IOE Insights

An occasion to mark Professor Geoff Whitty’s long-standing association with the UCL Institute of Education (IOE) – from trainee teacher to Director Emeritus. We’ll be reflecting on Geoff’s time at the IOE and his contributions to the field of sociology of education as well as looking more broadly at the limits and possibilities for realising social justice in and through education.

IOE Public Debates: We use maths in every aspect of our lives. We need numeracy at work, as citizens to make sense of economic news, as patients to understand risks, as consumers to work out the best deal; the list goes on. But it’s something that as a nation we’re not good at, and poor numeracy costs individuals and the UK dearly. And despite this, it remains acceptable to say – boast even – ‘I’m...

Rob Webster, Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants (MITA) Lead and Researcher talks about why he joined Twitter, his initial approaches to using the platform, and the professional and personal benefits. Visit our website: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ioe_london Follow Rob on Twitter: https://twitter.com/maximisingTAs

IOE Public Debates: The rise of neuroscience within education, as in other spheres, has been dramatic, so much so that accusations of ‘neuro mania’ and warnings about ‘neuro myths’ have become commonplace. Are we correct to pin our hopes on this field as a means of improving learning and attainment? In this debate we bring together leading neuroscientists and educationalists to reflect on the ‘sta...

IOE Public Debates: This year the Warnock Report turns 40 years old. How far have we come and where should we go next? The Warnock Report marked a pivotal change in the provision of education for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) – encouraging these children’s inclusion in mainstream classes, and introducing the system of ‘statementing’ that set out a child’s needs an...

IOE Public Debates: There’s a lot of talk at the moment about robots and artificial intelligence and how they are bringing about a ‘fourth industrial revolution’ in which occupations and the labour market, right up to the top professions like medicine and law, will be transformed. In this context, what kind of education will young people need to prosper, and can our current curriculum and testing...

IOE Public Debates: The Warnock Report is 40 years old in 2018. The Report marked a pivotal change in the provision of education for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), but much has changed in the intervening years. Baroness Mary Warnock reflects on the report and developments since in this conversation with Rob Webster, Director of the Maximising the Impact of Teachin...

IOE Public Lectures: On Thursday 15 February 2018 the IOE hosted a public lecture by Professor Martin Doel – ‘Defining further education: does it matter?’ There is no commonly accepted definition of further education. Professor Doel argues that while this diminishes the agency of institutions and organisations classed as FE providers, seeking an all-encompassing definition is not the answer. Inste...

IOE Public Debates: Some schools have made a name for themselves in performing ‘against the odds’, their pupils chalking up impressive achievements in national tests and exams. But still there remains a link between schools’ circumstances and their performance, and some glaring geographical disparities. Breaking that link has been a focal point for education policy and many high profile organisati...

IOE Public Debates: There’s been a big push to get classroom practice shaped by evidence of ‘what works’. This has been largely inspired by advances in healthcare, where the use of research trials and national guidelines to improve patient care and outcomes is more established. But this approach has not gone uncontested in education (or health) and ‘evidence-informed practice’ is still to be firml...

Professor Martin Doel discusses the latest cabinet reshuffle and the issues surrounding the lack of definition for FE. More: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news-events/events-pub/feb-2018/defining-further-education-does-it-matter About the speaker: Professor Martin Doel joined the UCL Institute of Education (IOE) in 2016 as the first Further Education Trust for Leadership Professor of Leadership in Fur...

IOE Public Debates: How can we combat the continuous challenge surrounding teacher retention? Let’s explore how technology and best practice from other professions can be used to transform teaching. Join us in the debate. Speakers include: - Mary Bousted is the general secretary of ATL and AMiE - Jonathan Simons is the Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Varkey Foundation - Lucy Crehan is an In...

IOE Public Debates: It’s time to address the latest issues surrounding the stubborn academic-vocational divide. Speakers include: - Mary Curnock Cook is the former Chief Executive of UCAS - Tony Little is the Chief Academic Officer at GEMS - Sir Michael Wilshaw is the former Chief Inspector of Schools In England and Head of Ofsted - Alison Fuller is Professor of Vocational Education and Work and P...

IOE Public Lectures: Prof Simon Marginson draws on and integrates a range of social science disciplines in his work, primarily political economy and political philosophy, historical sociology and social theory. His work focuses on globalisation and higher education, international and comparative higher education, and higher education and social inequality. He is currently researching the implicati...

IOE Public Lectures: African governments and donor partners have long regarded investment in education as being central to economic growth in the region – but this investment is yet to achieve rapid economic improvement. Why is that? And what should be done to better realise that goal? In this lecture, Professor Oketch addresses the compelling narrative of human capital theory – the doctrine, unde...

IOE Public Debates: On 31st October we held the first in our ‘What if…’ events series, which challenges thought leaders to bring some fresh and radical thinking to key debates in education. We kicked off with the issue of education’s role in relation to social mobility, asking the panel ‘What if… we really wanted to further social mobility through education?’. Speakers included: Kate Pickett, Prof...

Maggie MacDonnell is the winner of the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize 2017. She won from a field of over 20,000 applications from teachers in almost every country in the world. In this lecture she reflects on the challenges, opportunities and experiences of teaching in the Canadian Arctic. For the last six years Maggie has been a teacher in a fly-in Inuit village called Salluit, home to th...