Danny Whitehead The Elephant in the Corner: Controversial Content in the Classroom

Abortion, obesity, HIV/AIDS, religion, prostitution... Can you guess what these have in common? These are controversial issues which can emerge in discussions class or can be brought up for discussion by the teacher. There are several factors that make an issue controversial and can be identified by the following characteristics:

Do you remember what we were taught at college about what should the ratio be between students' and teachers' talking time? Yes, sustain theirs for as long as possible, while keeping ours to a minimum. Do you try to follow this advice or try to find excuses not to? In his brilliantly delivered presentation Hugh Dellar has demonstrated that under certain conditions we can, actually, should stretch the time we speak in class.

Why do we attend conferences? To share and to learn, to analyse and reflect, to meet new people and get together with old colleagues and friends. I had the most extraordinary meeting today which surprised me once and again how small the world is. I have just completed an e-moderators training course at Consultants-E and known my tutors will be at the conference. But can you imagine what I learned when I met Kristina Smith (E-Consultants) here? Read on to learn.

My father is a physicist and worked at Brookhaven National Laboratory (NY, USA) for several years. Guess what?

The evening activities at the conference have been superb! On the first day a Welsh Voice Choir got us immersed in beautifully performed traditional songs. Choir music always leaves me mesmerized and this was not an exception, but what was special this time is a Welsh taste to them. Superb!

The same day you could learn to dance traditional Welsh dances accompanied by the Twmpath Dawns Band (a Welsh Ceilidth band). I was amazed at how many people joined! It was great!