teacherhead
Leadership Issues
7 Variables Between/Within Schools: Where are you on each scale?
I wrote a short thread on twitter this week outlining five key variables that I detect when I visit schools. These are things that I’m struck by; things that I notice because the range is so wide. It gained some interest and a request to write it up – so here it is. I’ve extended … Continue reading
Top-down observation and feedback models are flawed. Time for change.
(NB This post does’t work if you can’t see the images/diagrams: ) Earlier this week I tweeted this short twitter thread: The more closely I work with teachers and schools/colleges, supporting CPD processes of various kinds, the more I realise just how woefully inadequate the standard ‘top-down drop-in and give feedback’ approach is.. I’m now … Continue reading
Collection of recent ideas for better teaching and better teacher development.
I’m going to write something soon about the process of teacher observation and feedback and the way I see that moving forward. Meanwhile, I’ve been writing a lot about the things I see from the perspective of an observer – for teacher and for leaders. Here’s a collection in case you missed any: Blogs … Continue reading
Curriculum Murmurations #2: Secondary Models Analysis. Compromises!!
This is the second in a series of posts about the direction of travel with curriculum thinking. The introductory post is here: Curriculum Murmurations #1. Thoughts from 2019. The image of a murmuration captures the sense of a system looking for direction with all the twists and turns and fluctuations. In this post I am … Continue reading
Curriculum Murmurations #1. Thoughts from 2019.
A murmuration of curriculum. That’s how my wife – a secondary Deputy Head – described the current state of things nationally. It’s a great image: the energetic but chaotic swirling around of individuals trying to stay together, following-the-leader in short bursts within a flock that has no overall sense of direction; patterns emerging here … Continue reading
7 Deadly Difficulties in Teaching.
Increasingly I feel that teacher development, performance review and the whole apparatus around lesson observation should place a strong, central emphasis on understanding the challenges that teachers face in securing the learning of all the students in a class. It can often be extremely difficult even for experienced expert teachers to nail every student’s learning … Continue reading
Rosenshine’s Principles: 10 FAQs.
Having published the little red and black booklet, Rosenshine’s Principles in Action, I now get asked to talk about it a lot. I also get asked a lot of the same questions. Here’s a sample of 10 FAQs. 1. Do the principles all apply to every lesson? No. It’s really important not to think of … Continue reading
#CPD: Meeting half-way. Changing minds, shifting the inertia, overcoming the resistance.
In my work as a travelling teacher trainer, in amongst the enthusiasts with welcoming smiles, I meet plenty of teachers who are being compelled to sit and listen to me. It’s not as if they are being held forcefully against their will but you can be sure, given a completely free choice, they’d be … Continue reading
Relationships at school. Teacher-student.
This post is Part 2 from two, based on a talk I gave to the Kings’ Schools in Dubai in August. Part One was about adult relationships: Relationships at School: The Adults. This one is about teacher-student or, more generally, adult-child relationships. Here are some of the areas that we discussed in the session: 1.We are … Continue reading
Mindsets vs Metacognition. Two EEF reports and a clear conclusion.
At ResearchEd in Cape Town I presented a workshop exploring two relatively recent reports from the Education Endowment Foundation – the 2018 guidance report Metacognition and Self-regulated Learning, and the 2019 report Changing Mindsets: Effectiveness Trial. Essentially, my argument is that these papers support the view – one that makes sense to me – that … Continue reading
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