My presentation at the 2018 ResearchEd National Conference was based on the conclusions I have reached about teaching after 15 years at the chalk face. There are three things I believe to be true. Teaching is essentially simple. What ever you want to teach you start with a recap of what they know about the issue…
In my younger days I was obsessed with all things Dungeons and Dragons. From the ages of 10 – 20 I spent my time reading about it, talking about it, writing about it and when time allowed, actually playing it. For the uninitiated (to see if you are initiated, roll a d6. If you get…
A couple of weeks ago I wrote this post on teaching rituals. My point was that there is often a good idea introduced in teaching but that this good idea gets swallowed up in poorly understood structures. People follow the structures and then ignore the idea. This, I suggested, was a problem. After posting it…
There has been much discussion on EduTwitter and on teaching blogs about the need for a knowledge based curriculum. A lot of this seems to be coming from either those with an English teaching background or from Primary education where there seems to have been a focus on skills in the past. For those of…
This scene has played out at the door to my classroom day after day for years. Surly youth: Are we having a fun lesson today? Me: No. We are doing Geography. It isn’t meant to be fun. It is meant to be rigorous. It is meant to be hard. It is going to challenge you…
Should we still care about curriculum? This is a question I am hearing more and more over the last few months. And it concerns me. Prior to the Ofsted focus on curriculum very few conversations were had about the quality of curriculum and subject was often pushed aside in favour of questions about data. This…
Frankly, it’s amazing that schools work at all. Every morning, hundreds of pupils stream through the gates of every school in the country. They bring with them their packed lunches, forgotten PE kits, notes from home, friendship dramas, and a thousand small triumphs and anxieties from the day before. Teachers and support staff greet them,…
A closer look at Ofsted’s updated toolkit reveals unanswered questions about fairness, reliability and the real impact on schools and staff.
The Problem with “Disadvantage” There has been a lot of discussion, going on for many years now but sharpened in recent headlines, about disadvantage and education. The term ‘disadvantaged’ is in itself one laden with issues and a term I generally prefer to avoid. To cut to the heart of the matter though, what is…
Writing any book is a nerve wracking experience. You sit in a small room somewhere, glaring at a computer screen, daring the page to remain blank. As you write, you are always aware of a reader sat over your shoulder, scrutinising your emerging thoughts as they appear, tutting over typos and raising their eyebrows at…
How Do They Do It? Learning Lessons from Amazing Teachers, Leaders and Schools Every so often, Zoe and I find ourselves reflecting on just how extraordinary schools really are. Every day, hundreds of young people pour through the gates, bringing with them all the hopes, fears, and stories of their lives outside the classroom. Inside,…
Last week a female politician crying in the Commons hit the headlines. Commentary ranged from how positive it was, to how it showed weakness, including how women shouldn’t be in the position to lead as they are just too emotional (an oft used trope throughout history). This morning, I open up social media to see…
For a long time, I have used the familiar adage which is oft attributed to Mary Myatt of living it ‘not laminating it’. There is no point adorning the walls with mottos and phrases that are just glorified wallpaper. They need to mean something in practice. It is the same with policies. Having a behaviour…
Much of my adult identity was bound up in being a teacher. For over 20 years I had lived my life by bells and terms and assessment deadlines. Most of my friends were teachers (that is still the case), I married a teacher, and even my son’s partner went into teaching. Teaching was something that…
We all know that school improvement is a complex beast. There are conflicting ideas about what that might be the best approaches to teaching and behaviour, ideas about what pupils need and what the priorities should be, and we are always juggling many balls at the same time. Working in school improvement (and Ofsted) affords…
Teaching it Real 