I ended up drafting an email that didn't really lean on research specific to grade school education, but expressed my concerns in the most basic terms.

I removed the personal details and have shared it as a template here for folks who might find it useful:
bit.ly/TeacherEmail...

Yay! Many congratulations.

Yes, it's time to move on from EduCognitivism.

p.s. if teaching was only a science, anyone would be able to do it by simply applying the methods. The very fact that they can't is testament to its relational qualities. I sometimes wonder if the people demanding we totally scientise education just aren't particularly good at the relational bits. 😉

We've always had edu research but it's not really been used by people to impose methods until fairly recent times. It has been turned into a bit of a cudgel by some to push their favoured approach. But teaching isn't just a science, it's also an art and a craft. That focus will come back soon! 3/3

It's basically like a cycle of methods that spins around once every decade or so. We so often seem to lurch from one side to another. As I say to new teachers, 'know what your values are and stick to them because once every ten years people will say you were doing the right thing all along'. 2/3

They were 8 and 11 years old

You too! The paperwork bit not so much but at least we recruited!

Trying to get the house rearranged for visiting family over xmas and sorting out recruitment paperwork for preschool!