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No Such Thing as a Bad School
‘It would be tempting to conclude that any school in which every student gets five good GCSE grades must be a very good school indeed, and any school where four out of five students fail to do so must...
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Holding Out For An Aero
Don’t get me wrong now. I love compliments as much as anyone. You take anything you get when you promote your blog on Twitter. But I’m no wonder teacher. My classes are not always the ‘Dead Poets...
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Challenge is More Effective Than Praise
This week I started a Masters level course on Supporting Teacher Learning. I signed up for a couple of reasons: first of all to develop my mentoring skills and my ability to help develop peer learning...
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What Exactly Are We Developing on Development Days?
In all of my fourteen years of teaching I’ve never known a time when workload was such an issue for me. Perhaps it’s an age thing; perhaps I just don’t have the energy to cope with what I used to be...
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There is No Beginning
There is no beginning. We saw Lewis laid down, when there was not much but thunder and volcanic fires; watched long seas plunder faults; laughed as Staffa cooled… (From ‘Slate’ by Edwin Morgan) My...
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Trying to Change Everything by Changing Everything- Part One
This is the first part of four posts which will make up my presentation from Research-Ed York on May 3rd 2014. I have chosen to present it in parts because it adds up to about 3000 words and, heck,...
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Trying to Change Everything by Changing Everything – Part Two
As part of the McCrone Agreement, ‘A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century’, an alternative route was provided for experienced teachers who did not want to enter management; those who had reached...
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Trying to Change Everything by Changing Everything – Part Three
So we have the blank slate, the space and freedom to change the curriculum. Where next? And where does research enter the picture, you may be wondering? The Chartered Teacher scheme died a death in...
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Trying to Change Everything by Changing Everything – Part Four
So at this point, I see people rolling their eyes at my naivety; I hear them mutter ‘that’ll never happen’. Unless this is just a revolution in my head, where do we go from here? If we are to embark on...
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What Vitas Gerulaitis Taught Me About Persistence
He was one of those players on the tour whom everyone knew; as famous for his flamboyant lifestyle as much for his tennis, he nevertheless, in public anyway, exuded a confidence which was hard to...
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