the west: dragons, chivalry, medievalism and patriarchal structures that govern both the political and magical landscapes of second worlds. Even the giants of fantasy that seek to represent women as more than passive, empty characters often fall short of the task: GOT’s female characters perform in the binary roles …