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I was lucky enough on Thursday to attend the Tapestry Masterclass, in the Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow. The place was packed out, and with the names on the list of speakers, that was hardly a surprise - Tom Bryce, Walter Humes, Keir Bloomer... and one . I was trying to send updates to as best I could from the hall, but my lack of forethought meant I was only on my phone (with very sore thumbs) and the internet connection was a little patchy. Luckily, from had the same idea, but had come much better prepared - laptop and all. were really useful and allowed teachers to tap into the action from all over the country.

Dr Claire Monaghan, who works for the Schools Directorate in the Scottish Government, introduced proceedings with a refreshingly frank discussion of the implementation of the new curriculum. Keir Bloomer, chair of the , gave an interesting and very in-depth look at assessment, or as he called it - 'measuring what matters'. His reflections on how we can best assess and the possible ethical limits of assessment were thought-provoking. It certainly made me consider the role of assessment in a different light.

Prof. Jerry Bruner, at 93, the elder statesman of educational theory, was a warm, engaging and immediately intelligent speaker. He took his audience through the four modes of learning as he saw it: 'storage', or rote learning; extrapolation; placement and conversion. His idea of devoting a small amount of time in each lesson to what he called 'educated guessing' - allowing pupils to have the confidence to estimate, and then work out why they guessed in a certain way - was a new and interesting one, and in the light of the four capacities would certainly develop effective contributors, successful learners and confident individuals. Many schools have already integrated practices such as the , and Prof. Bruner's view was that narrative was something that schools could, and should, tap into a lot more.

My only slight issue with Bruner's point of view was his disregard of television â€" he even asked if the '³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Scotland guy' was there, luckily he didn't pick up my (very weak) 'yes'! I think this follows on from a previous blog post I made about Julian Chapman's comments at the NASUWT conference, and 's fair and intelligent response. I think we should differentiate between sitting children in front of a television for hours on end, and allowing teachers and learners to make use of the media as part of lessons and informal learning. As regular readers of the blog will know, I feel pretty much the same way about computer games - these can be rich resources when used and contextualised in the right way. I believe that teachers have the professionalism to make this distinction, and I'm sure that Professor Bruner does too. Maybe he just hasn't come across our resources yet! His final message to all of those in Scottish Education was 'get on with it', and I'm sure we can rise to that call to arms.

Professors Walter Humes and Tom Bryce then did a bit of a double-act on the implications of Curriculum for Excellence for Scottish teachers. They were both informative and entertaining (the suggestion that our MPs be judged on the four capacities went down particularly well). I could see that their presentation was immediately useful to the many teachers who'd assembled, and they certainly received a grilling during the question and answer session. It was really good to see the teaching profession and the researchers engaging with each other over the issues surrounding CfE.

I'd really recommend looking on Twitter for the live stream from the event mostly provided by Ian Stuart, with a couple of inputs from myself - . And, if you ever get the chance to hear Jerry Bruner speak, take it â€" you won't be disappointed.

Image: by .

Comments

Excellent. Kudos to you and Iain S who tweeted so well and enabled us to almost be there!
dave t
Fri May 22 16:13:31 2009

Can cramming ever be as good as honest hard graft?

Senior Broadcast Journalist John Hand find himself falling into old habits in the run up to his A-level Italian exam. Admitting to being one of life's crammers, he looks at and .

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Poetry season gets under way this weekend with Ian Hislop's Changing of the Bard, looking at the post of Poet Laureate.

The new website is a portal to poets, poems and enjoying poetry, where you can vote for the Nation's Favourite Poet and find out about the programmes and events coming up in the season.

Have you got what it takes to hold your own alongside the country's decision-makers on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One's flagship political programme?

For the fourth year running, has a place on its panel for a well-informed, articulate young person aged between 18 and 21, in an edition to be produced as part of the .

Bill Bailey takes a light-hearted look at how the orchestra works and the lesser-known influences of various classical composers in his Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra.

A remarkable orchestra itself, the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Scottish Symphony Orchestra perform a musical and visual extravaganza for all the family in June. C³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Kirsten O'Brien and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Scotland's Heather 'the Weather' Reid present a musical journey round Our Planet, mixing music, science and geography.

And you can get involved with the SSO, singing Haydn's The Creation in a special Listen Here! event in June. Previous experience of choral singing is not essential but be quick, register your interest for this unique chance to join members of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Singers no later than this Friday.

The new ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ SSO 09/10 Season brochures are available to download at bbc.co.uk/sso.

With the Higher exams starting on Friday with Higher English, here's a timely reminder about taking the stresses and strains out of this peak revision time.

Head on over to Headroom for a bit of time to unwind your mind. Ruby Wax talks about exam stress and gets some tips from educational psychologist Kairen Cullen.

There are more short wellbeing videos covering stress, anxiety and depression, as well as tips on personal happiness. Check into the Mood Spa and find out how your lifestyle could be affecting your mental wellbeing.

Bitesize is here to help with the revision side of things, and the weekly planner may help you organise your last minute studies. And you'll find plenty of Bitesize tv clips on Learning Zone Scotland.

Also worth a look is the SQA's guide to , where you'll also find and the itself.

Revision tips

Get organised
Plan your study and write it out on a revision planner - this helps you cover all the areas you need to, for each subject and for each exam date. Breaks revision into bitesize chunks that are less daunting that a whole subject and don't try to study all day long. Include breaks for eating, sleeping and having some fun in your plan. Go out, get some exercise. Time away from the books will let what you've just learned sink in. Parents can provide back up - check how the study plan is going, ensuring meal breaks with healthy food, take you kids out for a break.

Be active
Revision should be active - don't just read books or your old class notes. Write down notes and key points as you go. Record them onto MP3, sing them - whatever works best for you - the key is repeating what you've learned to help it sink in. Go online and try revision tests and games. A bit of variety will stop you getting stale.

Practise, practise, practise
Exams are scary because they are a big unknown threat. Get a feel for what they are like and they won't seem as bad. Try doing some online tests to get used to being asked questions you might not have thought of. Use past papers under exam conditions. This will give you an idea of the amount you need to do and the pace you have to do it at. Get your parents to time you so you stick to the length of the exam.

Get some help
You're not alone. If you get stuck ask someone: Friends might know the answer; your teachers want you to do well, so if you don't understand something ask them. Go online and use some revision resources or exam forums. People want you to do well, so let them know if they can support you.

There is light at the end
Realistically, exams and revision aren't the most fun part of your life. Everyone struggles with something and everyone gets some stress. When you feel really down, remember that it will all be over in a few weeks. Plan a treat for when it is all finished - a great night out, a shopping trip - something you can really look forward to. If you've got something positive to aim for, the long hard slog won't feel quite as bad.

How you can help your child with revision/exam stress >>

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Scotland's events team will be at Stirling Castle this weekend as part of Historic Scotland's .

Reporting on Scotland from the Past:
Children have a go at reporting the news from the past.

Radio Drama Workshop:
Participants have the chance to take part in a radio drama spot – scripts and sound effects provided.

Raven Games:
Children can take part in Raven Games, win a Raven makeover and meet Raven himself.

Learning Lab:
Children will find out how to make an animated film and have the chance to have a go themselves.

Art Station:
Face and arm painting for children with ancient tattoos seen in the History of Scotland series.

Targe constructions/decorating:
Children have the chance to make an ancient shield and decorate it to their own taste with stickers and paint.

Rich Preston introduces a Scottish education special of Radio Scotland's History Zone.

Bill Whiteford explores the ever-changing world of Scottish secondary schools, from the post-war period to the present day; actress Hannah Gordon goes in the footsteps of author Muriel Spark, who created the legendary Edinburgh schoolteacher Miss Jean Brodie; former teacher Larry Sullivan visits schools across the country to bring us 'Teacher’s Tales'; and Ford Kiernan presents recollections of school days gone by, in 'Do You Remember the First Time'.

See the full running order for details of all programmes featured and skip to the one you want.

Documentary unfolding the science behind the idea of six degrees of separation.

Originally thought to be an urban myth, it now appears that anyone on the planet can be connected in just a few steps of association. Six degrees of separation is also at the heart of a major scientific breakthrough; that there might be a law which nature uses to organise itself and that now promises to solve some of its deepest mysteries.

Read a and listen to her .

Find out more about the , along with Andrew Motion's experiences about his time in the role on Radio 4's Book Club and on HARDtalk from the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ News channel.

Watch clips of Carol Ann reading Woman seated in the Underground, 1941 and Education for Leisure as well as answering questions from pupils about both. These are just some of the wide selection of poetry clips on Learning Zone Scotland.

Carol Ann's poems also feature on GCSE Bitesize English Literature with analysis and poetry slideshows of Before You Were Mine, Stealing and We Remember Your Childhood Well.

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is about to launch a Poetry Season - you can read more about some of the highlights coming up in the press release from January.

And in the year of 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, some of Scotland's biggest names are recording his work. 178 performances are now available online - more will follow over the next two years. You can subscribe to the Robert Burns podcast for two downloadable readings each week.