Because even when you don’t walk away with a shiny trophy, dazzling medal or coveted prize, you can be proud of the personal triumph for having had the courage and temerity to take part. You can be proud of the furtive tears shed when you hit a brick wall and the ideas were too elusive…
Read MoreDeveloping Questioning
Pedagogy matters. Good pedagogy closes achievement gaps. Great pedagogy may even reverse them! When I speak about pedagogy I am referring to the instructional methods and approaches teachers have in their repertoire and deploy in their classrooms. The whole thing is both science and art, practice and theory, and because of its unquestionable power, every…
Read MoreIs it Labelling Students or Having Useful Data?
So, you’re given a new class, or if a HoY an entire new year group. The teacher(s) who had them before you handover some data on the students’ behaviour over the past year. Inevitably, there are some students who have been challenging. Comments such as “disengaged”, “cause for concern” or “unmotivated” appear for certain pupils.…
Read MoreChampioning the Educational Achievement of Black Boys
Recent protests against racial injustice have once again shone a spotlight upon disparities between different ethnic groups. Naturally, as an educator I found myself thinking about how issues of race play out in schools and what teachers and leaders can do to narrow such disparaties. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but as…
Read MoreParents as Educators
With The COVID-19 pandemic forcing us to shut down almost every entity, and then shut ourselves in, it’s reiterated the importance of family. Overnight, the family became the thing of central importance. The jewel in the crown. It was always supposed to be, but I think many of us forgot that along the way. They…
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