It is exam results week and teachers all over England will be picking through the remnants of their students’ results – their successes and failures. My thoughts come to one of the mainstay strategies that correlate with exam success. That dull and nagging pain: revision. We know that a world of
Alternatively titled: ‘How do we get the best teachers to Prestatyn and Great Yarmouth?’ “Come To Sunny Prestatyn Laughed the girl on the poster, Kneeling up on the sand In tautened white satin. Behind her, a hunk of coast, a Hotel with palms…” So starts ‘Sunny Prestatyn‘, by Phillip Larkin.
Wayne Rooney, aged 16, scoring an iconic goal against Arsenal. Genius derived from genes? Or does practice make perfect? Most young boys grow up in Liverpool playing football and little else. I fulfilled the stereotype with aplomb. I’d play football in shop doorways, braving passing buses, or, more safely,
[Insert inspirational quote about failure here] I fail therefore I succeed. Failure is the pathway to success. Learn to fail – learn to succeed. The internet is awash with aphorisms like these. A million posters about attitude and mindset capture the same common sense truth. Failure, although bitter to the taste,
Few things in education are as spectacularly emotive and ire-inducing as the choice of books we read for English Literature in schools. This last week we have seen Gove receive a full-frontal assault for the mere suggestion of removing books from the GCSE specification (did he or didn’t he
Are you looking to change the behaviour of your students, or tweak the habits of your fellow teachers – then go EAST… Make the desired behaviour Easy. Make the desired behaviour Attractive. Make the desired behaviour Social. Make the desired behaviour Timely. The ‘Behavioural Insights Team‘ is a government organisation (now
Etymology (noun) The study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history. Etymology is often often considered the preserve of the English teacher. I would argue that it is a goldmine of an opportunity (too often missed) for teachers of every subject
What if we are not the accurate judges that we think ourselves to be? What if our natural biases get the better of us, even when we don’t expect them to do so? Does it mean we are not really very good at assessing the work of our own
What does the classroom of a great teacher look like and sound like? I imagine there are many answers to that question: from pin-drop silence, as students are abuzz with mental activity, to a symphony of talk, conducted with deft expertise. Many great teachers conduct their classroom with unconscious skill
The drive for research evidence being used in education has achieved something quite radical in our time: it has been met with near universal political consensus. You won’t hear Gove or Hunt bickering over this debate. A diverse spread of organisations are also in support – from teaching unions like
A quick question: “How many animals of each kind did Moses bring onto the Ark?” Did you get it right? Two. Of course. Er, not quite. If you didn’t notice already, there is a fundamental error evident in the question. The answer is zero. Noah was at the helm
When you become a father you get used to being asked endless questions about the intricacies of our complex world. The road is paved with unending questions. Why does this…? How does that…? Questions become connections. Connections flower into understanding and grow into knowledge. Without being trite, such curiosity is