Drew Burrett
LightNews LightNews
banner
drewburrett.bsky.social
Drew Burrett
@drewburrett.bsky.social
460 followers 460 following 280 posts
Fanatically indifferent, reliably subversive, agreeably contradictory
(also dad, husband, physics teacher, cyclist, active travel advocate & amateur atheist)
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Drew Burrett
dannynic.bsky.social
I’m running a short research survey exploring how primary teachers and student teachers are using tools like ChatGPT and Copilot in their day-to-day teaching, with a particular focus on primary science.

forms.gle/bqPHtwq4mzBd...

Please share!

#eduskyprimary #uked
Exploring The Use of Generative AI by Primary Teachers to teach Science
Action research into AI Use 2026
forms.gle
February 5, 2026 at 1:26 PM
drewburrett.bsky.social
How the Dunning-Kruger Effect applies to teacher CPD | Tes share.google/NtsPg1t6HL7V...
What the Dunning-Kruger Effect reveals about teacher growth
To truly understand how we grow as teachers - and how our pupils learn - it helps to be aware of this key concept about the relationship between competence and confidence, writes principal Ildar Iliaz...
share.google
February 1, 2026 at 10:31 PM
Reposted by Drew Burrett
havoc147.bsky.social
This is the BEST explanation I have seen so far.
January 28, 2026 at 3:12 AM
Reposted by Drew Burrett
katewall.bsky.social
Practitioner Enquiry Tip of the Week: don't discount the outliers. A lot of research focuses on finding commonality, themes, averages and generalisable trends, but as teachers we deal with more than the majority. We also have to focus on the outliers/1🧵
#PractitionerEnquiryTotW
January 28, 2026 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by Drew Burrett
jessdkant.bsky.social
Just started doing new data analysis and I know I keep saying this, but: I really, really don't think people appreciate how much this moral panic was a deliberate and extremely expensive invention.
news articles about trans people based on keyword, left is cnn, right is fox. fox has 10x as many
January 28, 2026 at 3:12 AM
Reposted by Drew Burrett
bladeofthes.bsky.social
That baby is too grown up to be Donald Trump.
January 19, 2026 at 8:21 PM
Reposted by Drew Burrett
goodlawproject.org
A sobering thought: were Nigel Farage to become Prime Minister then the terrifying scenes from Minneapolis would become terrifying scenes here.
Farage, who had previously said mass deportations were a "political impossibility", said his party had now come up with "a credible plan, so that we can deport hundreds of thousands of people over the five years of a Reform government". During the news conference, Farage asked Reform UK chair Zia Yusuf whether it was realistic to deport 500,000-600,000 people within the lifetime of the first Parliament under a Reform UK government, to which he replied "totally, yeah".
January 13, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by Drew Burrett
markrpriestley.bsky.social
We have just confirmed the date of the March @scrcm.bsky.social webinar. I will be presenting ideas from the forthcoming 2nd edition of Teacher Agency: An Ecological Approach. Join us on Tues 17 March, 4-5.30.

Sign up at www.tickettailor.com/events/facul...
Select tickets – Teacher agency: the ecological approach – MS Teams
Teacher agency: the ecological approach – MS Teams, Tue 17 Mar 2026 - Abstract The last 10 years has seen an explosion in research literature deploying the concept of teacher agency. At the same time,...
www.tickettailor.com
January 13, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Reposted by Drew Burrett
zackpolanski.bsky.social
Spray paint a plane and they'll detain you without trial and call you a terrorist.

Kidnap a foreign head of state - and Keir Starmer will make it clear we've played no part in it but will wait for the scheduled press conference in a few hours before potentially condemning it
January 3, 2026 at 1:50 PM
drewburrett.bsky.social
Why do we even bother with international laws if corrupt regimes are allowed to attack other sovereign nations? If Trump and his administration get away with this in Venezuela, who's to say where they will invade next?

BBC News - www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5...
Venezuela latest: Trump says US has 'captured' President Maduro in strikes on country - live updates
The US attorney general says Maduro will face
www.bbc.co.uk
January 3, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Drew Burrett
marcuschown.bsky.social
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last."
- Winston Churchill

History shows that appeasement never works.

The time for appeasing Trump is over.
January 3, 2026 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Drew Burrett
stuartphysics.bsky.social
I have finally got around to writing about my recent month-long trip to Australia and New Zealand. With New Zealand currently reviewing its curriculum it was especially good to speak to some of the key players in its development and to teachers too. stuartphysics.co.uk/2025/12/14/l...
Learning from the other side of the world
In October, alongside a trip to see my daughters in Australia, I arranged to visit in person several people from the education world in both Australia and New Zealand who I had met previously, most…
stuartphysics.co.uk
December 14, 2025 at 4:36 PM
drewburrett.bsky.social
So disheartening to see that @robinince.bsky.social has been compelled to resign from his show on the BBC as they felt that him expressing compassion for and solidarity with some of the most vulnerable and oppressed groups in our society did not fit with their values.
robinince.bsky.social Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · Dec 13
Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.
This is the saddest day of my professional life. Today is not only the final recording of the latest series of The Infinite Monkey Cage, it is my last ever Monkey Cage. I never thought that I would have to leave the show. I always imagined going on until | dropped dead under the studio lights due to a brain aneurysm caused by my final attempt to understand notions of quantum gravity or the shock of being told about fly maggot infestations in the sacks of macaque monkeys. I resigned in September, after sixteen years of dedication to the show, A show that I named and helped develop over all those years. Unfortunately, my opinions outside the BBC have been considered problematic for sometime, whether it has been voicing support for the trans community, criticism of Donald Trump, numerous other outlandish opinions, including once gently criticising Stephen Fry. These things were considered to conflict with being a freelance BBC science presenter In a recent meeting where BBC Studio executives again voiced problems with me, I realised my choices. Obedience and being quieter to remain making Monkey Cage, or 'Resign and have the freedom to speak out against what I believe are injustices'. • I chose the latter. It broke my heart. I love this show and I love the audience, and it is because of the audience in particular, that this decision was so difficult to make. I kept thinking about all the extremist voices promoting hate and division. They are being given so many platforms, while voices that represent kindness, open mindedness, empathy seem to be scarcer and scarcer. I felt I couldn't pamper myself with the luxury of silence. One of my many privileges is that I am able to resign and I can speak out even if it is to the detriment of my career. I have thought a lot about my heroes, Sinead O Connor, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and so many more. I think of Sinead's words, "the job of an artist is to be themselves at any cost". James Baldwin said prejudice was really just a word for cowardice. Audre Lorde, viewing her life, wrote that her only regrets were her silences. I think of my father as I resign, he brought me up to believe in fairness , justice and kindness. Though my heart is broken, it is also full of fire. I apologise to our incredible listeners for my departure, your love of the show means a great deal. I am so sorry to let you down. I hope that you can understand my reasoning. I have to accept that I am not what the current BBC expects of their freelance presenters. Despite this I should add that I have always worked far more than my contracted hours to try and ensure the show was always the best it could be, as well as making myself accessible and responsive to the audience wherever and whenever I met them. Every night, we have recorded, I have been filled with determination to make the best show possible. This was not "just a job" I hope that with my departure I can be a better ally to the LGBTQ community, to the neurodivergent community, to activists fighting against those who aim to brutalise society, to those currently in prison on hunger strike, and to all those who fight for a more inclusive world. From many conversations, I know there are many Monkey Cage listeners who support these communities and activists too. The strawberry is dead. Long live the strawberry. B
December 13, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Reposted by Drew Burrett
marcuschown.bsky.social
Who gave the billionaires like Musk and Bezos the right to cut the Earth off from the Universe?
asborlaff.bsky.social Alejandro S. Borlaff @asborlaff.bsky.social · Dec 3
By 2040, ~40% of the images from Hubble Space Telescope, and more than 96% from new and future space telescopes like SPHEREx, ARRAKIHS, and Xuntian will be contaminated by internet satellite constellations.

Read our new NASA article in Nature:
nature.com/articles/s4158…
December 4, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Reposted by Drew Burrett
gregjenner.bsky.social
Meta is using your Whatsapp messages and Facebook & Instagram DMs to train its generative AI. If you want to object, you can do so here www.facebook.com/privacy/genai
How Meta uses information for generative AI models
Learn how Meta uses information for generative artificial intelligence, generative AI models.
www.facebook.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by Drew Burrett
sserc.bsky.social
The Scottish Parliamentary elections are scheduled for May 2026. As part of our request to political parties, we are calling for the creation of a new STEM Strategy for Education and Training to be included in the education and skills section of their manifestos.
November 14, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Reposted by Drew Burrett
goodlawproject.org
The BBC, quite consciously, sets out to demean and belittle trans people. This is both morally contemptible and in breach of its Charter obligations. We've made it super easy for you to write to the BBC and tell it to stop.

Please use - and share with your networks.
goodlaw.social/2j5q
The BBC must stop attacking trans people | Good Law Project
The right wing accusations of ‘pro-trans’ bias are back to front. It’s time for the BBC to live up to its duty to be impartial on trans issues.
goodlaw.social
November 14, 2025 at 12:39 PM
drewburrett.bsky.social
hookean.bsky.social Dr Dan Jones @hookean.bsky.social · Oct 13
Physics teachers. The latest issue of Classroom Physics is now available to download
#PhysicsEd
#iTeachPhysics

spark.iop.org/sites/defaul...
October 13, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by Drew Burrett
scotnational.bsky.social
A first look at tomorrow's front page of The National 📰

How genocide happened
October 12, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Reposted by Drew Burrett
bladeofthes.bsky.social
Laura Kuenssberg has interviewed all the Party Leaders with more than 10% in the polls.

Except Zack Polanski.

She cancelled his interview and now refuses to do it.

They are scared of Zack, they are scared of you.
October 12, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Reposted by Drew Burrett
nasuwtscotland.bsky.social
We’re asking the Scottish Government and Cosla (the local authorities body) to stop dragging their heels in agreeing the 2025-26 pay award for teachers. We need full pay restoration.

@heraldscotland.bsky.social
www.heraldscotland.com/news/2552508...
Scottish teachers taking second jobs including delivery driving to make ends meet
Scottish teachers are taking up second jobs as delivery drivers to make ends meet, a teaching union has found.
www.heraldscotland.com
October 8, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Reposted by Drew Burrett
nasuwtscotland.bsky.social
If the Scottish government wants to keep teachers in the profession, they need to do better — and they need to do it now. @mikecorbett1.bsky.social

@mstaronline.bsky.social
morningstaronline.co.uk/article/scot...
Scottish teachers forced into extra curricular jobs to make ends meet
A TEACHING union renewed its calls for “full pay restoration” today after a poll of members finds nearly one in seven have been forced to take on a second job to make ends meet.In its annual survey, 3...
morningstaronline.co.uk
October 8, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Reposted by Drew Burrett
zackpolanski.bsky.social
Kemi Badenoch blames those crossing borders for our problems. It’s a lie aimed to distract.

The real issue is a system protecting the super-rich while nurses & carers can’t make ends meet. Tax wealth fairly, fund public services properly. This is how we give Britain hope again.
October 8, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Reposted by Drew Burrett
alomshaha.bsky.social
We’re going to do what the US is doing and destroy our country because we can’t seem to stop the hateful racists who would rather live in a shithole than share their lives with brown people.
premnsikka.bsky.social Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · Oct 7
The NHS and social care would cease to function under UK govt’s new rules on foreign staff.

Workers will have to wait – from 5 to 10 years – before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain, claim any benefit, childcare, or housing support, despite paying taxes

Govt appeasing Reform.
NHS could cease to function under Labour’s new visa rules, say nurses
Exclusive: Royal College of Nursing says plan to tighten rules for foreign workers is ‘pandering’ to Reform UK
www.theguardian.com
October 7, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Reposted by Drew Burrett
markrpriestley.bsky.social
The latest article in Sceptical Scot by Walter Humes. 'Scottish education: genuine partnership or pre-election fix?'

Walter is always worth a read.
sceptical.scot/2025/09/scot...
Scottish education: genuine partnership or pre-election fix? - Sceptical Scot
"The Scottish educational establishment, over many decades, has been successful in resisting attempts to disturb its culture of complacency. Sadly, it may take a further decline in public confidence a...
sceptical.scot
September 16, 2025 at 2:56 PM