DamsonEd
@damsoned.bsky.social
Dr Megan Dixon: teacher, leader and researcher. PhD, Psychology. All things education and research - literacy, English, research into practice, curriculum, SEND. TES writer. Based in the UK.
https://meganjanedixon.co.uk/2026/01/02/pivoting/
https://meganjanedixon.co.uk/2026/01/02/pivoting/
Pinned
DamsonEd
@damsoned.bsky.social
· May 8
What schools are doing to tackle the speech and language ‘crisis’
The number of children with speech and language challenges is soaring. And not all of these pupils have SEND. Experts tell Ellen Peirson-Hagger how in-school intervention is possible - and highly effe...
www.tes.com
On the back of this article- a thread of useful places for schools/teachers who are interested in finding out more… as I say, this has been a serious issue for a long time… it would be powerful to get a serious handle on it (with obvious impact on ed outcomes).
www.tes.com/magazine/ana...
www.tes.com/magazine/ana...
Reposted by DamsonEd
If those delivering don’t fully understand speech and language difficulties, what they entail and how to address them, then any curriculum change is probably futile.
February 1, 2026 at 11:46 PM
If those delivering don’t fully understand speech and language difficulties, what they entail and how to address them, then any curriculum change is probably futile.
Reposted by DamsonEd
One interesting point from the report was because of the scale of the need, there is a greater need for universal approaches.
The only real way we can do that on the scale needed is with a change to the curriculum.
The only real way we can do that on the scale needed is with a change to the curriculum.
February 1, 2026 at 11:21 PM
One interesting point from the report was because of the scale of the need, there is a greater need for universal approaches.
The only real way we can do that on the scale needed is with a change to the curriculum.
The only real way we can do that on the scale needed is with a change to the curriculum.
Reposted by DamsonEd
my last Epstein scoop for the weekend:
Jeffrey Epstein wired $150,000 to Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, in 2001, according to newly released financial records, after helping her to cash in share options earned from her work for Weight Watchers.
www.ft.com/content/8623...
Jeffrey Epstein wired $150,000 to Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, in 2001, according to newly released financial records, after helping her to cash in share options earned from her work for Weight Watchers.
www.ft.com/content/8623...
Sarah Ferguson received $150,000 from Jeffrey Epstein after share sale
Transaction is latest evidence of extent of friendship that former Prince Andrew’s ex-wife forged with the sex offender
www.ft.com
February 1, 2026 at 9:32 PM
my last Epstein scoop for the weekend:
Jeffrey Epstein wired $150,000 to Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, in 2001, according to newly released financial records, after helping her to cash in share options earned from her work for Weight Watchers.
www.ft.com/content/8623...
Jeffrey Epstein wired $150,000 to Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, in 2001, according to newly released financial records, after helping her to cash in share options earned from her work for Weight Watchers.
www.ft.com/content/8623...
Reposted by DamsonEd
2026 big update to the psycholinguistic database page! If you know of corpora, lexical databases, or other resources that I've missed, please LMK. Trying to keep this thing relatively current and could use the help www.reilly-coglab.com/data
Psycholinguistic Databases, Stimuli, Utilities — Concepts & Cognition Laboratory
www.reilly-coglab.com
February 1, 2026 at 10:01 PM
2026 big update to the psycholinguistic database page! If you know of corpora, lexical databases, or other resources that I've missed, please LMK. Trying to keep this thing relatively current and could use the help www.reilly-coglab.com/data
Reposted by DamsonEd
Yes - that was what I was trying to make clear in my post too. Lots of talk about oracy curricula that children just cannot access.
February 1, 2026 at 9:59 PM
Yes - that was what I was trying to make clear in my post too. Lots of talk about oracy curricula that children just cannot access.
Reposted by DamsonEd
Epstein's predators were men. There are probably more rapists in the Epstein files than there are trans people in the UK. And yet the pearl-clutching TERFS are playing useful idiots to fascism by working to drive trans people out of public life, and worse.
February 1, 2026 at 9:13 PM
Epstein's predators were men. There are probably more rapists in the Epstein files than there are trans people in the UK. And yet the pearl-clutching TERFS are playing useful idiots to fascism by working to drive trans people out of public life, and worse.
Reposted by DamsonEd
Reposted by DamsonEd
I believe there is no time limit for prosecution for misconduct in public office. This happened in london. What are you going to do about it @metpolice.bsky.social ?
New Epstein emails show Peter Mandelson secretly advising JPMorgan’s CEO on how to fight Labour’s 2009 bankers’ bonus tax - even suggesting he “mildly threaten” the Chancellor.
Mandelson was Business Secretary at the time.
A year later, he was seeking work with JPM.
Mandelson was Business Secretary at the time.
A year later, he was seeking work with JPM.
February 1, 2026 at 7:28 PM
I believe there is no time limit for prosecution for misconduct in public office. This happened in london. What are you going to do about it @metpolice.bsky.social ?
ICYMI: Government-funded speech and language screening initiative ELSEC has found an unexpected proportion of young children have unidentified needs, an evaluation report has said.
Staff said they were 'shocked at the amount of children' needing targeted support
Staff said they were 'shocked at the amount of children' needing targeted support
Speech and language pilot reveals 'shocking' level of need
Analysis suggests 6 in 10 children given universal screening were found to have speech and language needs
schoolsweek.co.uk
February 1, 2026 at 8:55 PM
Reposted by DamsonEd
ICYMI: Government-funded speech and language screening initiative ELSEC has found an unexpected proportion of young children have unidentified needs, an evaluation report has said.
Staff said they were 'shocked at the amount of children' needing targeted support
Staff said they were 'shocked at the amount of children' needing targeted support
Speech and language pilot reveals 'shocking' level of need
Analysis suggests 6 in 10 children given universal screening were found to have speech and language needs
schoolsweek.co.uk
February 1, 2026 at 7:30 PM
ICYMI: Government-funded speech and language screening initiative ELSEC has found an unexpected proportion of young children have unidentified needs, an evaluation report has said.
Staff said they were 'shocked at the amount of children' needing targeted support
Staff said they were 'shocked at the amount of children' needing targeted support
Reposted by DamsonEd
🧪 It's been 10 years since Dorothy Bishop and I published a commentary in Nature about the risks of transparency. doi.org/10.1038/529459a
1/10
1/10
February 1, 2026 at 6:12 PM
🧪 It's been 10 years since Dorothy Bishop and I published a commentary in Nature about the risks of transparency. doi.org/10.1038/529459a
1/10
1/10
Reposted by DamsonEd
'Unfair barriers' stop teachers advancing to the upper pay range, a report has warned, as school staff reported goalposts 'shifting all the time'
Are teachers hitting the wall on the way to higher pay?
Over half of teachers warn of 'barriers' to upper pay range in union survey
schoolsweek.co.uk
February 1, 2026 at 4:00 PM
'Unfair barriers' stop teachers advancing to the upper pay range, a report has warned, as school staff reported goalposts 'shifting all the time'
Reposted by DamsonEd
Peter Mandelson – the great genius at the heart of New Labour.
Dominic Cummings – the great genius at the heart of 'Leave'.
Nick Timothy – the great genius at the....
Morgan McSweeney – the great genius at the....
Can we ban all alleged great geniuses and cast them into outer darkness forever?
Dominic Cummings – the great genius at the heart of 'Leave'.
Nick Timothy – the great genius at the....
Morgan McSweeney – the great genius at the....
Can we ban all alleged great geniuses and cast them into outer darkness forever?
The "coincidence" of Epstein's cash payments to Peter Mandelson's partner/husband in 2009/10 and the then industry secretary's lobbying within cabinet for a softer post-crash policy towards bankers looks on the face of it like outright corruption. Certainly demands police investigation.
January 31, 2026 at 7:07 PM
Peter Mandelson – the great genius at the heart of New Labour.
Dominic Cummings – the great genius at the heart of 'Leave'.
Nick Timothy – the great genius at the....
Morgan McSweeney – the great genius at the....
Can we ban all alleged great geniuses and cast them into outer darkness forever?
Dominic Cummings – the great genius at the heart of 'Leave'.
Nick Timothy – the great genius at the....
Morgan McSweeney – the great genius at the....
Can we ban all alleged great geniuses and cast them into outer darkness forever?
Reposted by DamsonEd
Mm. You know, I’m not sure I believe Goodwin, who has always struck me as the sort of person (tiresomely familiar if you have spent any time in British academia at any level, including by undergrad), who is really, really bitter that he didn’t get the Oxbridge career he wanted, and can’t let go.
Reform politician Matthew Goodwin tells the Sunday Times that he would "rather shoot myself in the head" than be at dinner with Nick Robinson and Mary Beard, and the last thing the ex-acadenuc would ever have wanted would be to be a Professor at some Oxford college "backwater with zero influence"
You dont win 'em all! Reform's Matt Goodwin in Sunday Times: 'Most .. people criticising me are nerds.The last thing I want is to be at some dinner party table with Nick Robinson & Mary Beard. I'd rather shoot myself in the head'. Hang on, I'm not THAT bad!Nerds sometimes have a (thoughtful!) point.
February 1, 2026 at 9:42 AM
Mm. You know, I’m not sure I believe Goodwin, who has always struck me as the sort of person (tiresomely familiar if you have spent any time in British academia at any level, including by undergrad), who is really, really bitter that he didn’t get the Oxbridge career he wanted, and can’t let go.
Reposted by DamsonEd
Endless “governance checklists” are compliance theatre. They mean nothing. And tech companies , if they have any consequences at all, simply pay a tiny fine and continue abusing digital rights of children and families.
We need to tell schools HOW to check for real issues
We need to tell schools HOW to check for real issues
February 1, 2026 at 10:04 AM
Endless “governance checklists” are compliance theatre. They mean nothing. And tech companies , if they have any consequences at all, simply pay a tiny fine and continue abusing digital rights of children and families.
We need to tell schools HOW to check for real issues
We need to tell schools HOW to check for real issues
Reposted by DamsonEd
I will never not be angry that schools get inundated with detail about metacognition or retrieval or whatever the fad is this year
But no one gives schools- full of people who can retain and explain facts- any information on how to evaluate edtech products. We scrutinise skirt length more .
But no one gives schools- full of people who can retain and explain facts- any information on how to evaluate edtech products. We scrutinise skirt length more .
February 1, 2026 at 9:52 AM
I will never not be angry that schools get inundated with detail about metacognition or retrieval or whatever the fad is this year
But no one gives schools- full of people who can retain and explain facts- any information on how to evaluate edtech products. We scrutinise skirt length more .
But no one gives schools- full of people who can retain and explain facts- any information on how to evaluate edtech products. We scrutinise skirt length more .
Reposted by DamsonEd
This is very true (except in early years). We would do well to consider why children go increasingly from movement to being static the older they get within the education system.
I find it astonishing what we expect of children - don't think I could sit in five hours of lectures every day, five days a week and take in everything.
February 1, 2026 at 9:53 AM
This is very true (except in early years). We would do well to consider why children go increasingly from movement to being static the older they get within the education system.
Reposted by DamsonEd
There's very much a link between the idea that learning is only about the brain ('learning = memory') and the way we see children's bodies increasingly controlled by adults in some settings ('silent corridors'). Even Ofsted is joining in with its current obsessive focus on neat handwriting.
February 1, 2026 at 9:55 AM
There's very much a link between the idea that learning is only about the brain ('learning = memory') and the way we see children's bodies increasingly controlled by adults in some settings ('silent corridors'). Even Ofsted is joining in with its current obsessive focus on neat handwriting.
Reposted by DamsonEd
'Unfair barriers' stop teachers advancing to the upper pay range, a report has warned, as school staff reported goalposts 'shifting all the time'
schoolsweek.co.uk/barriers-to-...
schoolsweek.co.uk/barriers-to-...
Are teachers hitting the wall on the way to higher pay?
Over half of teachers warn of 'barriers' to upper pay range in union survey
schoolsweek.co.uk
February 1, 2026 at 10:27 AM
'Unfair barriers' stop teachers advancing to the upper pay range, a report has warned, as school staff reported goalposts 'shifting all the time'
schoolsweek.co.uk/barriers-to-...
schoolsweek.co.uk/barriers-to-...
Reposted by DamsonEd
I found school exhausting as it was - can’t imagine how I’d manage in modern schools which have had all the art & music etc ground out of them in favour of more maths
I find it astonishing what we expect of children - don't think I could sit in five hours of lectures every day, five days a week and take in everything.
February 1, 2026 at 10:21 AM
I found school exhausting as it was - can’t imagine how I’d manage in modern schools which have had all the art & music etc ground out of them in favour of more maths
Reposted by DamsonEd
Well done Megan! You are a star!
January 31, 2026 at 9:19 PM
Well done Megan! You are a star!
This is not just a psychology issue… bsky.app/profile/k2me...
It's rotten to the core and makes me want to leave academia. These are psychology people. Pinker and Chomsky are in there (as if we didn't already know). The sexual harassment that goes on at conferences is the tip of the iceberg it seems. I hate that I work in an industry where I have to have...
And, for completeness’ sake, Dan Ariely asking to add Jeffrey Epstein to his professional network on LinkedIn bsky.app/profile/kjhe...
January 31, 2026 at 10:39 PM
This is not just a psychology issue… bsky.app/profile/k2me...
Reposted by DamsonEd
Today I have managed to finished my MacMillianCancer 35 Minute a Day Exercise Challenge!!!! 🎉🎉🎉
I managed to complete all the minutes and raise over £2.5k.
Thank you so much to everyone who sponsored and supported me. It has been hard- but I have enjoyed it hugely.
I managed to complete all the minutes and raise over £2.5k.
Thank you so much to everyone who sponsored and supported me. It has been hard- but I have enjoyed it hugely.
January 31, 2026 at 12:10 PM
Today I have managed to finished my MacMillianCancer 35 Minute a Day Exercise Challenge!!!! 🎉🎉🎉
I managed to complete all the minutes and raise over £2.5k.
Thank you so much to everyone who sponsored and supported me. It has been hard- but I have enjoyed it hugely.
I managed to complete all the minutes and raise over £2.5k.
Thank you so much to everyone who sponsored and supported me. It has been hard- but I have enjoyed it hugely.
Reposted by DamsonEd
31 days of running a mile a day to raise money for cancer @royalmarsden.org – and on my last day I smashed my PR with an amazing time for me of 8:48!
Thank you to everyone who has supported me in memory of my friends Allison Busch & Bruce Wannell.
fundraise.royalmarsden.org/fundraisers/...
Thank you to everyone who has supported me in memory of my friends Allison Busch & Bruce Wannell.
fundraise.royalmarsden.org/fundraisers/...
January 31, 2026 at 7:27 PM
31 days of running a mile a day to raise money for cancer @royalmarsden.org – and on my last day I smashed my PR with an amazing time for me of 8:48!
Thank you to everyone who has supported me in memory of my friends Allison Busch & Bruce Wannell.
fundraise.royalmarsden.org/fundraisers/...
Thank you to everyone who has supported me in memory of my friends Allison Busch & Bruce Wannell.
fundraise.royalmarsden.org/fundraisers/...
Reposted by DamsonEd
Bennett is still being listened to I see.
A man with no experience of note in schools, spent his time regurgitating and repackaging Victorian prison ideas of isolation and “reflection“. This lazy thinking is now Ofsted thinking.
🤷♂️
A man with no experience of note in schools, spent his time regurgitating and repackaging Victorian prison ideas of isolation and “reflection“. This lazy thinking is now Ofsted thinking.
🤷♂️
January 31, 2026 at 7:47 PM
Bennett is still being listened to I see.
A man with no experience of note in schools, spent his time regurgitating and repackaging Victorian prison ideas of isolation and “reflection“. This lazy thinking is now Ofsted thinking.
🤷♂️
A man with no experience of note in schools, spent his time regurgitating and repackaging Victorian prison ideas of isolation and “reflection“. This lazy thinking is now Ofsted thinking.
🤷♂️