Christian Moore-Anderson
@cmooreanderson.bsky.social
● Biology Teacher (11–18)
● Author of Teaching Meaning, Difference Maker, and Biology Made Real
● Interested in enactive cognitive science in teaching
Blog: rb.gy/dyi5a
● Author of Teaching Meaning, Difference Maker, and Biology Made Real
● Interested in enactive cognitive science in teaching
Blog: rb.gy/dyi5a
Reposted by Christian Moore-Anderson
A great thread on learning and curriculum and SO, SO relevant to English too. Curriculum is about thinking and doing in the subject, growing through connections, and 'knowledge made, not given' (Harold Rosen).
The other day, @agittner.bsky.social prompted me to describe how I would teach a concept.
I found it almost impossible.
And, it had me wondering why, a full time biology teacher, head of biology, & someone who has written so much on biology education, couldn't do it easily.
Here's my answer 🧵
I found it almost impossible.
And, it had me wondering why, a full time biology teacher, head of biology, & someone who has written so much on biology education, couldn't do it easily.
Here's my answer 🧵
February 13, 2026 at 5:51 PM
A great thread on learning and curriculum and SO, SO relevant to English too. Curriculum is about thinking and doing in the subject, growing through connections, and 'knowledge made, not given' (Harold Rosen).
Reposted by Christian Moore-Anderson
Is anyone else having ‘Research shows’ fatigue in their student body?
My classes yesterday were muttering about ‘if they hear ‘research shows…’ again etc’
My classes yesterday were muttering about ‘if they hear ‘research shows…’ again etc’
February 14, 2026 at 7:41 AM
Is anyone else having ‘Research shows’ fatigue in their student body?
My classes yesterday were muttering about ‘if they hear ‘research shows…’ again etc’
My classes yesterday were muttering about ‘if they hear ‘research shows…’ again etc’
Reposted by Christian Moore-Anderson
I love this approach to teaching and it resonates with what I do in RS. Today Y7 learned about literal and metaphorical interpretations of the Biblical creation story - but that built upon ways of thinking about religions and worldviews that we began in lesson 1 , an understanding of...
The other day, @agittner.bsky.social prompted me to describe how I would teach a concept.
I found it almost impossible.
And, it had me wondering why, a full time biology teacher, head of biology, & someone who has written so much on biology education, couldn't do it easily.
Here's my answer 🧵
I found it almost impossible.
And, it had me wondering why, a full time biology teacher, head of biology, & someone who has written so much on biology education, couldn't do it easily.
Here's my answer 🧵
February 13, 2026 at 5:26 PM
I love this approach to teaching and it resonates with what I do in RS. Today Y7 learned about literal and metaphorical interpretations of the Biblical creation story - but that built upon ways of thinking about religions and worldviews that we began in lesson 1 , an understanding of...
Reposted by Christian Moore-Anderson
Please enjoy our research paper on how Bluesky is the preferred home of academics of all stripes, including professors of rare moths. (Yes, we actually have lots of entomologists here).
academic.oup.com/icb/article-... 🧪
academic.oup.com/icb/article-... 🧪
February 12, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Please enjoy our research paper on how Bluesky is the preferred home of academics of all stripes, including professors of rare moths. (Yes, we actually have lots of entomologists here).
academic.oup.com/icb/article-... 🧪
academic.oup.com/icb/article-... 🧪
Reposted by Christian Moore-Anderson
Excellent🧵with another refreshing interrogation of (over-simplified) cogsci thinking.
How learning happens incrementally over time as students develop meaning through immersion in the discipline.
How learning happens incrementally over time as students develop meaning through immersion in the discipline.
The other day, @agittner.bsky.social prompted me to describe how I would teach a concept.
I found it almost impossible.
And, it had me wondering why, a full time biology teacher, head of biology, & someone who has written so much on biology education, couldn't do it easily.
Here's my answer 🧵
I found it almost impossible.
And, it had me wondering why, a full time biology teacher, head of biology, & someone who has written so much on biology education, couldn't do it easily.
Here's my answer 🧵
February 13, 2026 at 9:43 AM
Excellent🧵with another refreshing interrogation of (over-simplified) cogsci thinking.
How learning happens incrementally over time as students develop meaning through immersion in the discipline.
How learning happens incrementally over time as students develop meaning through immersion in the discipline.
Reposted by Christian Moore-Anderson
This looks very interesting indeed - CC @cmooreanderson.bsky.social
@olicav.bsky.social
@literacyengine.bsky.social
@mrbates.bsky.social
#VisualLiteracy
@olicav.bsky.social
@literacyengine.bsky.social
@mrbates.bsky.social
#VisualLiteracy
After taking 7 years to write and draw, my new graphic novel, Speaking in Pictures, about language, cognition, comics, and visual communication is out in less than a week! At long last! www.visuallanguagelab.com/sip
February 13, 2026 at 12:24 PM
This looks very interesting indeed - CC @cmooreanderson.bsky.social
@olicav.bsky.social
@literacyengine.bsky.social
@mrbates.bsky.social
#VisualLiteracy
@olicav.bsky.social
@literacyengine.bsky.social
@mrbates.bsky.social
#VisualLiteracy
Reposted by Christian Moore-Anderson
What makes information processing in biological systems radically different from information processing in AI?
Here I claim that information processing in living systems is NECESSARILY qualitative because organisms love life & avoid death !
Because they have an end, the have an end, a goal: life!
Here I claim that information processing in living systems is NECESSARILY qualitative because organisms love life & avoid death !
Because they have an end, the have an end, a goal: life!
The No Body Problem: Intelligence and Selfhood in Biological and Artificial Systems osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
February 13, 2026 at 8:44 AM
What makes information processing in biological systems radically different from information processing in AI?
Here I claim that information processing in living systems is NECESSARILY qualitative because organisms love life & avoid death !
Because they have an end, the have an end, a goal: life!
Here I claim that information processing in living systems is NECESSARILY qualitative because organisms love life & avoid death !
Because they have an end, the have an end, a goal: life!
The other day, @agittner.bsky.social prompted me to describe how I would teach a concept.
I found it almost impossible.
And, it had me wondering why, a full time biology teacher, head of biology, & someone who has written so much on biology education, couldn't do it easily.
Here's my answer 🧵
I found it almost impossible.
And, it had me wondering why, a full time biology teacher, head of biology, & someone who has written so much on biology education, couldn't do it easily.
Here's my answer 🧵
February 13, 2026 at 8:02 AM
The other day, @agittner.bsky.social prompted me to describe how I would teach a concept.
I found it almost impossible.
And, it had me wondering why, a full time biology teacher, head of biology, & someone who has written so much on biology education, couldn't do it easily.
Here's my answer 🧵
I found it almost impossible.
And, it had me wondering why, a full time biology teacher, head of biology, & someone who has written so much on biology education, couldn't do it easily.
Here's my answer 🧵
Reposted by Christian Moore-Anderson
I'm partway through this episode now, and if you're interested in philosophy of biology it's a lot of fun!
Hear Carrie Figdor interviewing me about my book here open.spotify.com/episode/7drX...
Ellen Clarke, "The Units of Life: Kinds of Individual in Biology" (Oxford UP, 2025)
open.spotify.com
February 12, 2026 at 12:16 AM
I'm partway through this episode now, and if you're interested in philosophy of biology it's a lot of fun!
Reposted by Christian Moore-Anderson
🧵So, what works when teaching reading comprehension in the classroom? To a whole class?
I dedicated a entire chapter of my Phd thesis to exploring the literature on this.
In fact, we do not know a lot about what works when teachers teach, to whole classes.
1/8
I dedicated a entire chapter of my Phd thesis to exploring the literature on this.
In fact, we do not know a lot about what works when teachers teach, to whole classes.
1/8
February 12, 2026 at 7:18 PM
🧵So, what works when teaching reading comprehension in the classroom? To a whole class?
I dedicated a entire chapter of my Phd thesis to exploring the literature on this.
In fact, we do not know a lot about what works when teachers teach, to whole classes.
1/8
I dedicated a entire chapter of my Phd thesis to exploring the literature on this.
In fact, we do not know a lot about what works when teachers teach, to whole classes.
1/8
Randall Beer's iconic diagram:
Engagement with the world happens through the body.
See Ezequiel Di Paolo "Picturing Organisms in their Environment".
Engagement with the world happens through the body.
See Ezequiel Di Paolo "Picturing Organisms in their Environment".
February 12, 2026 at 2:10 PM
Randall Beer's iconic diagram:
Engagement with the world happens through the body.
See Ezequiel Di Paolo "Picturing Organisms in their Environment".
Engagement with the world happens through the body.
See Ezequiel Di Paolo "Picturing Organisms in their Environment".
Reposted by Christian Moore-Anderson
When Musk said the "cumulative sum of human knowledge has been exhausted" for training AI, what he was really saying is that he would not pay for digitisation, and had reached the limits of useful data he could scrape for free. The GenAI house is built on sand.
Right, another key thing that historians do is working with important records that have not been digitized.
And the vast majority of the world’s records *have not been digitized* and thus do not exist in any format that LLMs/AI can work with.
And the vast majority of the world’s records *have not been digitized* and thus do not exist in any format that LLMs/AI can work with.
it's literally impossible for an LLM to do a historian's job
it's not even LLMs sucking it's that they need data input to do anything and where's that data supposed to be coming from without historians
never met a computer that can dig through a thousand year old book in a library
it's not even LLMs sucking it's that they need data input to do anything and where's that data supposed to be coming from without historians
never met a computer that can dig through a thousand year old book in a library
February 12, 2026 at 9:15 AM
When Musk said the "cumulative sum of human knowledge has been exhausted" for training AI, what he was really saying is that he would not pay for digitisation, and had reached the limits of useful data he could scrape for free. The GenAI house is built on sand.
Hypothesis:
The "holding students to account for their learning" rhetoric drives teaching practice towards "teachers acting on students", rather than "acting with" students.
For example, a hard culture of "Checking for listening", "Cold Calling", "All hands up", etc.
The "holding students to account for their learning" rhetoric drives teaching practice towards "teachers acting on students", rather than "acting with" students.
For example, a hard culture of "Checking for listening", "Cold Calling", "All hands up", etc.
February 12, 2026 at 8:38 AM
Hypothesis:
The "holding students to account for their learning" rhetoric drives teaching practice towards "teachers acting on students", rather than "acting with" students.
For example, a hard culture of "Checking for listening", "Cold Calling", "All hands up", etc.
The "holding students to account for their learning" rhetoric drives teaching practice towards "teachers acting on students", rather than "acting with" students.
For example, a hard culture of "Checking for listening", "Cold Calling", "All hands up", etc.
Variation is absolutely key to learning.
However, I'm going to guess that if retrieval practice isn't working in a context, it might be because in that context people treat learning as storing and retrieving.
#EduSky
However, I'm going to guess that if retrieval practice isn't working in a context, it might be because in that context people treat learning as storing and retrieving.
#EduSky
@tesmagazine.bsky.social Could your retrieval practice be working much harder than it is already?
Mark Roberts thinks that with a little variation it could be....
A really interesting and helpful piece below
www.tes.com/magazine/tea...
Mark Roberts thinks that with a little variation it could be....
A really interesting and helpful piece below
www.tes.com/magazine/tea...
Why your retrieval practice might not be working
The benefits of spaced retrieval practice are well known, but the importance of introducing variability in this process is often overlooked, writes Mark Roberts
www.tes.com
February 12, 2026 at 7:05 AM
Variation is absolutely key to learning.
However, I'm going to guess that if retrieval practice isn't working in a context, it might be because in that context people treat learning as storing and retrieving.
#EduSky
However, I'm going to guess that if retrieval practice isn't working in a context, it might be because in that context people treat learning as storing and retrieving.
#EduSky
Reposted by Christian Moore-Anderson
NEW BLOG!
A core questions curriculum for A-Level psychology
hobbolog.wordpress.com/2026/02/11/a...
@theatp.bsky.social @efptateachpsych.bsky.social @atpscot.bsky.social
#UkEd
Featuring @carousel-learning.bsky.social @adamboxereducation.bsky.social Tom Millichamp @paulclinepsy.bsky.social
A core questions curriculum for A-Level psychology
hobbolog.wordpress.com/2026/02/11/a...
@theatp.bsky.social @efptateachpsych.bsky.social @atpscot.bsky.social
#UkEd
Featuring @carousel-learning.bsky.social @adamboxereducation.bsky.social Tom Millichamp @paulclinepsy.bsky.social
A core questions curriculum for A-Level psychology
The examples and arguments here are taken from my book with Paul Cline:. How to Teach Psychology: An evidence-informed approach. John Catt Educational. Available at All terms in bold represent ‘ped…
hobbolog.wordpress.com
February 11, 2026 at 3:59 PM
NEW BLOG!
A core questions curriculum for A-Level psychology
hobbolog.wordpress.com/2026/02/11/a...
@theatp.bsky.social @efptateachpsych.bsky.social @atpscot.bsky.social
#UkEd
Featuring @carousel-learning.bsky.social @adamboxereducation.bsky.social Tom Millichamp @paulclinepsy.bsky.social
A core questions curriculum for A-Level psychology
hobbolog.wordpress.com/2026/02/11/a...
@theatp.bsky.social @efptateachpsych.bsky.social @atpscot.bsky.social
#UkEd
Featuring @carousel-learning.bsky.social @adamboxereducation.bsky.social Tom Millichamp @paulclinepsy.bsky.social
Reposted by Christian Moore-Anderson
"It is worth rehearsing what it actually takes for a piece of homework to be sent home with a child... the workload burden of homework, both implementation and oversight, is immense"
www.tes.com/magazine/lea...
www.tes.com/magazine/lea...
What if… schools all stopped setting homework?
As part of our thought experiment series, Naveen Rizvi asks whether homework is worth the workload cost – and if anyone would miss it if every school stopped setting it
www.tes.com
February 10, 2026 at 9:27 AM
"It is worth rehearsing what it actually takes for a piece of homework to be sent home with a child... the workload burden of homework, both implementation and oversight, is immense"
www.tes.com/magazine/lea...
www.tes.com/magazine/lea...
On another note, getting back to cognitivism, the metaphors here suggest that the brain works serially as an information processor. But, enactivists, like Francisco Varela, were arguing back in the 1980s that the brain does not, in any way, process things serially.
This is clearly a post from within cognitivism.
But what do the EduCogSciers have to say about this? For me, it clearly draws a distinction between knowledge and understanding. Something that many EduCogSciers have denied (knowledge = understanding).
#EduSky
But what do the EduCogSciers have to say about this? For me, it clearly draws a distinction between knowledge and understanding. Something that many EduCogSciers have denied (knowledge = understanding).
#EduSky
On the difference between learning that scales and learning that doesn't, and what a concept from computer science can teach us about where educational technology succeeds and where it reliably fails. carlhendrick.substack.com/p/the-embarr...
February 10, 2026 at 8:43 AM
On another note, getting back to cognitivism, the metaphors here suggest that the brain works serially as an information processor. But, enactivists, like Francisco Varela, were arguing back in the 1980s that the brain does not, in any way, process things serially.
Reposted by Christian Moore-Anderson
This is why we slowed down our phonics learning and built in a school wide reading for pleasure programme (thank you @teresacremin.bsky.social and team). CLPE has helped us to shift away from atomised grammar and we have 'every place is a reading place' nooks and crannies all over. Our kids ❤️ books.
From the full report:
"Despite the regular comprehension HQIM use and focus...in 67% of the lessons, teachers and students engaged in work (i.e., instruction, engagement, and activity) that only facilitated students’ surface-level understanding of texts."
www.sri.com/wp-content/u...
"Despite the regular comprehension HQIM use and focus...in 67% of the lessons, teachers and students engaged in work (i.e., instruction, engagement, and activity) that only facilitated students’ surface-level understanding of texts."
www.sri.com/wp-content/u...
February 9, 2026 at 5:10 PM
This is why we slowed down our phonics learning and built in a school wide reading for pleasure programme (thank you @teresacremin.bsky.social and team). CLPE has helped us to shift away from atomised grammar and we have 'every place is a reading place' nooks and crannies all over. Our kids ❤️ books.
Reposted by Christian Moore-Anderson
From the full report:
"Despite the regular comprehension HQIM use and focus...in 67% of the lessons, teachers and students engaged in work (i.e., instruction, engagement, and activity) that only facilitated students’ surface-level understanding of texts."
www.sri.com/wp-content/u...
"Despite the regular comprehension HQIM use and focus...in 67% of the lessons, teachers and students engaged in work (i.e., instruction, engagement, and activity) that only facilitated students’ surface-level understanding of texts."
www.sri.com/wp-content/u...
February 9, 2026 at 4:25 PM
From the full report:
"Despite the regular comprehension HQIM use and focus...in 67% of the lessons, teachers and students engaged in work (i.e., instruction, engagement, and activity) that only facilitated students’ surface-level understanding of texts."
www.sri.com/wp-content/u...
"Despite the regular comprehension HQIM use and focus...in 67% of the lessons, teachers and students engaged in work (i.e., instruction, engagement, and activity) that only facilitated students’ surface-level understanding of texts."
www.sri.com/wp-content/u...
Retrieval quizzes
What’s a routine you’ve stopped doing because it was noise, not impact?
February 9, 2026 at 2:01 PM
Retrieval quizzes
Taught my paradigmatic model last week: Blood glucose regulation.
This time, I decided to remove the stock "glucose in intestine" to keep the focus on the dynamics within the body.
I like how it turned out.
By having a tool to converse with, models really help us coordinate our meanings.
This time, I decided to remove the stock "glucose in intestine" to keep the focus on the dynamics within the body.
I like how it turned out.
By having a tool to converse with, models really help us coordinate our meanings.
February 9, 2026 at 8:49 AM
Taught my paradigmatic model last week: Blood glucose regulation.
This time, I decided to remove the stock "glucose in intestine" to keep the focus on the dynamics within the body.
I like how it turned out.
By having a tool to converse with, models really help us coordinate our meanings.
This time, I decided to remove the stock "glucose in intestine" to keep the focus on the dynamics within the body.
I like how it turned out.
By having a tool to converse with, models really help us coordinate our meanings.
A tough but incredibly rewarding book for me is Maturana's The Origin of Humanness in the Biology of Love.
It paints a very different picture from this. Humans are a loving species who get physically ill when deprived of it.
It paints a very different picture from this. Humans are a loving species who get physically ill when deprived of it.
www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/... I hated this book as part of my GCSE and I hate how it is often seen as a genuine piece of social/psychological research - hopefully it will be presented as more of an indictment of the class system/public schooling than my experience of childhood and people
Lord of the Flies cast and creatives on bringing William Golding's book to screens -
The story of schoolboys stranded on a tropical island with no adults following a deadly plane crash is adapted for television for the first time by Jack Thorne
www.bbc.co.uk
February 9, 2026 at 8:29 AM
A tough but incredibly rewarding book for me is Maturana's The Origin of Humanness in the Biology of Love.
It paints a very different picture from this. Humans are a loving species who get physically ill when deprived of it.
It paints a very different picture from this. Humans are a loving species who get physically ill when deprived of it.
Reposted by Christian Moore-Anderson
The metaphor indicated a distinction, the distinction was noted and explored, learning began to be seen this way, people talked about it, the metaphor became good and matched experience.
I think they matched my past experience but don't match my experience now I have different metaphors.
I think they matched my past experience but don't match my experience now I have different metaphors.
February 8, 2026 at 3:48 PM
The metaphor indicated a distinction, the distinction was noted and explored, learning began to be seen this way, people talked about it, the metaphor became good and matched experience.
I think they matched my past experience but don't match my experience now I have different metaphors.
I think they matched my past experience but don't match my experience now I have different metaphors.
Reposted by Christian Moore-Anderson
Teachers, let's stop referring to students as storers and retrievers. They're not. And when we use this language, we bring forth an epistemology that shapes our practice.
This article misses that enactive cognitive science (not cognitivism) has been saying this since the 80s
aeon.co/essays/your-...
This article misses that enactive cognitive science (not cognitivism) has been saying this since the 80s
aeon.co/essays/your-...
Your brain does not process information and it is not a computer | Aeon Essays
Your brain does not process information, retrieve knowledge or store memories. In short: your brain is not a computer
aeon.co
February 7, 2026 at 6:51 AM
Teachers, let's stop referring to students as storers and retrievers. They're not. And when we use this language, we bring forth an epistemology that shapes our practice.
This article misses that enactive cognitive science (not cognitivism) has been saying this since the 80s
aeon.co/essays/your-...
This article misses that enactive cognitive science (not cognitivism) has been saying this since the 80s
aeon.co/essays/your-...