Hedgehog or Fox?

Archilochus, c.650BC The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.

Do you think you are a fox or a hedgehog? If a fox: + 7 point If a hedgehog: - 7 points

Scholars are more likely to exaggerate the complexity of the world than to underestimate it? Yes: - 3 points No: + 3 points

We can successfully create a simple and correct explanations of politics? Yes: - 5 points No: + 5 points

I think politics is more unpredictable than predictable? Yes: + 4 points No: - 4 points

Having clear rules and order at work is essential for success. Yes: - 2 points No: + 2 points

I always listen to different opinions, even if I have already made a decision. Yes: + 5 points No: - 5 points

I dislike questions that can be answered in many different ways. Yes: - 6 points No: + 6 points

I usually make important decisions quickly and confidently. Yes: - 4 points No: + 4 points

When people have an argument, I can see the good points (and bad points) on both sides. Yes: + 5 points No: - 5 points

I hate listening to people who can’t make up their mind. Yes: - 3 points No: + 3 points

I enjoy being around people who have different opinions from me. Yes: + 4 points No: - 4 points

When trying to solve a problem I often see so many options that it is confusing. Yes: + 1 point No: - 1 point

Scoring Add up your points. Your score can be anywhere from +54 to -54. The more negative your score, the more you are a hedgehog. The more positive your score, the more you are a fox. No ‘pure hedgehogs’ or ‘pure foxes’. Do you agree with your result? Why/who not?

Janet Mills wrote that … Some of the finest music teachers that I have observed, particularly, but not only, in primary schools, have no qualifications in music, and teach many subjects—in some cases the whole of the primary curriculum. They may never have learned to play an instrument, and they may not read staff notation well, or at all. What they bring to their music teaching is: Their ability, typically developed in other subjects, to diagnose where students are, and work out ways of helping them to learn; A degree of humility about their music skills that leaves them continually questioning how well their students are learning, and whether there are approaches that would enable them to learn more rapidly; Musical skills, interests, and knowledge that are additional to those of the teacher in charge of music at the school, and that enrich the music curriculum of the school.

When teachers with little formal training in  music teach it, their problem is often confidence, rather than competence. When I work as an inspector in schools, such teachers sometimes try to apologize to me for their teaching before they have even begun, and then the most wonderful lesson unfolds as they focus on the students, closely observe what the students can do and what they cannot do yet, and use a range of skills developed in other subjects to help the students make progress. (Mills 2005, pp.28-29)