Neil (Aulehla) Atkin
Educational Consultant

About Me: Still Teaching and still Learning.

What would you want to do if you saw the sign ‘Please do not climb or peer over the fencing? ‘ Probably peer and climb!
Fundamental to everything I do is this fascination with motivation. and how we might trigger better learning behaviours in our students. Research has given us huge insights into what pedagogy is effective in improving exam performance, but it is not so simple as just putting it all in place and expecting brilliant outcomes. We are dealing with complex and irrational beings with a host of other drivers.
A hearing loss forced me from the classroom where I loved being an Advanced Skills Teacher in challenging schools- Terrible title, but wonderful job. So I became an educational consultant and the more I learned, the more I realised I had and still have to learn. But digital tools have enabled me to effectively teach again and have opened a whole host of new opportunities.
My approach is to challenge and provoke. As a physics specialist I deliver lessons to people with erroneous belief systems and unless they see you as a deity you cannot simply preach knowledge with the expectation that this will change their belief.
I feel scientific literacy is as important as literacy and numeracy, but is not given the same credence. Our students need to ask ‘Where is the evidence?’ and ‘What might happen if?’ I use my Brilliant Rubbish Science to develop scientific thinkers and problem solvers. I have worked with the Australian, Vietnamese and Malaysian governments on innovation and getting underrepresented groups into STEM. I have worked with schools and universities across the world. My experience as a Gender Balance Officer gave me a fascinating insight into gender issues and strategies in dealing with some of the most talented, but least resilient students – High achieving girls.
These ideas are also effective for other underrepresented groups and I run a ladder of role models workshop. I currently fulfil a similar role at Physics Partners
My background in challenging schools led me to develop the physics of activities students found engaging such as football, surfing, and skateboarding, You can teach most of the forces topic using a skateboarder doing an ollie and the skaters will listen to you!
Digital tools so clearly should facilitate great learning but rarely seem to. In the 90s I got very excited by the prospect that the internet could remove classroom walls and redefine education, but that really has not happened. I was a digital consultant on the DfEs EdTech project. I am now mapping digital tools to proven pedagogical practices and am looking for collaborators for a research project.