teacherhead
Leadership Issues
Annoying things controlling schools still do that have no basis in evidence:
As trailed on twitter… a short round-up of annoying things controlling schools still do that have no basis in evidence. 1. Grade individual lessons There is no justification for this in terms of professional discourse. It’s voodoo; a control device. No human observer can reliably maintain graded judgements over time, let alone ensuring that this … Continue reading
Developing Writing. Exploring the process from YR to Y6.
At the end of term I spent a fantastic day working with staff at Cirencester Primary School. As part of the day, we ran an exercise to explore standards in writing – a process I have now facilitated a few times; it is always absolutely fascinating. As part of my talk earlier in the day, … Continue reading
Behaviour Balance: Assertive teachers; supportive system.
On my travels around schools over the years I’ve seen hundreds of lessons in various different contexts. Whilst a firm believer that school and college systems are necessary to support excellent behaviour, I have to say that, where behaviour is an issue in a lesson, a lot of the time I take the view that … Continue reading
Impact! Superb College of Teachers journal made me think – a lot!
After the establishment of the Chartered College of Teaching there was always going to be a period of waiting to see what it’s really about once actions have been taken beyond the promising vision and sound intentions. Impact gives us a massive clue. Evidence-informed teacher wisdom is Go! Having ceased to be an active teacher, … Continue reading
From Research to Practice – changing teachers’ habits through research engagement. #rEDHan
This post contains the slides and key ideas I presented at ResearchEd in Haninge – #rEDHan on March 10th. You can also watch the whole thing as seen on Swedish TV: I started off by suggesting that my rainforest metaphor for students’ learning might also apply to teachers – we need to strengthen our knowledge … Continue reading
The Disadvantage ‘Gap’ is a Chasm.
From a range of different contexts, working in education for over 30 years, I’ve learned a great deal about the complexity of the community that comprehensive schools serve. As an acting Designated Child Protection Officer for several weeks, I learned even more. The scale on the axis of advantage and disadvantage is extraordinary with consequences for … Continue reading
Building Great Teachers: Theory of Action
Most, if not all, of my current work is geared towards building great teachers. It’s such a fascinating, complex and challenging process. Even if the focus is on yourself, or on one teacher, the process of enabling that one person to become a ‘great teacher’, more effective, more confident, more successful, more able to self-manage, … Continue reading
Understanding Assessment: A blog guide
In my experience, assessment is widely misunderstood by a lot of people in education – which is a worry given how much of it we do and how high the stakes are with formal assessment issues. There all kinds of confusions, false premises, false promises and circularities across the system. There are too many … Continue reading
Get assessment right and reduce workload at the same time. #HTRTSummit
On Friday 23rd February I gave talk at the Headteachers’ Roundtable Summit on the theme of assessment and workload. This blog captures some of the main points. I’ve been exploring this theme is various other places too so, to avoid repetition, please also read: Towards an Assessment Paradigm Shift – how we need away from macro … Continue reading
Don’t do ‘Can do’. The problems with can-do checklists and trackers.
In my recent talk at ResearchEd in Birmingham (and more recently at Blackpool) , I explored some ideas about assessment and critiqued various responses to the challenge of getting assessment right. Sensibly enough, given all the limitations and flaws in grading systems, lots of schools are trying to make their assessment systems meaningful, rooted in … Continue reading
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