Barry Carpenter Education

International Educational Consultant

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  • Dads; what are your schools male engagement strategies?

    It will not come as a surprise to most women to know that men are different! In fact women probably have a strong evidence base in support of this statement. But when it comes to thinking through how we engage Dads in our schools there is often a one size fits all approach for both parents regardless of sex. Men don’t do Coffee Mornings!

    So as you think ahead to the next academic year, before you start complaining that Dads don’t turn up to anything, please think about the channels through which you are asking then to become involved. There may be issues around time of day, or content of a session / meeting , or just that coming into a school holds memories of their own unsuccessful and unhappy times at school.

    Below is a research summary of current thinking in this area , and also an article I have written on this topic which contains helpful suggestions for appraising your school’s male engagement strategies.

     

    RiP: Are we including fathers? What we say, what we assume and what we’re not asking
    This blog post discusses how practitioners can assess whether they are engaging with fathers effectively, and how they can improve the way they work with them. 

  • FASD & the Criminal Justice system

    This Australian produced video raises some important issues related to the management of people with FASD in the criminal justice system of any Country.

    As an Educationalist, the issues raised underscore for me the need for high quality Education for children and young people with FASD, to prevent some of the tragic admissions to the criminal justice system. Many go on to become ‘revolving door prisoners’ with no quality of life.

    One day Society will wake up to this ticking time-bomb.

  • Review of “Engaging Learners with Complex Learning Difficulties and Disabilities”

    The latest edition of ‘Specialworld’ contains a review of “Engaging Learners with Complex Learning Difficulties and Disabilities” found on page 53. The publication can be found here.

  • Understanding Intellectual Disability and Health

    The website www.intellectualdisability.info contains excellent resources and information on all  aspects of Learning Disability for parents and professionals.

  • Engaging Learners with Complex Learning Difficulties and Disabilities book.

     

    An up dated Reviews page for the book is maintained by the publisher , Routledge , and can be found here

  • Prematurity and the challenge for Educators

    This article by Professor Carpenter and Jo Egerton describes many of the challenges that educators face in teaching this rapidly emerging groups of students in the education system.

    Prematurity article Apr 2015

  • Independent Evaluation of Fosterline England

    Dr. Carolyn Blackburn has completed an independent evaluation of Fosterline England, summarised in the attached reports.

    FOSTERLINE-ENGLAND-EXECUTIVE-SUMMARY

    FOSTERLINE-ENGLAND-FINAL-REPORT

  • Forthcoming Course on Mental Health and Emotional Well Being – Tuesday 23rd June, 2015, Birmingham.

    The link below contains details of a forthcoming Course on Mental Health and Emotional Well Being on Tuesday 23rd June, 2015, in Birmingham.

     

  • Book Review Engaging Learners with Complex Learning Difficulties and Disabilities

    Engaging Learners with Complex Learning Difficulties and Disabilities: A resource book for teachers and teaching assistants by Barry Carpenter and others

    Children and young people with CLDD have a range of conditions and combinations of conditions which can often be unfamiliar to educators. It can be challenging to engage them with learning, so there is a very real need for approaches and resources to engage this group of children in learning. The Engagement for Learning Framework has been developed and trialled by over 100 educational settings (both special and mainstream) with learners from early years to post-16, so educators can be confident that the methods are well tried. It gives practitioners from a range of disciplines a shared means of assessing, recording and developing personalized learning pathways and demonstrating progression for these children. The focus on inquiry means that however complex a young person’s needs, educators will be able to apply the approach. Clearly presented, despite the complexity of the material, the book gives an in-depth view of using the Engagement for Learning Framework effectively; the case studies show the impact of the system. I like the fact the book specifically includes Teaching Assistants, who play a vital role in any classroom and especially with students with complex issues, where they are frequently providing essential one-to-one support. The impressive qualifications of the authors makes this an authoratitive book that will be highly valued by all involved in the teaching of CLDD young people.

  • A TEDx talk on FASD by Dr James Fitzpatrick , Perth, Australia.

    A TEDx talk on FASD by Dr James Fitzpatrick , Perth, Australia.