Thinkery - Open Visual Thinkery

Here is the archive of open visual thinkery in chronological order.

Radical Pedagogy

My wife is my signpost – for some things, anyway. She reads faster than me and tells me of books that I might like. I have but one requirement: at the end of the book, I want to be able to say “I’ve never read anything like that before”. As a result, I’ve been enjoying…
Subject – Verb – Object

As a kid in a classroom, I didn’t question it. I took what was laid before me, in the environment in which it was given. I was taught. I found it difficult to ask questions, as it revealed a lack of knowledge or understanding. The game was one of “how much do you know?“, maintaining…
Monologue and Dialogue

The lecture. At home, at school, and at church. I’ve had so many, but can recall very few… The group. At home, at school, and at church. Articulating something half-baked, in order to put it back in the oven and turn up the heat…
Bank of Education

In the olden days, knowledge existed hidden away in pockets, which was fine if you knew which pocket and had the means to access it. However, one must not treat an encyclopaedia like wikipedia, for they offer two subtly different entry-points to learning: interest-led vs prescribed.
An engineering state of mind

When I was at University, the word “engineer” had some odd connotations in my head. Geeky, sterile, boring. It seemed so theoretical, so mathematical. I thought that engineers became engineers by doing an engineering degree at University.
Those cubes

So I stare at a blank page and draw a brightly coloured cube. BUILD SOMETHING WITH ME it says, sitting there in it’s bold primary colours. TESSELLATE ME. I wonder about the light, and were the shadows might be. If the shadows were irregular, how would that feel? It feels to me like pixels on…
Hairy and smooth…

George Orwell was a smooth man like myself, so this is obviously what he was getting at when he uttered this utterance. Personally, I have nothing against beards, apart from not being able to grow one. So it’s a bit off when they are stylish all of a sudden in Hipster-ville. When will extra-tall be…
Changing your world view

This looks all wrong, doesn’t it? The thing is, it’s not at all easy to change your current world view. In fact, we actively look for things that will confirm our existing world view. This, I now know, is called confirmation bias, which always reminds me of the Simon & Garfunkel line “a man hears…
Learning to Credential

Due to the nature of the system, we start with the Credential and work backwards. Ah. This is further illustrated by this graphic, highlighting the massive difference between prescriptive and descriptive pathways.
Digital Skills Sandwich

Sandwich anyone? I do love a good sandwich. If potatoes are the king of carbs, then surely bread is its queen? As an Irishman, I am of course very biased. Anyway, I digress… The Digital Skills Sandwich is an idea that’s been rumbling around in my head for a while now. It’s seed germinates from the fact…
Swiss Cheese Knowledge Gaps

This nugget of cheesy thinkery came from hearing Sal Khan speak at the BETT show. He talked about kids having “Swiss Cheese gaps” in their knowledge, and needing a growth mindset to close them. To understand education culture, talk to the kids who are subject to it and see what they see. My experience of…
Wanted: Honest Frank Feedback

It’s easy to look at what you’ve created and see it as either good or bad. The more you create, the more you get to know your own eyes and what they’re trying to tell you, and you realise that no creation is either good or bad.