Latest Posts

  • Is this an inquiry with an ‘I’ or an enquiry with an ‘e’?

    This post has been sitting in my drafts for a while, and I was reminded to complete it after a question from a student when I was covering a TOK class: “What’s the difference between inquiry and enquiry?” [tL:dR: Definitions matter… Continue reading

    Is this an inquiry with an ‘I’ or an enquiry with an ‘e’?

  • What does this look like in the classroom?

    This post is a quick recommendation for a very practical resource for teachers, coordinators & learning coaches. “What Does This Look Like in the Classroom? Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice”, by Carl Hendrick & Robin MacPherson, with illustrations… Continue reading

  • The Quest for Learning in an IB Context

    This post is a quick review of “The Quest for Learning: How to Maximize Student Engagement” by Marie Alcock, Michael Fisher and Allison Zmuda, published late 2017 by Solution Tree Press. I’m reviewing the paperback version: 122 pages plus foreword… Continue reading

  • What If..? MyIB & MOOC PD

     At a recent MYP Coordinators’ network meeting we were discussing how – despite lots of moves towards quality control and great efforts by the IBEN team – we still had occasional concerns on the reliability of the received message from… Continue reading

  • The Buoyant Force of Continuum Learning

    If you’re new to this blog – welcome! Ideas on here often build on previous posts or conversations, so I hope this make sense. To find out more, please visit my about page, with posts by topic. ……….o0O0o………. As I… Continue reading

  • The Tempered Learner (on self-regulation)

    Going all the way back to my “MYP: Mind The Gap” session at IBAP 2013, I’ve been thinking about defining effective self-directed inquiry, the role of the MYP in “preparing” kids for DP, the approaches to learning and (more recently) building in ideas… Continue reading

  • Bold Moves for Schools

    This is a quick-and-dirty review of a book that ticks all the boxes for a curriculum nerd like me: Bold Moves for Schools, by Heidi Hayes Jacobs & Marie Alcock, from the ASCD (2017, 207 pages). It’s a practical and comprehensive, yet… Continue reading

  • Webb’s DOK4 & Transfer

    I recently took part in a fabulous Bold Moves Curriculum Mapping Bootcamp, by Dr. Marie Alcock at ISKL. I was there to think about next steps for curriculum planning at CA, and it was a great opportunity to pick the… Continue reading

  • Which Way Next?

    As hiring season begins for international schools, it is really starting to sink in that this will be our seventh and final year at CA and in Japan. This conversation is happening all over the world right now as international… Continue reading

  • Tankyuu (探 究): A Quest for Teacher Professional Inquiry

    One of our big projects over the last few years has been to shift the focus of professional learning and goal setting from competence in the programmes and practices into genuine teacher inquiry. As a lot of foundational work had… Continue reading