Still Thinking is the website of Dr Barry Hymer, a UK-based freelance educator and Visiting Fellow at Newcastle University’s Centre for Teaching and Learning. An experienced teacher and educational psychologist, Barry Hymer has delivered keynote and workshop presentations at numerous national and international conferences, and worked in a training and consultancy capacity with many thousands of teachers, students, parents, governors, teaching assistants and inspector-advisers. Barry Hymer’s work aims always to respect the capacity of teachers and students to take ownership of their learning agenda, in a way which allows them to realize their personal and educational values in their own practice.

Barry’s three latest books are the Gifted & Talented Pocketbook, The Routledge-Falmer International Companion to Gifted Education (co-edited by Tom Balchin, Barry Hymer and Dona Matthews) and Gifts, Talents & Education: A Living Theory Approach (co-written by Barry Hymer, Jack Whitehead and Marie Huxtable). If you require any more information than you can gather from this site, please feel free to contact Barry Hymer by using the link.


View a short taster from the Carol Dweck 2010 Tour

Latest Blog Entry.
I’m in the process of reflecting on time spent in the company of Carol Dweck, her husband David Goldman (theatre director and critic), my friend and co-organiser James Nottingham, Helen Richards (who kept us all organised) and a number of other good and interesting people from across the world who kept us company and in good humour for the nine days of the tour. In particular, it was a great opportunity to get to know someone whose work has inspired and intrigued me for over a decade, and who has been the source of my own evolving thinking and practice in the field of gifted education. I delighted in getting glimpses into the background of Carol’s work over forty years, and listening to wonderful anecdotes and insights from her studies and experiences. And some unexpected highlights: James exercising his newly-acquired expertise as a sommelier, Oyven’s tortuous yet still hilarious after-dinner jokes, and, courtesy of David, learning the real (and remarkably modest) heights of well-known Hollywood stars. And there aren’t many people who can claim to have arm-wrestled with Prof Carol Dweck, whilst waiting for a plane at Bergen Airport! Carol is a very slight woman, but boy – her right arm packs some surprising power! Let’s just say that the result allowed both parties to claim a sort of victory ….

Thanks are due too to our excellent co-hosts on the tour – the Yorks & Humber G&T Regional Partnership, NACE, Pen Green Research Centre, the Centre for Real-World Learning at Winchester University, and for our final destination, the remarkable community of Floro in Norway, who were celebrating their 150th anniversary at the time of our visit. It was my first visit to Floro, whereas James seems at times to live there, but it helped me understand his fondness for and affinity with the region and its people. They embody all that is generous, affirmative, and thoughtful in a community that values communication, dialogue, humour, the visual arts, and respect for the environment. And the chance to watch an England match in a Norwegian, anglophile pub is a rare treat!

The website created for the conferences Carol Dweck – remains live, and we will be uploading presentations from the tour over the next few weeks. Please do feel free to visit the site and explore material contained on it.

So back to the rump of the summer term and the chance to work the fruits of my recent experiences into my courses and conversations. May readers of this blog have a happy, busy and successful end of term and a well-deserved summer holiday – when it comes!
Posted on: 21st June 2010