We can provide the best professional learning for teachers, but often it doesn’t change what they do in the classroom. In this post, I look at why changing teacher behaviour can be so difficult and what we can do about it.
How teachers have a finger in every pie, but no time to eat it
Currently, teachers are facing a major workload crisis. This article looks at the different types of knowledge needed, how much time it actually takes to develop resources and questions why many teachers continue to insist on doing it all.
Why you can’t change someone who believes in balanced literacy
In this blog, I will look at why it can be so hard to get someone to change and four simple steps that we can follow to support them through the transformation in their thinking.
1. Agree on the problem
2. See the world through their eyes
3. Shrink the change
4. Clarify the solution
5 Rules For Using Data Effectively
So much is invested into schools based on data, yet I will argue in this article, a lot of school data isn’t reliable or valid. I will also analyse some of the mistakes many schools make when looking at data. Finally, I will offer 5 rules to follow in order to use data effectively.
Can we create professional learning that works for teachers? (Part 2)
This post will look at what we used for effective professional learning for teachers, how we used it and how it measured up against the Education Endowment Foundations Effective Professional Development guidance report. Finally, I reflect on how effective it actually was and what future recommendations I have.
Can we create professional learning that works for teachers? (Part 1)
Teacher professional learning is one of those things that all schools do, but not many do well. This article looks at why it needs to be done well and how we can do it using the evidence.
My Key Takeaways from Ambition Institute’s Blog Series on What is School Leadership
Ambition Institute recently released a blog series on What is School Leadership. These are my key takeaways.
How To Implement The Science Of Learning When The Rest Of The School Isn’t
More educators are wanting to implement the Science of Learning or Reading but hit a roadblock when trying to implement it across the school. This article explains how to move a Pre-Contemplator through the Stages of Change (Prochaska & DiClemente) and present them with a Theory of Action (Robinson).
Why should we follow the Science of Reading?
This blog post looks at what the Science of Reading is and why we should follow it. We look at Nancy Young’s Ladder of Reading and Writing, Pamela Snow’s Language House, Scarborough’s Reading Rope and the Language Literacy Network.
How should we actually teach Primary English?
Currently, there is a mountain of research to support teachers in being evidence-informed English educators. There is so much research that it has even been given its own label – the Science of Reading. For many practitioners, this very term can send shivers down their spine at the thought of “yet another fad” or that what they have been doing in the classroom has been labelled as wrong. I would argue against that and say, “you only know, what you know.”
I have put together a series of pages here that goes through a lot of the research on how we should be teaching primary English. I encourage you to go through these pages skeptically with an open-mind.