The Learning Spy Monthly Round-Up #2
April 13 – May 10, 2025
Welcome to the second edition of The Learning Spy Monthly Round-Up, a curated digest of the the past months reflections on education, culture, leadership, and learning. Missed the first edition ? Catch up here →
First, thank you so much to everyone who’s subscribed. Even though there are now over 1300 of you, each and every one of you has a special place in my heart. If you haven’t yet subscribed, you can do so now :)
I still worry I’m pumping out too much content but I’ve got the bit between my teeth and can’t seem to stop writing. (I already have 2 weeks worth of posts completed and scheduled!) Here’s a recap of the 18 posts I published last month.
Seeing Is Believing 12 April, 2025 (Paid) Read the full post →
We like to think we believe things because we’ve seen the evidence — but what if it’s the other way around? In this piece, I explore how surface-level credibility, particularly when paired with pseudoscientific flourishes, can distort how we interpret information. The implications for education? We’re often seduced by ideas that look clever but don’t actually deepen understanding. This post is a call for epistemic humility — to check our own beliefs and resist the allure of superficially satisfying explanations.
How Do We Know If We’re Any Good? 13 April, 2025 Read it here →
This was the most viewd post of the month. In it I challenge the ways we usually judge teaching quality by turning attention to who is learning, not just what is taught. I argue that student outcomes — particularly among the most advantaged — often tell us very little about the effectiveness of our practice. These students are likely to succeed regardless of how well we teach. If we want to know whether we’re doing good work, we need to look at the progress of our least advantaged students. Their success — or lack of it — is far more likely to be shaped by what we do in the classroom. That, I suggest, is the true measure of professional effectiveness.
What Barbara Bleiman Gets Right About the Decline of English Teaching (and What She Gets Wrong) 14 April, 2025 Read the full post →
In this essay, I engage with Barbara Bleiman’s perspectives on the current state of English teaching. Bleiman, a respected figure in English education, has voiced concerns about the increasing emphasis on knowledge acquisition at the expense of interpretive and creative aspects of the subject.
I acknowledge the validity of her concerns, particularly the risk of reducing English to a mechanical exercise focused solely on factual recall. However, I also argue that a strong foundation of knowledge is essential for meaningful engagement with texts. Without it, students may struggle to develop the analytical and critical thinking skills that Bleiman champions.
The Purpose of POSIWID Is What It Does 18 April, 2025 Read the full post →
This post explores Stafford Beer’s systems thinking principle POSIWID — “The Purpose of a System Is What It Does.” I argue that schools should be judged not by what they claim to value, but by the outcomes they consistently produce. If inspection regimes, for example, lead to superficial box-ticking rather than genuine improvement, then that is their true purpose in action. I also push back against Scott Alexander’s critique, which warns that POSIWID mistakes dysfunction for intent. My response: POSIWID isn’t an excuse — it’s a diagnosis. If we want better results, we have to change what the system actually does
Rewiring Inspection 19 April, 2025 Read the full post →
In this continuation of my exploration into systems thinking and cybernetics, I propose a fundamental redesign of school inspection processes. Rather than serving as a top-down mechanism for accountability, inspection should function as a feedback system that promotes learning and improvement within educational institutions.
I argue for a shift from compliance-driven models to ones that support adaptability and coherence, enabling schools to respond effectively to their unique contexts and challenges. By reimagining inspection through the lens of systems theory, we can create a more supportive and constructive framework for educational evaluation.
Looping Learning: Why Real School Improvement Is Recursive 20 April, 2025 Read the full post →
In this essay, I argue that genuine school improvement is not a linear process but a recursive one. Drawing on systems thinking, I suggest that schools must engage in continuous feedback loops, where learning leads to change, and change leads to further learning. This approach emphasises the importance of adaptability and ongoing reflection in educational practices. I explore how traditional models of school improvement often fail because they overlook the complex, dynamic nature of educational systems. Instead, I advocate for a model that recognizes the iterative process of learning and growth, both for students and institutions.
Why Do We Need Schools? — The Complete Series 21–24 April, 2025
Schools are often taken for granted. But what are they for? In this four-part series, I explore the evolutionary, cultural, and pedagogical foundations of schooling — and why its purpose is far deeper than exam results.
Part 1: What are schools for? Read it here →
A foundational post exploring three competing answers: schools for personal development, economic preparation, or cultural transmission. I argue that the real value of education lies in its capacity to shape how we think and who we become.
Part 2: Why is it hard to learn some things? Read it here →
Biologically primary knowledge (like speaking or walking) is easy to learn. But subjects like maths, science, and grammar are biologically secondary — we need schools because we won’t learn these things naturally.
Part 3: Gene-culture coevolution and the role of schools Read it here →
This post connects schooling with our evolutionary history. I argue that schools are society’s mechanism for ensuring cultural survival by transmitting shared knowledge across generations.
Part 4: Is teaching a natural human activity? Read it here →
Teaching — as schools practise it — is not natural. That’s why it’s necessary. I explore how our evolved psychology makes some educational practices counterintuitive, and why good teaching must often go against instinct.
Deep Reading, Noticing and Analogising 26 April, 2025 (PAID) Read the full post →
What does it really mean to understand a text? In this long essay (6500+ words) I dig into the mechanics of deep reading — the kind of analytical, attentive engagement that moves students from surface-level comprehension to interpretive sophistication. I argue that teaching students to notice — to spot subtle patterns, stylistic choices, and structural parallels — is foundational to literary analysis.
But noticing alone isn’t enough. What transforms noticing into insight is analogising: connecting one element of a text to another, or linking it to broader contexts, patterns, and interpretations. This is the basis of metaphorical and symbolic thinking — and it’s how students begin to see that meaning in literature is made, not merely found. It’s a practical and philosophical exploration of what we really mean by “reading for meaning” and is one of the best things I’ve written.
Cognitive Levers: Using Syntax to Teach Thinking 29 April, 2025 Read the full post →
In this post, I argue that syntax is a powerful tool for teaching thought. When we teach students to manipulate sentence structures deliberately, we give them the means to organise, deepen, and clarify their thinking. I show how different sentence forms prompt different kinds of reasoning — from causal analysis to qualification, contrast, and precision. If we want students to think better, we should teach them to write better — and that means teaching them how sentences work.
Visible Learning, Invisible Errors 30 April, 2025 Read the full post →
This post offers a critical reappraisal of John Hattie’s Visible Learning, now 15 years on from its publication. I explore how Hattie’s influential meta-analyses have shaped educational practice — and where they fall short. The core argument: while Hattie has helped popularise the idea of evidence-based teaching, his approach too often encourages surface-level judgments about what “works.” I argue that we need to move beyond effect sizes and visibility, and ask harder questions about validity, context, and what counts as learning in the first place.
How to Launch School Initiatives That Actually Work 1 May, 2025 (PAID) Read it here →
Why do most school initiatives fail? I offer a framework for embedding change that lasts, rooted in behavioural consistency, clarity of purpose, and the avoidance of performative busyness.
On Bullshit, Clarity, and Complexity 3 May, 2025 (PAID) Read it here →
Clarity is not a stylistic preference—it’s an ethical duty. This post draws on Harry Frankfurt’s On Bullshit to show how vague and obscurantist language undermines trust, rigour, and learning.
The Myth of Progress 4 May, 2025 Read it here →
We often equate change with improvement. I question this reflex and argue that many educational reforms deliver novelty, not progress. Sometimes, the best course of action is to stand still.
The Crisis of Meaning 6 May, 2025 Read it here →
What is education for? This post explores the loss of meaning in modern schooling, tracing how relevance, nihilism, and short-termism have undermined purpose—and what a deeper telos might restore.
Ninety Percent of Everything is Crap 8 May, 2025 Read it here →
In this essay, I reflect on Sturgeon’s Law and its relevance to education. I argue that while it’s easy to criticise the abundance of low-quality content in educational discourse, it’s more productive to focus on identifying and amplifying the valuable ten percent. By concentrating on the best examples of educational research, policy, and practice, we can foster meaningful improvement and avoid the pitfalls of cynicism.
On top of all that, I also put out a weekly podcast, It’s Your Time You’re Wasting with Martin Robinson. We are also on You Tube. Please subscribe over there too.