Learning without limits. | Alison Peacock | TEDxNorwichED

Alison Peacock, a primary headteacher, talks about the negative impact of labelling children by so-called ‘ability’. She illustrates her talk with examples of children who have flourished when their teachers have focused on ‘finding a way through’ for everyone. Education and society benefits when we resist the trend towards labelling children according to test scores. Alison explains how openness to the ‘art of the possible’ can transform children’s lives.


Alison Peacock DBE, DL, DLitt, MEd, BA, is co-author of ‘Creating Learning without Limits’ (2012). This research explores an alternative improvement agenda; identifying key dispositions for school leadership where every child and adult is valued and where no one is labelled by so-called ‘ability’. Alison is Executive Headteacher of The Wroxham School, a primary school in Hertfordshire. She led the school out of special measures less than a year after her appointment as headteacher (Jan 2003) and it was subsequently judged by Ofsted to be outstanding. Amongst many other roles, Alison was appointed by the DfE as a member of the Commission for Assessment Without Levels and as a member of the ITT Expert Group and CPD Expert Group. She is a trustee of Teach First and a member of the Future Leaders Advisory Group.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx