Sign in

Dr James Shea

@englishspecial.bsky.social
1.9K followers 1.9K following 148 posts

Principal Lecturer Teacher Education | ITE UG & PG Portfolio Leader | Trustee The Pyramid Schools Trust | Author | Editor peerreviewededucationblog.com

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Dr James Shea
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Does congratulating yourself give you a shiver of revulsion? Do you have someone who sees it as their life’s mission to shower you with praise? Not everyone has either of those - and it’s more important than you might think. peerreviewededucationblog.com/2026/04/20/w...
peerreviewededucationblog.com
Why we all need a grandmother in our heads – no tener abuela
No tener abuela is a light hearted comment made by Spanish speakers to someone who is self-congratulatory. It roughly translates to someone without a grandmother to provide the congratulatory prais…
002
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Does congratulating yourself give you a shiver of revulsion? Do you have someone who sees it as their life’s mission to shower you with praise? Not everyone has either of those - and it’s more important than you might think. peerreviewededucationblog.com/2026/04/20/w...
peerreviewededucationblog.com
Why we all need a grandmother in our heads – no tener abuela
No tener abuela is a light hearted comment made by Spanish speakers to someone who is self-congratulatory. It roughly translates to someone without a grandmother to provide the congratulatory prais…
002
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Fascinating to hear lessons learned by a headteacher from the new Ofsted inspection system.
040
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Please repost 🙏 Older teachers are at the bottom of the list when waiting to find out their pension details. Please sign this petition to help raise awareness! petition.parliament.uk/petitions/72...
petition.parliament.uk
Petition: Issue new guidance on teachers’ early retirement rights
The state pension age will change to 67 in 2028 and therefore minimum early retirement age will change to 57. Teachers with final salary pensions who started teaching before the pension changed to car...
011
Reposted by Dr James Shea
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
Have you ever heard of academic press? New blog! peerreviewededucationblog.com/2025/06/14/t...
peerreviewededucationblog.com
The big idea that’s affected how nearly all schools in England are led and run
In 1996, Roger Shouse sat down to pen an article for the journal, The Social Psychology of Education. He wanted to examine tensions between two visions of schooling. One stresses social cohesion (i…
095
Reposted by Dr James Shea
Jenny M @abbyaug.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
How great to see it said that there is no ‘right’ answer for all schools, teachers and pupils but - to quote- “As always, the right answer is not in tribalism, in all of one idea and none of another, but a sophisticated blend of both worlds.”
0103
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
Have you ever heard of academic press? New blog! peerreviewededucationblog.com/2025/06/14/t...
peerreviewededucationblog.com
The big idea that’s affected how nearly all schools in England are led and run
In 1996, Roger Shouse sat down to pen an article for the journal, The Social Psychology of Education. He wanted to examine tensions between two visions of schooling. One stresses social cohesion (i…
095
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
Interesting to read Ofsted inspectors clearly favouring purchased schemes of work over those developed by a school.
220
Reposted by Dr James Shea
Kirstie Murray @kirstiemurray.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Predictions yes. But also pupils viewing ‘how to do questions’ videos where they’d be better revising content, revising using generic sites like Seneca which don’t cover our exact syllabus but sound plausible, study skills YouTubers… surprised this year how much kids want to rely on online not me
021
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
TikTokTipsters profiteering on the high stakes gambling nature of GCSE exams is where we are now in 2025. Read my comments in The Observer.
32214
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 10/05/2025
An extra push for our fascinating survey into how Year 11s have revised for their exams. Early results are truly astounding. If you could share, we would most appreciate it. 🙏
024
Reposted by Dr James Shea
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
👀We have an ethically approved survey for Year 11s who are revising for GCSEs doing the rounds.👀 If you have a Year 11 or would like to share with your revision class please pass the link on. The early results are already quite staggering. Retweets 🙏 forms.office.com/pages/respon...
forms.office.com
Microsoft Forms
0913
Reposted by Dr James Shea
Christian Moore-Anderson @cmooreanderson.eurosky.social · 18/04/2025
New post⤵️ ▸The fad's purpose is what it does◂ ...and not what its authors thought it would do Educational fads seen through systems theory (AKA cybernetics). Please share (tough for bloggers recently) #UKEd #EduSky #EruditePedagogy #Cybernetics cmooreanderson.wixsite.com/teachingbiol...
cmooreanderson.wixsite.com
An (edu) fad's purpose is what it does
Not long ago a drive emerged against "fun" lessons. The push was to rid the focus on fun and return it to subject knowledge itself. Soon followed the argument that students had to accept boring lesson...
184730
Reposted by Dr James Shea
Julie Davis @anotherjules.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
For my secondary school crew…
021
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
👀We have an ethically approved survey for Year 11s who are revising for GCSEs doing the rounds.👀 If you have a Year 11 or would like to share with your revision class please pass the link on. The early results are already quite staggering. Retweets 🙏 forms.office.com/pages/respon...
forms.office.com
Microsoft Forms
0913
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
🔥80% of teachers reteach content if pupils don't know the answers during a cycle of retrieval practice.🔥 Why bother using retrieval practice to elicit the testing effect if you then waste the gained time reteaching the answers? Read more here 👇 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
210
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
Bridget Phillipson speech to set out need for more male teachers in school. Will she announce sweeping reform of the bursary system & allow primary, & subjects like drama, to access funds that enable more deprived/career changers to become teachers? www.tes.com/magazine/new...
111
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
Primary tests in the future will be replaced by AI, NHS-style, 'screening' which checks for dyslexia, discalcula & other difficulties as part of evaluation of their reading & maths. Will we still over prep for these screening checks? Check lexplore.com/en-gb/ for starters.
000
Reposted by Dr James Shea
Katie Finlayson @learnwhatyoulive.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
I’ve taken my children through 16 different GCSE specs so far and every one of them needs a slightly different interpretation and focus. And my experience suggests that how well you understand each one can be a bigger factor in grading than subject understanding.
151
Reposted by Dr James Shea
Mike Hobbiss @mikehobbiss.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
I have a colleague who teaches 4 subjects across GCSE and A-Level, and told me recently how the word 'evaluate' means something slightly different in each of those contexts...
1101
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Having to learning ten GCSE exam cultures is inefficient use of curriculum time. Homogenize the individual exam systems and drive more learning of new content.
Let's be brutally honest: each GCSE subject has evolved its own distinct assessment culture. It's not a unified system of assessment; it's a collection of individual ecosystems, each with its own set of rules, expectations, and unspoken 'secrets'. The way examiners interpret mark schemes, weightings, the very language of the questions themselves; all varies significantly between subjects. We're asking students to navigate ten different cultural landscapes, to decipher ten different codes, and then we're surprised when they struggle to do this without specialist teachers and tutors to teach them these codes.
072
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
Whether you are for or against institutions spending money on preparing senior leaders for the risk of Ofsted, there's no escaping it's big business.
221
Reposted by Dr James Shea
Dr Gareth Bates @drgarethbates.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
🔥🔥 Hot take: are we wrong about revision? This time of year we see the focus shift for Y11 towards revision and there is lots out there talking about effective strategies based on cognitive psychology. However, things may not be as they seem..... 🧵 #UKEd
263
Reposted by Dr James Shea
Burnside Review @burnsidereview.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Join us for an AWP offsite reading with @blackoceanbooks.bsky.social and Saturnalia Books on Thursday 3/27 @barhenryla in Echo Park! 📖🎤🗣️ ➡️ News | Burnside Review #awp #awp2025 #losangeles #awpoffsitereading
3115
Reposted by Dr James Shea
Dr Gareth Bates @drgarethbates.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
I really enjoyed doing this podcast talking about my research on retrieval practice in schools. I outline some top tips but also my concerns. When it comes to retrieval practice, we need to remember it is ultimately an outcome of a highly controlled experiment, which has implications 🧵 #UKEd
287
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
🔥Warning: repeated quizzing can dull students' ability to transfer taught knowledge to unseen exam questions.🔥 journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
010
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
More details of new Ofsted inspection process revealed* 😱Re-inspection within months if any area deemed in need of improvement 😱 🏃‍♂🏃‍♂ 😨Someone in your provision will be given the 'Ofsted wants' power 😨 🙊🙉🙈 What could possibly go wrong? www.tes.com/magazine/ana...
102
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
OAK holding back growth in UK educational resources market says BESA. www.tes.com/magazine/new...
100
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Tory then Labour led DfE reaps reward for sustained defunding of arts subjects. Stark contrast in DfE bursaries by Labour government in next post. www.tes.com/magazine/tea...
100
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Every single theme needs to be led by an SLT member, metrics collated, plans coordinated, risk reduced. The workload spend is absolutely massive. I'm SLT and it's made me look at my pension forecast...
154
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
Ofsted proposes to triple down on high stakes regulation of sector. Every category is a high risk area that will require a designated SLT, oodles of money to be spent and bags of stress splashed across a profession stampeding for the door. schoolsweek.co.uk/ofsted-schoo...
List ofsted areas
074
Reposted by Dr James Shea
Clare Martin @claremartin333.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
SEND is a political decision. If 20%+ of children have SEND then either there's something very concerning about how children are developing in the 21st century OR there's something wrong with the system. What value is a system where 20% are outliers?
031
Reposted by Dr James Shea
Alex Ford @apf102.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Exactly this! Our whole funding system depends of identification and proving “standard interventions” are not enough.
011
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Stop labelling children as SEND. All children have barriers to learning, just some more than others - is the message from Tom Rees. (Pointedly sidestepping the debate that we have a system where funding depends on the award of labels). schoolsweek.co.uk/umbrella-sen...
341
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
Elective Home Education (EHE) in England has skyrocketed over the last 5 years: 2019/20: 78,000 ➡️2023/24: 153,300 What’s fueling this growth? SEN challenges, mental health, & school dissatisfaction for sure. Any others? www.gov.uk/government/p...
Chart showing rise of EHE in England from 2019-2024
010
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
In the Early Years Assessment (75% of children to be school ready by 5), it measures being able to hold several ideas/actions at once. Even though WM is not fully developed in all children until they are 7. 🤔 Thoughts?
000
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
Beware when teaching primary pupils. 👊Children's hands are not developed enough for a tripod grip until the ossification of their bones reaches a specific stage of biological development. 👊Children's working memories aren't usually fully developed until they are 7 years old.
071
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Why many summer born boys on FSM are knocking it out of the park and you probably won't even notice. Do we need to reduce deficit language around such pupils? schoolsweek.co.uk/eyfs-results...
021
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
DfE misses its target to recruit 6500 new teachers. 24/25 stats for this year show: 😱Primary applications down 17% 😱Secondary applications down 10%
050
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Anyone else have an issue with the idea that highly effective leaders are mysteriously not found in large numbers in 'low attaining or disadvantaged schools'. Like the Ofsted framework, it finds if you measure effectiveness without context then... www.tes.com/magazine/new...
TES article on leaders
160
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
New to BlueSky and looking for education folks to folllow? This list is a good starting point. Please share with others. go.bsky.app/MErYF44
021
Reposted by Dr James Shea
Rob Caudwell | FCCT | FRSA @robcaudwell.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
I'm hunting down every last one of you lovely ITE / ITT folk. I'm mainly relying on people's bios to determine who might want to be included here, so if I've missed you, let me know and I will update this list. Reposts appreciated 👍 go.bsky.app/FZXkStn
214632
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Working memory and teaching in Primary 🤔Does breaking things down into sequences work for all primary students? 🤔Can we use the same rehearsal and retrieval methods with everyone in a primary class? 🤔Can all in a primary class pay the same amount of attention? (Gathercole and Alloway)
Working memory capacity increases from childhood through to adolescence, when adult levels are reached.
Within a particular age group, there is wide variation in working memory capacity between individuals. In a classroom of seven-year-olds, some children will have the working memory capacities of the average five-year-old child, and others of an average eleven-year-old.
Children typically start to use rehearsal in verbal short-term memory at about seven years of age, and at this age also shift towards preferring to remember information in terms of verbal characteristics if possible.
Increases in working memory capacity with age relate to improvements in the efficiency of processing and of attention.
1137
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
Did you know that landmark studies into school interventions routinely exclude SEND and EAL pupil data? Fine for a study, but what problems do you see when a school implements it to all pupils? Example from Sweller:
010
Reposted by Dr James Shea
Rebecca Tickell @rebeccatickell.bsky.social · 02/11/2024
#EducationalResearch @drgarethbates.bsky.social and @englishspecial.bsky.social have written a paper on retrieval practice. It’s Open Access so anyone can have a read: doi.org/10.1111/mbe....
doi.org
Retrieval Practice “in the Wild”: Teachers' Reported Use of Retrieval Practice in the Classroom
Recalling previously learnt information from memory can boost learning. By using strategies in the classroom that encourage students to recall information, teachers can improve student outcomes. In E....
072
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 18/10/2024
Farewell Paul, Nigel and Bob. Goodbye Simon, Steve and Tony. Adieu Karen, Sharon and Carole. Arrivederci Jan, Donna and Pauline. One day your names will be hip and trendy again, but until then we will have to live with the Alfies, Georges and Olivias...
020
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 21/09/2024
Why is the EEF still measuring interventions in obsolete 'flight path months of progress'? Haven't we kicked all that nonsense into touch now? Watch out for tomorrow's thought provoking X #sundaypoll on EEF’s flight path months.
210
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 19/09/2024
What is going on with girls at the borderline of maths grade 4? FFTEduDatalab picks up a problem that hasn’t yet cut through to mainstream Ed news, but teachers will likely know the problem and potential causes. ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2024/09/a-cl...
313
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 18/09/2024
👀ITV BREAKING NEWS 👀 HEAD LETS TEACHERS MARK WORK AT HOME!
media.tenor.com
a man is making a surprised face with his mouth open in a room .
ALT: a man is making a surprised face with his mouth open in a room .
130
Dr James Shea @englishspecial.bsky.social · 11/09/2024
YOU WILL READ BOOKS!
120