Author Archives: chisnellg

Using thinking maps to analyse your written data. Graham Chisnell In developing a culture of research at Veritas MAT, I have been thinking about how we can best support our staff team in analysing their qualitative data by using visual representations. Adapting the use of Thinking Maps we use with pupils, we can help theContinue reading “Thinking maps”

Working in the often frenetic environment of a schools often poses senior leaders to be faced with the task of making swift and decisive decisions.  When out of school, I often play ’email Top Trumps’ with colleagues to see who has the highest number of unanswered emails. My average email count is in the highContinue reading “Slow leadership – the art of thinking slow when making important decisions”

The affirming power of research Staff in a busy school can appear to race along the landscape like a startled herd of gazelles darting every which way as the educational landscape changes;  swiftly changing direction as the needs of their children change, as the leadership of the school evolves, as each framework from Ofsted isContinue reading “Evidence Informed Education”

Cognitive bias in school-based research In developing a culture of research, I have been thinking about how we can best support our staff team in spotting bias in their own research and in the research of others. Cognitive biasHeuristic – providing a simple and often imperfect answer to a difficult question (Kahneman, 2011) I love theContinue reading “Irresistible learning”

When thinking of research in schools, the key to a purposeful research based enquiry is to lead the researcher to a helpful question for their research project. This process is one that can often be hampered by what Daniel Kahnaman would call ‘fast thinking’. Jumping at the first question that springs to mind can often leadContinue reading “Step 2 – build a great research question”