Reposted by Bernard Andrews Claire Harley @claireharley.bsky.social · 10/10/2026Excellent piece from @bernardandrews.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/bernarda...open.substack.comTackling the enduring ignorance of the knowledge vs skills debateLet’s try to make education debates less rubbish. 121
Reposted by Bernard Andrews Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 09/08/2026"But there is no honour for the humanities in regaining their standing through the attention of AI companies, if they engage only on the technology industry’s terms. In that case, they will have become important in exactly the wrong way." www.ft.com/content/bdb3...ft.comWhy this philosopher turned down AnthropicThe AI industry is courting the humanities — but it is asking the wrong questions 4471149
Reposted by Bernard Andrews Rachel Sylvester @rachelsylvester.bsky.social · 09/08/2026New Scandinavian wings at Wandsworth and Pentonville jails have seen a 45% fall in assaults, 57% drop in self harm and halving of staff absence rates - fascinating results from trial into a more rehabilitative approach to prisons observer.co.uk/news/nationa...observer.co.uk‘Scandi wings’ offering pianos, pool and tea parties coul...A unit in London’s Wandsworth prison has been transformed using methods from Sweden and Norway that prioritise rehabilitation over retribution 531489581
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 09/08/2026How to reform the education system when no one can agree on what it's for... open.substack.com/pub/bernarda...open.substack.comEducation reform 'in the meantime'“One keeps forgetting to go right down to the foundations. One doesn’t put the question marks deep enough down.”–Wittgenstein, Culture and Value 000
Reposted by Bernard Andrews The Guardian @theguardian.com · 06/08/2026By day five of my labour, I didn’t want an ‘ideal birth’. I only wanted to survive | Natalie Morristheguardian.comBy day five of my labour, I didn’t want an ‘ideal birth’. I only wanted to survive | Natalie MorrisYvette Cooper’s maternity reforms must change a system that too often fails women when they’re at their most vulnerable, says journalist and author Natalie Morris 13611
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 02/08/2026Wahey - I'm the featured @teachertapp.bsky.social blog! bernardandrews.substack.com/p/learning-i...bernardandrews.substack.comLearning is not invisibleThe idea that ‘learning is invisible’ is a lazy and sloppy dogma which we should probably reject. 000
Reposted by Bernard Andrews The Guardian @theguardian.com · 30/07/2026I’ve spent years researching what it means to be alive. This is what I’ve learned | Melanie Challengertheguardian.comI’ve spent years researching what it means to be alive. This is what I’ve learned | Melanie ChallengerTo understand the experience of life, don’t look to the mind. Look to the body 0218
Reposted by Bernard Andrews Leo Hickman @leohickman.carbonbrief.org · 30/07/2026++BREAKING++ The UK and Spanish governments have issued a joint statement overnight: "[We] agreed that this summer’s wildfires demonstrated that climate change was now a national security emergency facing Europe and threatening our way of life." www.gov.uk/government/n... 11332511367
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 02/07/2026@cmooreanderson.bsky.social is someone I really admire. Rather than just beating the drum for a particular approach, he's always willing to dig into the details and go back to first principles. Edu-chat would be greatly enriched if his stuff were read more. christianmooreanderson.com/understandin...christianmooreanderson.comUnderstanding isn’t just knowledge (& how we can teach it) – Christian Moore-AndersonThe knowledge-understanding problem is perennially debated. Many sense a difference and argue that we should ensure students learn knowledge and understand it. 263
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 01/07/2026so completing the Syllogism: 1) S is M (middle term) 2) M is P 3) ∴ S is P 010
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 01/07/2026Episteme for Aristotle is all about seeing the connection between the subject and predicate: what kind of thing is the S? What kinds of thing can be described by P? Is S the kind of thing that can be P? so it's about finding the general rules that connect the subject to the predicate. 110
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 01/07/2026No, I didn't spot that, but that's very much like Aristotle's distinction between Nous (grasping the rule) and Episteme, I think. 100
Reposted by Bernard Andrews Christian Moore-Anderson @cmooreanderson.eurosky.social · 01/07/2026You never told me what you thought of this: christianmooreanderson.com/understandin...christianmooreanderson.comUnderstanding isn’t just knowledge (& how we can teach it) – Christian Moore-AndersonThe knowledge-understanding problem is perennially debated. Many sense a difference and argue that we should ensure students learn knowledge and understand it. 111
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 01/07/2026Or perhaps people might also refer to wisdom as a kind of understanding (Christian would know what to do in this situation). But certainly in the first case, I think 'knowledge' is better, since it's something acquired (past tense) - I have grasped what an X is. 110
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 01/07/2026I think the thing that confuses people is that there's quite a distinct kind of knowledge - sometimes called 'conceptual understanding' which basically means grasping the norms/rules ('I know what an X is' - *which isn't the same as I know X*). 110
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 01/07/2026And I absolutely agree that 'understanding' is often used in the sense you talk about ... which is like 'reasoning' or 'making connections'. What they used to call 'finding the middle term'. 110
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 01/07/2026Yeah, I think I basically agree with this. 'I know' (as in I know that...') acts basically like a present perfect - 'I know that...' means 'I have heard/read/been told etc. that...' Hence why it doesn't make much sense to say, 'I struggle to know'. 110
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 30/06/2026(or I can even imagine that they may have memorised it as a way of developing their virtuosity, and then that essay happened to come up, and the wisest thing was to reproduce it word for word) 010
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 30/06/2026Yes, absolutely. That's why the history is important. A student's exam essay might be great - but they might have just memorised it and got lucky with the question. The examiner can't know - hence such an exam can't test virtuosity. 220
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 29/06/2026The point about Nina Simone was only that she adapted to fit the context. She certainly conserved some aspects of her performances. 210
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 29/06/2026Yes, of course doing 'the same thing' might be the virtuous action. I don't deny that at all. The point is that it's context-dependent and requires some thought. If someone thinks about something and concludes that the context requires the same thing, then they should do that. 100
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 29/06/2026 The point about virtuousity isn't that it's romantic, it's just that it's polymorphous - adapts to the context - hence is incompatible with doing anything 'mechanically'. 120
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 29/06/2026I'm trying to construct a table of all the concepts and different senses we have related to knowledge and i think that will kind of answer your questions. I think there are quite a few logically distinct notions of knowledge/understanding. I'll try to finsih my table. 120
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 28/06/2026I'm not arguing with that. I don't think there's a remotely clear dichotomy here. And I've no idea what it's got to do with my post. 000
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 28/06/2026I think that's a pretty dodgy dichotomy, but I don't know what that would be a problem regardless. 100
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 28/06/2026I don't understand why the music example is problematic. 100
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 27/06/2026Absolutely... A quotation that I think is most insightful is that of GH Von Wright-" the path of virtue is never laid out in advance. It is for the [person] of virtue to determine where it lays in each particular case" 110
Reposted by Bernard Andrews Christian Moore-Anderson @cmooreanderson.eurosky.social · 27/06/2026More fantastic stuff by Bernard. *And, if I may, it points to the fundamental role of variety. 141
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 27/06/2026On knowing how to play a song... open.substack.com/pub/bernarda...open.substack.comKnowing how to play a songMy 7 year old son recently wanted to learn how to play ‘Peaches’ (a song by Jack Black from the Super Mario Bros film). 283
Reposted by Bernard Andrews Tes magazine @tesmagazine.bsky.social · 05/06/2026In the UK there is an ‘unspoken rule’ that nothing at school events should look too polished – but parents at international schools in other cultures have different expectations, writes principal Jill Cowietes.comThe tricky art of satisfying parents’ expectations for school eventsA leader with experience in the UK, China and now Nigeria reflects on why leaders have to be flexible over the different ways communities host and engage with parent-focused school events 021
Reposted by Bernard Andrews Jon Severs @jonsevers.bsky.social · 04/06/2026"A child isn’t born with SEND. They aren’t born knowing that they don’t fit," says the writer. "This is something they learn; something that they’re taught." This piece is one of the most beautiful mediations on SEND I have read. www.tes.com/magazine/ana...tes.comWhy working in SEND made me reluctant to diagnose my sonA decade of working in alternative provision led this teacher to question the usefulness of labels and the benefits of having his autistic son diagnosed 2136
Reposted by Bernard Andrews Christian Moore-Anderson @cmooreanderson.eurosky.social · 24/05/2026It can rapidly become difficult to understand what people actually mean by these technical terms. @bernardandrews.bsky.social talks about it extensively. I think many normal language terms, such as knowledge, understanding, meaning, sense-making, distinguishing, and practising, do the job fine. 141
Reposted by Bernard Andrews Sue Cowley @suecowley.bsky.social · 28/05/2026This question about whether AI can understand has interesting parallels with narratives in education. Some people claim that understanding is made up of more bits of knowledge. I don't think that's right because embodiment matters (which means AI can't understand). HT @cmooreanderson.bsky.social 153
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 28/05/2026...also because meaning requires intentionality, caring, and two-way powers. None of which are accounted for in the information transfer view. And secondly because this view leads to all the paradoxes of learning: open.substack.com/pub/bernarda...open.substack.comThe biggest problem in educationthe paradox of underdetermination 020
Reposted by Bernard Andrews Christian Moore-Anderson @cmooreanderson.eurosky.social · 23/05/2026New post! ● Direct Instruction’s Limits: ⇒ A Nuanced Look at Engelmann’s Ideas #EduSky #UKEd christianmooreanderson.com/direct-instr... 2239
Reposted by Bernard Andrews Christian Moore-Anderson @cmooreanderson.eurosky.social · 22/05/2026A delight to read @bernardandrews.bsky.social 's new post this Friday morning: "The biggest problem in education: Underdeterminism" bernardandrews.substack.com/p/the-bigges...bernardandrews.substack.comThe biggest problem in educationthe paradox of underdetermination 122
Reposted by Bernard Andrews Christian Moore-Anderson @cmooreanderson.eurosky.social · 18/05/2026As a prominent authority in educational academia, and a fan of his work, I was really happy with Michael Reiss's endorsement. 2137
Reposted by Bernard Andrews Christian Moore-Anderson @cmooreanderson.eurosky.social · 14/05/2026Education has explored a science of memory... But what about a science of meaning? This is what @creativehigg.bsky.social thought when she offered to endorse my book ↓↓↓ Book: mybook.to/teachingmean... 0124
Reposted by Bernard Andrews Paul Le Comte 🇳🇿🇨🇦📷 @paullecomtephoto.nz · 02/05/2026I'm not crying, you're crying - wife asked me if I had a cable. Yes, yes I did! 22593451014
Reposted by Bernard Andrews Christian Moore-Anderson @cmooreanderson.eurosky.social · 01/05/2026The beauty of this book cover isn't AI. My talented wife created the look to match my words. She made the strip herself (see the shaded bit where it was glued on the left). Then sought the background colour she liked (it was notebook cover) and took a photo to form a shadow from the sun's rays. 0175
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 26/04/2026I think that this single point leads to lots of the problems mentioned in the other replies (including the downgrading of FE - as I mention in that post). 030
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 26/04/2026Our need to close every open learning objective. open.substack.com/pub/bernarda...open.substack.comLemov, Pondiscio and the closing of the academic mind1. There was an interesting article in the Athletic recently about how Michigan Basketball coach, Dusty May, had been learning from Doug Lemov. 130
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 26/04/2026That sounds very interesting! Thank you. I'll look it up! 010
Reposted by Bernard Andrews Christian Moore-Anderson @cmooreanderson.eurosky.social · 25/04/2026Wanting to write a blog post about the limits and problems of Engelmann's behaviourist theory, I began reading again. And, good god, look at this paragraph and realise why science education in the UK has gone to soul-destroying transmission and mini-whiteboards: 4124
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 25/04/2026There's a now rare use of the verb 'to question', which means 'to hold a conversation with; (also) to discuss or debate with'. You'd say, 'I questioned *with* the children today...' I think it's a lovely way to use the word and is a much nicer pedagogical notion of questioning than we're used to. 150
Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 25/04/2026WHen people write about 'questioning' for teachers, it's basically just about how to use questions as formative assessment - as part of some form of training towards a closed goal. But you can also ask questions to find out what the students actually think and take an interest in their answers! 1176
Reposted by Bernard Andrews Sue Cowley @suecowley.bsky.social · 22/04/2026Possibly controversial opinion. This 'I do, we do, you do' thing that is everywhere now is about instruction rather than education. We are being too adult controlling about learning atm. Whatever happened to a bit of open endedness, lateral thinking and self-expression? Glad I teach in early years. 5279