Why are there so many undiagnosed adults who are only now discovering they're autistic or otherwise neurodivergent? I have an explanation...

If GCSE examiners “can’t recognise legitimate but less common approaches, pupils are disadvantaged precisely for engaging with their subjects at a deeper/more authentic level … success depends less on mastery of knowledge than on 2nd-guessing what examiners know/expect” 💯 #autism #monotropism

It strikes me that the difference between what people call 'traditional' and 'progressive' views of education is in where we think learning is situated. Is it about individuals with agency or is it about efficiency in terms of external goals? Do we get to explore or do we just get told? 🤷‍♀️ #EduSky

When the education system demands things that aren't developmentally appropriate, you end up creating issues not solving them. Young children are not meant to be static for long periods of time. If we insist they are, we create 'behaviour problems' that are actually just children behaving normally.

[3 of 3] Passing GCSE Maths may be a badge of honour to those successful initiates, but is the opposite to those who haven't passed. "Failing" creates an army of people who give up on the numeracy they need for everyday life, because they have been officially labelled as people who "can't do maths"!

[2 of 3/] Exams such as GCSEs have become so divorced from any real world situation, even high pressure ones, where a learner would need to apply their skills and knowledge. Exams have become an alienating ritual, a vestigial and hollow symbol of the passage from schooling to the workplace.

Exams [1 of 3] I was asked to help invigilate some Maths GCSEs this year. It's 13 years since I was a school exams officer & tightening of exams regs & the increased cruciality of exams now makes me wonder if the exam experience can really be a meaningful assessment of someone’s knowledge and skills

Learning is part of who you are, extending your mind and relationship with the world. If that learning is not done for yourself, but because it's what others have told you is needed, the learning which you should naturally "own" as part of your being is being appropriated from you.

New Article! emergentdivergence.com/2025/03/16/n... #ActuallyAutistic #Autism #Autistic #ADHD #AuDHD #EHCP #EHCPsupport #neurodiversity #neurodivergent

There's a source of sensory overload I call "word pollution", I e. where writing is placed in the environment unnecessarily, e.g. on walls, on T shirts etc. For me, words have semantic value. Yet for much of the neurotypical world words can be background wallpaper merely contributing to a vibe.

AI, in it's current LLM form is draws on work that has already been created (by people). It is therefore very good at doing the kind of work (for free) that we have traditionally prepared learners for - following instructions & be malleable to the working methods of the workplace. Should we adapt?

“Recognise and change distressing school environments instead of punishing students for attendance and struggles with meeting neurotypical expectations” Excellent insights, detail and signposting from Helen, as usual 👏👏🌟🌟 autisticrealms.com/challenges-f...

Education follows the model of the Soviet Union's economy, where a small group of people decides what to teach, how to teach, and how much teachers should be paid, while also exploiting unpaid prisoners by calling them students. #EduSky

This article by Skemp written in 1983 & reproduced in @atmmathematics.bsky.social MT journal 293 is still extremely pertinent: “if we were to teach music the way we teach maths we would only succeed in putting most of them off for life.” >>

Being older, I find myself implicitly included in the stereotypical: "kids today have sense of ... they just want to be influencers" etc. conversations. These happen even in college staffrooms. Why do educators fall into condemning young people in this way? We made their world and its choices!

... [2/2] There's too much assessment of "what does Learning look like" & not enough appreciation of what's going on inside the head of actual people doing the learning. Any thoughts?

I've been thinking about the similarity between how neurodiversity has always been defined in terms of it external presentation (behaviours etc.) Rather than the actual I internal processes (the lived experience, neurology) & how learning is seen by teachers. ... [1/2]

At risk of repeating myself: The Luddites weren’t against technology. They were against getting put out of work by a technology that did a version of their job faster but worse, in the service of increasing profits for their bosses.

I don't think we should be sending the message to children and young people that learning is about memorising a curriculum and behaving 'impeccably'. I believe they also need a sense of agency for motivation and that is the bit which maybe has gone missing. 🤷‍♀️ #EduSky

Recommend this article on typical reactions to self-directed learning: www.self-directed.org/tp/lord-of-t.... There is a fear of lack of control when it comes to Children and Young people.

When I hear stories like those from the academies in Hackney, I think that mental health professionals have to speak up. In these schools, it sounds like teachers were being encouraged to use fear to control young people. For some of them the mental health effects lasted years. 1/

Only a third of 8-18 year olds read for pleasure., says a report by the National Literacy Trust. When children can choose what they do, most of them aren’t choosing reading. Inevitably people blame phones and video games. When I talk to parents of young children they tell me a different story. 1/

I visited a school recently which had SLANT posters up. I asked about it. The teacher was casual. ‘It’s just behaviours to help learning’. Behaviours to help students say engaged, says one school website. Another school says that using SLANT helps students to ensure they are focused on learning.1/

[4/4] into places which can bring together learners, experts in knowledge areas and skills and learning environments (labs, libraries, studios etc.) whilst allowing learning to retain the ownership over their learning that they were born with.

[3/4] My interest is how we can transform educational institutions from places which value and promote compliance and conformity over creativity, and which alienate learners from their learning ...

[2/4] I support home-schooling as a way of dealing with some of the ill effects of schooling on individuals, but am not involved myself. ...

[1/4] Just changed my bio slightly to make it more nuanced (rushed it a bit when setting this up). Now shows that my interest in de-schooling and unschooling is as a means of transforming and reimagining educational institutions. ...

[5/5]

[4/5] The key thing is that learning is not a one way process. It is a dialogue between the expert on learning (the teacher) & the individual who is existentially experiencing the process: ...

[3/5] Your job as a teacher is to use your wisdom, insight & methodological expertise to help that internal process within each individual learner. You try to create the spark that lights the learner's internal fire, their desire to learn. ...

[2/5 ]As a teacher you are called to teach. But teaching is not about the things that you do, it is about the interaction between you & the learners. The students are there to learn. However learning is a subjective & individual process within the learners. It is part of them.

[1/5] Following on from my first Post (bsky.app/profile/vide...) & asking the question “who is the education system for? Is it about the learners or is it about the needs of society for education citizens and workers? ... #EduSky

Hello #EduSky. Introducing myself. My Bio is not too important I'm interested in discussing ideas. Main interest atm is in researching/discussing the ownership of education e.g. questions like who is the education system for - individual learners or the needs of society. What should the balance be?

#Unschooling #SelfDirectedEd