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leadership
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
#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: The Adults.
Last week I was asked to lead a session with the three Kings’ schools in Dubai on relationships. This was partly about teacher-student relationships but also about adults’ relationships and their importance in the organisation. Here are some of the slides I used and the issues we discussed: Organisations are complex and dynamic; relationships are … Continue reading
Find your space; Own your space! To be effective and happy, we need to be ourselves.
The start of a new year, a big term ahead, it’s reflection time. My message to teachers and leaders is to navigate the turbulence and try to do what you can to make your job your own; to carve out a way of working that gives you maximum space to be yourself, to express yourself, … Continue reading
Saffron Walden County High School: An exemplary school. The Learning Rainforest made real.
Last week I spent a day visiting Saffron Walden County High School in the North-West corner of Essex. This was the result of a conversation with Head and CEO, Caroline Derbyshire who suggested that I should consider writing a ‘Learning Rainforest in Action’ follow-up book. Having read the original book, Caroline felt that SWCHS embodied … Continue reading
Be A Better B!
Last weekend, after an excellent ResearchEd event in Philadelphia, where Dylan Wiliam had given a superb keynote, I wrote this tweet: Imagine teacher A is way more effective than teacher B. Tendency is to make B emulate what A does. I think this is wrong. We need to work with B to establish how B, … Continue reading
@teacherhead Update #1. October ’18.
Introducing…. This is the first of what I hope will be a half-termly update, highlighting trends and ideas that I pick up in my work across various schools and colleges and through my engagement with online discussions, blogs, conferences and publications. It will also highlight some of the content on this blog that has gained … Continue reading
10 essential discussions to have in any teacher team.
Towards the end of last academic year, I wrote a post outlining what might be in a typical school’s development plan: Here’s your school development plan – no, really, don’t thank me. All of those ideas are still relevant for next year. But what about at a departmental level or a year level in primary? Here … Continue reading
The inspirational story of Cardiff’s Eastern High School.
This week I had the pleasure of hearing a presentation from Armando and Innes, Head and Deputy Head at Eastern High School in Cardiff at a Headteachers’ conference run by the school improvement team GwE in North Wales. The story of how they have turned this school around is truly inspirational. Joining the school (Armando … Continue reading
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
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