#ShowmeYourKnits red/pink...

There is so much dire news - and it's important to keep up with it - that it's worth highlighting good news at times. People are making Welcome Blankets... www.goodgoodgood.co/articles/wel...

If discussions of racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia... make you uncomfortable... Good. If you've never had to think about these things, enjoy your privilege but also *use it to support those who have no choice but to confront - and be confronted by - these things, every day*.

I am working on a PPT (because, academic). The SU has asked me to lead a session on knitting for Int Women's Day and of COURSE I'm getting in things on the history of knitting and knitting as resistance. Because. Yes. #academicknitters (is that a thing here, yet? If not - let's make it so)

With the far right on the rise and divisions being provoked, it's more important than ever that we stand up for everyone's right to a safe and secure home. We firmly believe that the #FightForHome is also a fight against racism. Let's stand together to take action.

How’s the lit review going, you ask?

Please tell me I am not the only academic who has a blue sky icon and a scholar icon in their bookmarks bar, and routinely clicks the wrong one? Tell me I'm not alone?

#parentalengagement One of the important things for schools is to have a plan - a clear, evidence based plan - for how they are going to support families to engage with learning. There's a template - and a rationale -here - open access, English and Welsh. journal.uwp.co.uk/wje/article/...

#parentalengagement in 2014 I said: So much has been added to our existing model of schools ... that we've run out of attachment points for new ideas; we need to stop bolting things on to the outside of what we're already doing and go back and rethink ...the basics. We need to get radical.

The video of the launch of Max's edited book is here: drive.google.com/file/d/1B68-... Please do have a look The Role of Social Inequality in Parent Engagement - From inequality to social justice in education #parentanegagement @max-antony-newman.bsky.social

Shared again with permission... #knitting...

#parentalengagement Stop saying parents 'lack social capital'. They may lack the social & cultural capital *that is valued by schools* but that's not the same thing. Stop privileging the s/c capital that's familiar to you/teachers/members of the middle classes, over, well, the rest of the world.

I happened to remember that another colleague had a canine co author and asked and they said yes please, so herewith... It looks terribly messy but that's due to the variegated yarn!

#ShowMeYourKnits - grey? Well, there was a jumper for my son and a shawl for me, in the much lamented Reflections yarn...

Following on from others - five classes you took in university... * Physics for non science majors * Augustine on the religious life * Canon law on marriage * Latin (1 & 2) * Medieval literature... Wow, those were hard to remember! (Not all the same institution)

#parentalengagement Don't be swayed by reports about the impacts of 'screen time' for children. Read actual research - which shows that parents are making clear, careful decisions about using digital devices (not all of which have screens) with very young children. www.mmu.ac.uk/about-us/fac...

I know there are a lot of new followers here (hello!) and you may be wondering a. why do I post about knitting? b. how do I have time to knit? A thread like thing...

A while back, a colleague was joined on a zoom call by a small, lovely little canine companion. I asked colleague and they were excited about the possibility of a hat for said companion. So this happened.... #ShowMeYourKnits

#UKPoverty2026 1 in 5 people in the UK are in poverty.

Poverty is deepening. 🔎 Our #UKPoverty2026 report was launched this morning. People in very deep poverty now make up the biggest group of people in poverty, at 6.8 million people. This is unacceptable for the fifth richest country in the world, and it has consequences.

Finished object #ShowMeYourKnits.... neckwarmer from deep stash... Aran

#parentalengagement Recognise the world young people actually live in. 'Doing maths' at home? That includes cataloguing collections, figuring out points needed for teams to advance, as well as how to divvy up a pizza. Look at the work of Jo Rose - www.bristol.ac.uk/research/imp... for more ideas

Just a reminder!

#ShowMeYourKnitting - more garter, just finished - same pattern (TGV, Ashcroft)

Oh, yes - additional #ShowMeYourKnits post as we all need a bit of comfort! The first one was knit for my head of department, the second for the department as a whole, and the third for the head of another department (who has decided it's a pigeon, so, ok...).

#ShowMeYourKnits - Garter, you say? SO MUCH GARTER.

#parentalengagement Don't underestimate how much the transition *into* school impacts families. I was reminded of this work from @savechildrenuk.bsky.social today vimeo.com/807458535?sh...

#showMeYourKnits FO Friday - I finished this last week - the pattern is TGV by S Ashcroft and I have made many of them!

#parentalengagement Representation matters. We know this about young people in books - but it matters to families as well. Look around at any representations of parents - are they all young (but not too young) white mums? There are other family members. Make sure they see themselves in your school

#parentalengagement Never underestimate the value of a bit of good news - especially for families that don't often get good, or indeed, any news at all. Teachers spend time and effort creating good working relationships with young people - they have the skills to do this with parents as well.

#parentalengagement Stop it with the 'word gap' argument and ideology. Yes, I've used it in the past - I was wrong. Don't judge parents on the basis of heavily critiqued research. Instead, read this... ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.... Thanks to @iancushing.bsky.social

#parentalengagement It's worth noting that having more than one language increases one's concepts of the world as there are things one can say in one language that just don't translate to others. Many of us in education have only one or two languages - many parents have more.

#parentalengagement Please realise that for some of your parents, school may well be a locus of shame, of failure, of disappointment... Walking into such a place takes enormous courage - and many may well choose not to do so. This does NOT mean that they don't care about their children's learning.

Paper from the ESRC funded Tots, Tech and Talk project - onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#parentalengagement tip... Be clear about what you are aiming at. Teachers are trained to create clear aims and objectives - apply those skills to work with families. And make sure the aim has to do with *learning* above all - not getting parents in, but learning.

Welcome to the Jan 30 (10am ET/3pm GMT) online book launch of our volume The Role of Social Inequality in Parent Engagement: From Inequality to Social Justice in Education. Register here bit.ly/4qrzpfu University of Glasgow Centre for Transformative Change in Schools

Ok, so there is a challenge on a knitting place to knit 26 hats in February. /looks around at more than 8 large plastic zip up cubes recently acquired to hold the stash of yarn Yup, I can do that.

One more... #parentalengagement If you write about this and people need a dictionary and a handbook of philosophy to understand the paper, teachers won't read it. They are more than intelligent enough but they *do not have time*. They are time pressured graduates - write accordingly.

#parentalengagement Watch your language. 'Parents and professionals'? A lot of parents *are* professionals. (Look to the work of Horby and Lafaele among many others). 'Parents and educators'? What do you think parents have been doing since day one? It may not be meant to devalue, but it does.

If you are a teacher or involved in training teachers, PLEASE read It's not a culture of poverty, it's a poverty of culture anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1... #parentalengagement

#parentalengagement Just as learning looks a little bit different for every young person, so does parental engagement. If you concentrate on getting parents into school, parents helping the school, you may be *widening* the divide, not helping to close it.

An entirely intermittent series of ideas about #parentalengagement. First, and importantly, it's *not* about getting parents into school. The impactful bits of PE happen at home.

Hive mind - does anyone still use tea cosies any more? I mean, we do at home and I do in the office but we are not as young as might be... would anyone still value/use knitted tea cosies? Asking for a me. (pattern by Loani Prior)

#ShowMeYourKnits Years ago, I made many pair of these ancestral mitts, which were sold (with the designer's kind permission) to raise money for a charity supporting dads... Pattern from www.thefatedknitter.co.uk

Conversation this morning: 'Are you Lidling?' 'No, I have Lidled!' Now, in the context of visiting a grocery store, inkwiring minds wish to know if this is an irregular verb? Suggestions?

In Chapter 15, Parents as Partners: School Resilience and Cohesion Post-COVID-19, Erica Fae Thomson, Samantha Mullin, Emily Milne & Karen Robson view parents as key partners to create more equitable, inclusive, and accessible post-pandemic educational opportunities link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

Check out this #OpenAccess article by Janet Goodall et al., examining how parents mediate the use of digital technologies by very young children. 💻👀 doi.org/10.1080/0013... @janetifimust.bsky.social @lornaarnott.bsky.social

In Chapter 14, Storying Black and Indigenous Communities’ Place/Land Relations in Educational Engagement and Advocacy, Dana Nickson, Shaneé Washington, Kiana Smith & Sefanit Habtom show offer more expansive and just conceptions of family and community engagement link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

Call for papers, special issue on: “Family and Community Engagement as Disruptive Forces for Change” www.mdpi.com/journal/educ...

Me too, little squid, me too...