My wife has recently started a PGCE in Computer Science and this led to me thinking about my own experience as a trainee teacher almost 20 years ago. Over these two decades, I’ve learned a lot about what makes good teaching, as well as what doesn’t work. Countless mistakes made in the classroom have helped…
Read MoreThe Thirty Minute Teacher
When I wrote The Thirty Minute Teacher, I wanted to share simple, high leverage strategies that teachers could use to develop their classroom practice. To paraphrase Dylan William, all teachers should get better, not because they are not good enough, but because they can. My book supports teachers to this end so they can feel…
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 MoreHow to Discuss Challenging Issues in the Classroom
Having recently written a new curriculum for pastoral care, I’ve considered how we can raise difficult conversations in the classroom. These conversations could be related to race, social justice, ethnicity or class, and many more. As an educator, I think curricula should challenge students to think beyond their immediate circumstances and positions. This is particularly…
Read MoreThe Art of Practice
The lockdown struggle is real. In between sampling my kids’ baking experiments, bread with no yeast being one such interesting delight, I’ve been trying to teach them at home so that they don’t experience too many gaps as a result of 6 months without formal schooling. This post is inspired by a conversation I had…
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