admin, Author at - Page 13 of 53

10th December 20207th June 2022

To what extent is the global spread of the English language a positive development for the world?

Malin in Year 13 looks at the internationalisation of the English language, and the impacts this has had on the global community.

1.5 billion of the world’s population of 7.5 billion are able to speak English, albeit that only 380 million of these people speak it as their first language. The remaining 1.12 billion have learnt English as a second or third language, and this number is growing all the time given that English is the most commonly studied foreign language in the world. In my talk today, I will be exploring the extent to which the global expansion of the English language is a positive development for the world.

Source: https://lemongrad.com/english-language-statistics/

I will touch upon the pros and cons of the development of a dominant global language but also focus on some of the opportunities a greater ease of global communication can provide.

One of the most obvious pros of the increasing influence (and dominance) of English is that it provides a common language to make communication in a globalised age less difficult. This facilitates the transmission of world knowledge and increases understanding and interconnectedness, helping to draw unity from diversity. People from different countries and cultures around the world; Bermuda, Fiji, Ireland, Singapore, Guyana, America, can all come together and communicate with a shared language despite their apparent differences. A common language also extremely beneficial in the world of business as effective communication is key within many fields, such as international trade, banking and finance, as well as diplomacy, research and media. Through having people from different backgrounds work as a collective, numerous new opportunities for collaboration can arise.

Furthermore, in comparison to other widely spoken, international languages such as Spanish and Chinese, the English language is seen as a less redundant language due to its simple alphabet and the lack of a need to assign genders to nouns. This can make it easier for non-native speakers to learn, especially at a conversational level which in turn can explain the positive spread of the language due to its ‘face-surface simplicity’.

English speakers by % country population. Source https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:World_map_percentage_english_speakers_by_country.png

On the other hand, there is an acknowledged risk that the predominance of English as a common global language may result in the marginalisation of other less popular languages, whilst also encouraging a degree of cultural ignorance. With the success of English, particularly in international business, minority languages can be perceived as ‘unnecessary’ as they do not appear as useful in a number of scenarios – whether that is in an economic sense or in popular media. This creates a potentially hazardous situation where languages may die out, often resulting in the loss of valuable traditions, knowledge of certain cultural heritage, and life perspectives. For example, in Indonesia, where the national language is Bahasa Indonesia, due to the increasing global use of English, a mastery of Indonesian has become increasingly proportional to the social hierarchy, with the result that people who are fluent in English are considered to be of a higher class and more intellectually capable. As a result, Bahasa Indonesia has been demoted to a second-class status, where in some more extreme cases, Indonesians may take pride in speaking it poorly. There is a risk that this loss in popularity of minority languages could result in even greater ‘Westernisation’ of the world and a lack of interest in learning the culture of less dominant societies.

Furthermore, whilst communication barriers are being broken down between people from different countries, new generational barriers are developing between people living in the same country. Younger generations more comfortable in English will struggle to communicate with older generations who are less well equipped to learn English and newer ways of communicating (a multi-faceted problem not just of language), which again may inhibit the generational transmission of cultures and heritage.

Nevertheless, while it is likely that the use of less popular languages will decrease as the growth in the use of English spreads, it is always possible for people to learn English whilst still retaining their ability to speak their local language, hopefully ensuring that their heritage and culture is not completely lost.

Despite the global spread of English having potentially negative consequences for less popular languages and less dominant cultures, overall, it can be argued that the positives outweigh the negatives and the spread of English offers potentially significant opportunities through greater global communication, increased international understanding and economic well-being.

10th December 2020

What has COVID taught us about our relationships with others?

Mr Keith Cawsey, Head of Religious Studies at Wimbledon High, looks at the impact that COVID has had on our local community and the impact that small acts of kindness have in helping those in need.

Last December, as I was sitting having a cup of tea with a colleague in the Humanities office, our conversation moved on to this ‘mysterious virus’ that was emerging from China. It was spreading through a city called Wuhan and no-one knew what it was or the impact it had on health. It seemed a million miles away, far, far away from SW19. We discussed what would happen if it travelled over to London, but we both agreed that this seemed highly unlikely. We all know what happened next. Case after case, COVID 19 crept closer and closer and took over our lives in a very short space of time and in a way that we would never have imagined.

I believe that COVID has taught us a great deal about ourselves and the community that we live in.

The first thing to happen was sheer panic. I remember visiting my local supermarket at 0700 when it opened. What I saw was nothing short of apocalyptic – people running through the supermarket (and over each other) to grab the last remaining packets of toilet roll. Quite a few had five / ten packets in their trolley and they then selfishly guarded their ‘booty’ as they waited at the checkouts. Others snatched bread, milk, eggs, teabags, meat, butter – whatever they could find and piled their trollies sky high with food so that their families would not be without. What followed in the news? Pictures of bins piled high with out of date food and meat. It seemed that the whole country had become increasingly selfish and the only people who mattered were the people in their families. What had happened to us?

Every religion is unique, but what is particularly interesting is the similarities between them. One thing that stands out as a ‘golden thread’ from all worldviews is charity and caring for others.

Indeed, every religion encourages its followers to care for others, particularly the poor and vulnerable.

Hinduism teaches about ‘atman’ – the aspect of God that is in each and every one of us. As equals on this planet, we need to protect every living thing, including animals.
The Buddha taught about compassion and how to alleviate suffering, ‘dukkha’.
Guru Nanak taught about the importance of providing for others, physically and spiritually.
Jesus Christ taught us to ‘love your neighbour’.
At the heart of the Jewish faith is ‘Tzedakah’ – a religious duty to provide for anyone in need.
One of the Five Pillars of Islam is ‘Zakah’ – 2.5% of all income is shared amongst those in society who need it most.

As we all know, you don’t have to be religious to feel a moral duty to help others. Humanists believe that by helping others, we make society fairer and it is an obligation of us all to provide for those in need.

So while some where piling their trollies sky high with food that would go to waste, what happened next was nothing short of a miracle. As most of us sat safe at home, we started to think about those in our community who carried on regardless: our refuse collectors, our post people, policemen and women, our firefighters, our nurses and doctors. I am sure that no-one will ever forget standing on our doorsteps clapping for our NHS workers who went to work each day putting themselves in the eye of the storm, quietly, diligently and without any fuss.

It became clear to me that in the middle of such a national catastrophe, there were two types of people – those that cared only about themselves and those who put themselves out to help others in whatever way they could – a phone call / a doorstep conversation / a text to people who lived alone. Streets became connected like never before. People were knocking on their neighbours’ doors. Shopping lists were exchanged and those who were shielding were cared for – food deliveries were made. We realised that even though we were scared about the pandemic, it was our moral duty to care for those who needed us.

In Merton, the following charities helped those in need:

The Faith in Action Merton Homeless Project
Merton Giving Coronavirus Fund
Merton Mutual Aid
MVSC Covid-19 Community Response Hub
Stem4 (Teenage Mental Health Charity)
The Dons Local Action Group
Wimbledon Food Bank
Wimbledon Guild

Some volunteered, others gave tinned food outside supermarkets and others were able to give a financial contribution.

We realised that even though we live our separate lives, the one thing that unites us is our community.

We will be talking about the pandemic for years to come but I hope that the one thing we will reflect on is the power of community. We will never ever again take for granted the tireless work of our NHS staff and our key workers and we should all aim to keep the conversations going with our neighbours.

We are stronger together and we should always aim to be kind. These are the connections and relationships that really matter. Happiness is sometimes a cup of tea, a meal cooked by someone else or a text from someone who you haven’t heard from for a while. These acts of kindness can often cost very little but are invaluable to the recipient and really matter.

Let’s hope that we are turning a corner with COVID and can get back to a ‘normal’ life soon. But when we do, we should always remember the connections we have made and the power that our community has when we truly work together and show kindness and love for one another.

‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.’

Matthew 25:35

If you would like to support Wimbledon High’s Christmas 2020 Project please do visit our Christmas Firefly Page where you can find out all about our Access to Learning Project, where we are raising funds to support the purchase of computers for pupils in two of our local primary partner schools, enabling their pupils to access learning when they are at home owing to self-isolation requirements. If every pupil in Wimbledon High raised just £10 each, we would have raised over £10000 in total, enabling the purchase of 40 iPads or laptops!

6th December 2020

Good book recommendations!

Hi everyone, this week I’ll be recommending some amazing books in relation to exercise and sport.

Make sure to check out https://whs.fireflycloud.net/pe-and-sport/e-library-1 for loads of online resources where you can find reading materials.

Bounce by Matthew Syed:

This is a very well-known book that touches upon the ‘myth’ of talent, and puts the theory of 10,000 hours of purposeful practice to the test. It is a thoroughly interesting book.

The Sports Gene by David Epstein:

This book is a controversial and engaging book that discusses the role of genetics in determining sports ability, touching on the nature vs nurture debate. I personally really enjoyed this book due to the real-life examples that it gives.

Born to Run by Christian Mcdougall:

In this book, Mcdougall tracks down members of the reclusive Tarahumara Native Mexican Tribe, who are known for running ultra distances (over 100miles) at fast speeds without getting injured. Born to Run explains the natural benefits of long-distance running, and how you can become a better runner too, based on several years of research, experiences, and training.

4th December 20207th June 2022

Teaching and learning Gem #24 – questioning for students to connect personally with the ideas

This Friday Gem comes from Steph Harel, who I saw use this sort of questioning in a lesson I observed.

She frequently asked questions that encouraged students to develop their own engagement with the learning, helping them think about the broader context of their learning, but also about what that learning means for them from an individual, personal, ethical as well as academic perspective.

I found these three questions from Steph particularly effective. They can be answered from different perspectives: personal/ethical/academic:

“Why do we care about…?”
“Are you surprised by…?”
“Why does it matter…?”

This sort of questioning is effective because:

It develops a student’s personal connection with topics: what do these topics mean to them as individuals. The learning resonates with them as thinking, feeling humans?
It encourages students to interrogate their reactions to new ideas: great for metacognition.
It helps the teacher build strong a strong rapport with the class, getting to know their students’ personal perspectives.
Linking the academic work to a personal response will help the learning be contextualised for the individual. It will thus build it into a schema/network so it sticks in the long-term memory.
It prompts debate and encourages student’s to raise their voice…if this is their opinion, they are less worried about being right or wrong.

3rd December 20207th June 2022

How are organoids going to change biomedical research?

Kate in Year 13 explores how organoids are going to contribute to biomedical research.

At the moment, biomedical research is almost exclusively carried out in animal models. Although this has led to a better understanding of many fundamental biological processes, it has left gaps in our understanding of human specific development. In addition to this, the variability of human individuals is in sharp contrast to inbred animal models, leading to a deficiency in our knowledge about population diversity.

These limitations have forced scientists to invent a new way of looking at and understanding how the human body works; their conclusions were organoids.

Organoids are a miniaturised and simplified version of an organ produced in vitro in 3D which shows realistic micro-anatomy. They originate from renewable tissue sources that self-organise in culture to acquire in vivo-like organ complexity. There are potentially as many types of organoids as there are different tissues and organs in the body. This provides many opportunities such as allowing scientists to study mechanisms of disease acting within human tissues, generating knowledge applicable to preclinical studies as well as being able to offer the possibility of studying human tissues at the same if not higher level of scientific scrutiny, reproducibility and depth of analysis that has been possible only with nonhuman model organisms.

Organoids are going to revolutionise drug discovery and accelerate the process of bringing much needed drugs to reality. Nowadays, the process averages around 20 years from conception to reality. This is a lengthy process mainly due to the fact that the pharmaceutical industry has relied on animal models and human cell lines that have little resemblance to normal or diseased tissue – possibly one of the reasons behind the high failure rate of clinical trials adding to the high cost of drug discovery – an average of $2 billion for each new drug that reaches the pharmacy.

Organoids can help this development by using human cells instead of animal cells due to the improved compatibility, making it quicker and more efficient. Organoids are also able to provide a better understanding of human development.

Organoid graph — Above: Uses of organoids from https://blog.crownbio.com/key-organoid-applications

The human brain, especially the neocortex (which is the part of the mammalian brain involved in higher-order brain functions such as sensory perception, cognition, spatial reasoning and language), has evolved to be disproportionally larger compared with that of other species. A better understanding of this species-dependant difference through brain organoids will help us gain more knowledge about the mechanisms that make humans unique, and may aid the translation of findings made in animal models into therapeutic strategies answering the question what makes humans human.

Organoids are the future of biomedical research providing the potential to study human development and model disease processes with the same scrutiny and depth of analysis customary for research with non-human model organisms. Resembling the complexity of the actual tissue or organ, patient derived human organoid studies will accelerate medical research and generate knowledge about human development which is going to dramatically change the way we are going to study biology in the future.

3rd December 20207th June 2022

Steam+ in MFL

Claire Baty, Head of French and Mandarin, considers how Modern Foreign Languages connect with other subjects.

“No subject can exist in isolation: discourse and community are central to the progression of knowledge and understanding”[1]. This is the absolute backbone for the study of Modern Foreign Languages. It makes no sense to learn a language in isolation because a fundamental purpose of learning a language is to communicate; to facilitate discourse between different communities, countries and nationalities in order to further our understanding of each other and what connects us.

It is easy to make superficial links between subjects; learning numbers in Year 7 by doing basic maths or practicing the imperative by giving instructions for a PE warm up in a foreign language. These lessons all provide valuable opportunities to reinforce vocabulary, but they feel like an add on, a tick box exercise. The key to true interdisciplinary learning is to stop seeing our own subjects in isolation and start seeing the themes, the skills, the whole world problems and solutions that we examine with our students.

Above: Business vector created by freepik

Take for example students learning Mandarin Chinese. Being able to recognise and write in character is linked to a deeper insight into the culture and civilisation of countries where Chinese is spoken, which in turns requires an understanding of the history of that country. This inevitably leads to an appreciation of the current economic and political climate in that country. Three key areas of study for Mandarin Pre-U overlap significantly with History, Geography and Economics. This is what is so wonderful about Steam+ as an approach to curriculum building: expertise across the school can be used to fuel a student’s curiosity and develop a passion for a subject that is not limited to one perspective.

At A Level the interdisciplinary links between MFL and other subjects are more obvious; Y13 French students study the occupation of France and German students the reunification of Germany. However, Steam+ is about creating opportunities within the curriculum for all year groups.

Consider for example our Year 10 German students who were able to explore 100 years of the Bauhaus movement by attending exhibitions and screenings in German. The language they had been learning in class to discuss their fictional interior designs gained more significance when they saw it in a real-life context.

Students in Year 7 French consider the idea of secularism and religious freedom and how fundamental that is to the French constitution and everyday life in France when they look at what it is like to be a pupil at school in France. Delving deeper into this value system, alongside others, is an opportunity to encourage tolerance and understanding and to allow students to make connections where perhaps they had not expected them.

The connections between learning a foreign language and travel are clear, so our Year 9 scheme of work is structured around a project where students discover the varied and exciting world that is la Francophonie. Using the vocabulary learnt in class to examining the geography, culture, traditional dress, culinary delights and song of different French speaking countries they are able to broaden their understanding of what it means to be French yet also begin to consider the implications of France’s colonial history.

Languages vector — Above: people vector created by freepik

Reforms to the GCSE since 2016 have meant that the study of literary texts has become an essential part of any MFL scheme of work. This presents so many opportunities for the transfer of skills between MFL and English. The sense of pride and achievement that students in Year 9 experience from being able to decode the future tense from an authentic French poem (Demain dès l’aube, Victor Hugo) is far greater than that any grammar exercise would give them. Year 11 close analysis of Maupassant’s la parure in their French lessons gave students a deeper understanding of French society in the 19^th Century, themes occurring in other French works and the literary movements of the time, all of which enhanced their ability to study the same work for GCSE English. The key here is for the departments to work together on devising a programme of study that meets all their requirements rather than teaching the same topic twice in isolation.

Steam+ creates the space for interdisciplinary thought. It is an exciting opportunity for us and our students to collaborate more intensively to explore ideas that do not fit neatly into a lesson plan. But it is also an opportunity to examine the skills that are required and developed by one subject that can support a student’s understanding, expression and ultimately progression in another. Attention to detail required for effective translation that is also needed when examining data in Science and Maths; performance techniques in Music and oral proficiency in MFL. Yes, at times we are confined by exam specifications, but by encouraging our students to make connections between subjects, they can take their learning beyond the syllabi and into the real world because that is the fun in learning and ultimately the point.

[1] Steam+ manifesto

2nd December 20207th June 2022

George Cook, explores ideas from The Culture Code (Daniel Coyle) and Radical Candor (Kim Scott)

George Cook, Head of Hockey at WHS, explores ideas from The Culture Code (Daniel Coyle) and Radical Candor (Kim Scott). These books show that it is less about the questions we ask, and more about the environment we create that enables us to ask them. Culture is everything.

Questioning is a hot topic in the world of education. What type of questioning do you use? What type of questioning should you be using?

There is no doubt that questioning allows us, as the teacher, to identify areas of strength and weakness in our classes. It gives opportunity to really challenge the most gifted, stretching and pushing the limits of their understanding. It is a great tool because in the same breath we can use questioning to give great confidence to those who are unsure or perhaps, normally, quieter and more reserved in lessons.

However, according to the two books listed above, the type of question you use and who you ask it to, is irrelevant if the environment we create is not quite right.

The Culture Code examines many high performing groups ranging from high end military task forces and airline pilots, to successful start-up companies as well as big hitters like Google. On the face of it, none of these groups have much in common. Apart from the culture they have developed, built on honest two-way communication and trust.

It was found that regular small snippets of communication within these high functioning groups allowed them to not only know each other better, but made sure they stayed on track throughout the task at hand to complete it in the most accurate and efficient way possible. The opposite of this in a classroom situation would be to wait for over an hour into a lesson before catching a pupil off guard with a challenging question to answer in front of their peers. Small and frequent two-way communication is much more effective.

Radical Candor states that if we are to have open and honest communication in our groups and teams then we must instil two key elements first. Firstly, care personally about all those in your class, and show it! As teachers we do this more often than we might expect and can be as simple as asking a pupil how their weekend was etc. The second element is to challenge directly. Challenge the beliefs of pupils directly, but also actively encourage them to do the same to us as this is more likely to build trusting relationships where more in depth and honest discussions and conversations can be had.

If we can take these lessons and implement them into our classroom and practical teaching, then we are far more likely to have open and lively debate and discussion that includes all members of the group and not just those that feel confident in the subject area. This is why I think the culture we build around questioning is equally important as the type of questions we use.

29th November 2020

Stretching !

Hi everyone!

There’s only 2 more weeks to go till christmas holidays, and whilst for some of us that period will be dominated by revision for A-level and GCSE mocks, its very important that everyone gets a chance to relax.

I find that one of the best ways for me to relax both my body and my mind is to do stretching. Especially when done in a slow and focused manner, an extended stretching routine can be an excellent relaxation method and stress reducer, helping to reduce tension in both your mind and body.

I recommend doing a set of stretches in both the morning and the evening. Doing them in the morning will help you feel more awake and prepared for the day ahead of you, while doing them in the evening will help you wind down and de-stiffen your joints after a long day.

Here are some of my favorite stretches:

The spinal twist:

Lying on your back, raise one of your knees, and gently roll it over to the opposite side. Make sure both of your shoulders stay in contact with the bed at all times. If it feels comfortable, stretch one arm out to the side, keeping it in line with your shoulders, and slowly turn your head to face your outstretched arm. You should feel the stretch on the sides of your upper body and your lower back. Breathe deeply and repeat on the opposite side

2. Figure four stretch:

<> on September 23, 2017 in Santa Monica, California.

Lie on your back with you feet flat on the floor. Cross your left food over your right quad, and then lift your right leg off the floor. Grab onto the back of your right leg and gently pull it towards your chest. When you feel a comfortable stretch, hold there. Hold for 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Switch sides and repeat. This should stretch your hips, gluteus, lower back, and hamstrings.

3. Chest and shoulder stretch

Sit or stand and clasp your hands together behind your back, arms straight. Lift your hands towards the ceiling, going only as high as is comfortable. You should feel a stretch in your shoulders and chest. Hold for 15 to 30 seconds, repeating one to three times.

25th November 202025th November 2020

Thinking about our Bread and Butter

Suzy Pett, Director of Studies, explores best practice for assessment and feedback.

Whilst cognitive scientists are increasingly enhancing our understanding of how students learn, to all intents and purposes, learning is still invisible. Sometimes we glimpse signs of learning: those eureka moments when a piece of knowledge suddenly clicks into place. But, to see the learning itself is a chimera.

Because of this, assessment and feedback is our bread and butter as teachers. We assess continually in a variety of ways to work out what has and hasn’t been learnt. It allows us to explore a student’s schema (network of knowledge), to put right misconceptions, to encourage individuals and to adapt our own teaching accordingly. In this way, we can make a myriad of adjustments to the way we teach to enhance student progress. Plus, with the help of cognitive science, we’re getting better at knowing what does and does not work in terms of assessment and feedback.

But, the idea of ‘assessment’ can strike fear into students. And, do students fully take on board our feedback, anyway? During our staff study day at the end of last half term, a group of us discussed our ethos surrounding assessment and feedback. It was important to refine our collective understanding of both these fundamental areas of pedagogy. With linear A Levels and GCSEs, we need to shine a light on our assessment methods, making the most of spaced and interleaved practice. But, we spoke, too, of students’ misunderstanding of the purpose of assessment and feedback.

We boiled down our ideas to a powerful message, drawing from our own experiences and in light of reading articles by David Didau, Tom Sherrington, Hattie, Clarke and the Education Endowment Foundation.

We want students to realise that:

Assessment doesn’t just measure learning, it helps learning and it happens all the time in the classroom.
Feedback is not a judgement on their ability but a spring-board towards further personal and academic development. Everything students do is part of a wider personal and academic endeavor.
Feedback is an opportunity for reflection on, and ownership of, their learning.

Let’s dig a little deeper into these three ideas.

Assessment doesn’t just measure learning, it helps learning and it happens all the time in the classroom:

Assessment and testing turbo boost learning: They don’t just measure it, they propel it! The process of recalling knowledge strengthens long term memory; the process of collating ideas and organising them on the page helps consolidate schema. We want students to know this!

Lightness of touch, good humour and warmth: Frequent low stakes testing or quizzing (especially if spaced and/or interleaved) is fundamental in encoding ideas in the long term memory. And, it is an opportunity to quickly put right any misperceptions forming in the student’s mind. Regular testing, should, therefore not feel like a burden, but should be an opportunity to learn. As teachers, we need to help set the tone for this. With a lightness of touch, good humour and warmth, these low stakes tests can propel more rapid learning and can build student confidence. Our attitude must reflect this spirit.

Toggle between knowledge: We need to be aware, too, of the illusion of understanding. Pupils can perform well in a low stakes quiz, especially if the quiz reflects a unit of blocked learning. However, students might not necessarily be able to transfer the learning to another context, or be able to recall it in an exam which requires them to toggle between different sorts of knowledge (such as in the linear GCSE and A Levels). A longer, more formal, interleaved assessment or test is still important to gauge how students can pull together ideas from across their different schema. However, a refrain we often hear from students is “Is this an assessed piece of work?”, with rising levels of panic creeping into the voice. So, again, teachers need to position this sort of testing accordingly – as a chance for students to learn, rather than the teacher to judge.

Assessment happens continually, anyway: students need to realise this. As teachers, we’re not judging a one-off performance. Assessment is an ongoing process to help individuals make progress:

It’s the checking of prior knowledge at the start of the lesson (helping students orientate new understanding within their existing schema)
It’s the Q&A during lessons
It’s the one-to-one discussions whilst the teacher is circulating when the class are working
It’s the quick quiz during class time
It’s the careful observation of student talk/work during activities
It’s the mini plenary to judge how well new ideas have been assimilated
It’s the exit card for teachers to work out how each individual has grasped the learning.
NB: the verbal feedback in lessons and the one-to-one discussions are arguably the most powerful forms of feedback, more so than the written feedback on written work. Students should not underestimate this sort of feedback.

Feedback is not a judgement on student ability but a spring-board towards further personal and academic development. Everything they do is part of a wider personal/academic endeavor.

Low threat to self-esteem: One of the most striking discussions we had during staff study day was around the profound impact of feedback to bolster or demoralise students. An entire page of feedback on an essay may be well intentioned, but it can in fact deflate a student. Feedback is received best when there is a low rather than high threat to self-esteem, and we should be mindful of this. Instead, choosing to focus feedback on one particular skill, or on one particular element of the essay/test can be more impactful for the student, who can use it as a springboard for development.

Get off the hamster wheel! Learning is more that digesting ‘testable chunks’: Fortunately, WHS already has grit and resilience at the heart of the learning experience: growth mind set is firmly established amongst staff and students. However, we still need to beware to avoid assessment and feedback making students feel like they are on a hamster wheel. Instead of narrowing horizons to the next test or the next piece of feedback, it’s important for students to realise why this learning is important, beyond the looming GCSE and A Level. In giving feedback and when quizzing/assessing, we need to be sure that we keep our eyes on the whole and share this with students. Giving reminders of the wider canvas of the learning are key i.e. why is this knowledge/skill/technique important to our subject. Let’s even think beyond our subject divides and tap into our school’s STEAM ethos. We must keep at the forefront that what we are doing is unlocking the expansive, fascinating potential of our subject, not simply breaking it down into testable chunks. Feedback should remind students of this; it’s a chance to nurture their love of the subject.

Ditch the satnav: In contrast, David Didau has coined the term ‘satnav marking’, to indicate the sort of reductive mark that simply tells students the next steps. Whilst arguably useful in the immediate term, it makes a subject operate in a ‘paint by numbers’ capacity. We should avoid this sort of marking, instead encouraging students to think in nuanced ways about their work and their subject and their passions.

Feedback is an opportunity for reflection on, and ownership of, student learning.

If feedback is seen and not heard, it is pointless: Fundamental to feedback is students’ reflection on it. During out staff study day, we spoke about our sense that pupils often felt like they were doing the assessment/homework/test for us as teachers, rather than for themselves. By placing metacognition at the heart of the feedback process, we can shift this student misperception so that students take ownership of assessment and feedback as a personal learning process. Teachers need to carve out time and prioritise students taking on board the comments. Strategies were discussed, such as ‘DIRT’ time; students rewriting sections of their work; students responding to questions posed in the marking; students pre-reflecting on their work to allow teachers to respond to this in feedback; student tracking their marks/feedback using OneNote.

Give feedback on ‘best’ work: An idea that struck a chord was that students need to take ownership of their learning by the effort they invest in their work. There is little point in giving feedback on work students know isn’t their best…the feedback will just confirm what they already know. We need to give feedback on students’ ‘best’ work: i.e. work which is a result of high effort, in which students are invested and which shows ‘liminal learning’ (work which is pushing at the bounds of their capabilities). If this is the criterion for marking work, then students will want to see the feedback.

Self/peer assessment is not because we’re lazy! We also discussed the use of peer and self-assessment in allowing students to take ownership of their work. Whilst students often do not like this method of assessment, preferring the safety net of the teacher marking their work, we know that it develops metacognition. This is not a technique for lazy teachers not wanting to mark (as we suspect some students think!) but it is a vital tool for student self-reflection.

It’s about a whole school culture. Most important of all is for this mind set of ownership and self-reflection to be reinforced regularly across the school: it’s about a culture which comes from teachers, tutors, form times, PSHE peer counsellors, subject leaders.

25th November 2020

Does receiving aid automatically result in dependency?

Alice in Year 13 explores some of the possible links between aid and dependency, looking at the central issues relating to the giving of aid.

Humanitarian aid, water — Above: Humanitarian Aid, Pixabay

Aid is the money, food or other resources that are given or lent by one country to another, for the purpose of helping those in poverty or those who have been affected by disasters and need relief. However, it is often argued that this can result in welfare dependency which occurs when a person or household is reliant on the aid they have received or are receiving; potentially leading to the prevention of government accountability and development. This is because a household is theoretically less likely to become independent through actively seeking out work, education, or training if they have the support of organisations or the government to fall back on. The usefulness of aid varies for different events, often longer-term and materialistic or monetary assistance are thought to provoke higher levels of welfare dependency than shorter-term or more sustainable support.

Firstly, it is important to establish the definition of dependence and what would qualify a household to be in a state of dependency. Although this could be measured through the percentage of income that is derived from aid, other factors influence reliance as well, such as the extremity of the situation as only a small proportion could be needed to help a family in a crisis yet this assistance may be necessary for relief. On the other hand, aid could make up a large amount of a household’s income yet they may not necessarily be dependent as job availability and eligibility are also a significant factor in calculating a household’s dependence. However, Sharp et al. (2003) classifies destitution as ‘a state of extreme poverty that results from pursuit of ‘unsustainable livelihoods’, (…) they lack access to the key productive assets needed to escape from poverty, and they become dependent on public and/or private transfers’. This depicts dependency as a defining character of destitution, implying that because those who receive humanitarian action are often in an extreme state of poverty, they have to be dependent on it in order to receive it and therefore aid has to foster welfare dependency.

In addition to this, although dependency on aid may be seen as a defining feature for destitution despite subjective stances on whether recipients are dependent, the degree to which aid can be relied on is a completely different factor. Despite dependency being necessary to receive aid, realistically aid may not be the most useful way of supporting those in poverty or a crisis and therefore in actuality, beneficiaries are unable to rely on it. This varies depending on the organisation giving help and their transparency with the receivers as well as the regularity of its occurrence. For example, Harvey and Lind use a case study in South Sudan, where ‘relief deliveries have in general been too unreliable and inadequate for dependency, except in limited periods of acute emergency’, showing that the only time aid could be guaranteed was when the situation was extreme. In other times, the citizens would most likely have to rely on other sources of support as relief aid would be too irregular to be depended on.

As well as this, in a 2001 study of the drought in Eastern Africa by Erin Lentz and Christopher Barret, there was ‘no qualitative or quantitative evidence that the meagre amounts of food aid they received had an appreciable effect on their capacity to become self-reliant’. This, again, shows how organisations can lack transparency with their recipients as well as a possible lack of domestic knowledge of the country and investment due to concerns of public image over the well-being of the citizens in need. These cases are examples of when aid cannot physically be relied on either because of the little amount or low quality of the support or because of the short-term effect it had and varying circumstances that also play a part in the usefulness of aid.

In contrast to this, many studies where humanitarian assistance has been given to those in poor conditions or a crisis show that aid has helped to relieve victims of poverty and disasters and therefore were and can be relied on. According to Jeffery Sachs in The Guardian, ‘a growing flood of data shows that death rates in many poor countries are falling sharply, and that aid supported programmes for healthcare delivery have played a key role’. A study by Gabriel Demombynes and Sophia Trommlerova shows that Kenya’s infant mortality rate has decreases due to the up-take of anti-malaria bed nets that had been donated. As well as this, ‘malaria deaths in children in Africa were cut from a peak of around 1 million in 2004 to around 700,000 in 2010’. These statistics would suggest that healthcare ais is necessary for the survival of those at risk to diseases and therefore are depended on by many people.

However, the allocation of aid is also important to factor in when considering how dependable households are on foreign aid. For example, in Afghanistan the ability for aid agencies to communicate with women was restricted during the Taliban period due to the patriarchal society, reducing their reliability on it. Other factors that determine whether groups can rely on foreign aid also include local power dynamics and hierarchies, for people to be able to depend on aid it is important that those distributing it are not corrupt, or have a bias over certain households. In Ethiopia, the distribution of aid was decided by local-level authorities who often allocated support equally throughout the community, lessening its effectiveness on those who may have needed it more than others. This is shown in Dawunta Delant, a region in Ethiopia, where some recipients claim that poorer households may not have received as much assistance as others due to their disconnection with local leaders, ‘aid is provided to wealthy people. We poor receive a small ration. The aid comes in the name of the poor of our community but the poor do not receive the aid’, depicting how those who need aid cannot rely on it since only a small portion is given.

Food aid is also often seen to cause a high level of reliance from the beneficiaries. Again, this is because the provision of food can sometimes act as a replacement for locally sourced food, leaving local businesses with less revenue and customers as well as a disincentive for farmers to work if food will be provided for them. In Ethiopia, food insecurity is a persistent problem due to the unreliable rainfall patterns and low irrigation levels, leaving a large proportion of Ethiopians (an estimated 4.6 million) relying on food aid. Aschale Dagnachew Siyoum has associated this with the ‘dependency syndrome’, and the idea of ‘aspiration failure’ where there is ‘the lack of systematic pro-active effort to better one’s future’. The head of the District Agricultural Office explains that ‘due to availability of food aid for many years, farmers have developed a dependency syndrome and have become reluctant to improve their lives. As a consequence, they are not willing to use their potential to improve their livelihood by themselves.’ However, interviews with the recipients of food aid also shows that the assistance was not enough to be able to depend on, showing the lack of reliability. One household claimed that ‘the amount of food aid that we have been receiving was not enough to cover our food gaps and we always have to supplement our income from other sources’, furthermore, 65% of the households that were surveyed depended upon ‘the sale of productive assets like livestock and credit to cover consumption gaps in times of need’. This suggests that rather than having a ‘dependency syndrome’, where farmers and families are reluctant to work, they use the aid to complement other activities as it is not enough to depend on alone.

As a result, for the majority of cases aid does not cause the recipient to become dependent due to its unreliability and the insufficiency of the amount given. Although in some circumstances aid can be relied on which would arguably make the beneficiaries dependent, many would suggest that rather than becoming reliant on this aid, receivers are instead only using this aid to complement other activities in order to become self-sufficient in the future.