EdBlogs

Welcome to EdBlogs, where you'll find education insights, analysis and stories from the frontline. If you've got a story to tell, send it over to ed@edcentral.uk and if we think it's relevant to our network we'll publish it :-)

Can't convince your colleagues about the value of evidence? You may be a victim of the backfire effect

One of the challenges faced by school research leads is the need to engage with colleagues who have different views about the role of evidence in bringing about improvement. In fact, it's not just the role of evidence that's likely to be debated – you might even face differing views about the evidence itself. In 2010, two researchers – Brendan Nyha...
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If teachers could learn from each other more, maybe teaching could be a lifelong profession – not a four-year sacrifice

When I started in teaching, I wanted to copy everything I loved about the teachers who had made a difference to me. By the time I started in the classroom I was very much in favour of being tough on kids and demanding superb output from them. I was anti-liberal and, looking back, too much so. Teaching English was a huge amount of fun, but in my ear...
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What we learned about education from the Labour and Conservative Party conferences

Conference season has come to an end for another year, with politicians stepping down from their podiums and getting back to the business of running the country. There were bold statements from both Labour and the Conservatives – including rent control and an energy price cap, respectively – but what did we learn about the parties' plans for the fu...
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Is coaching really a silver bullet for teachers' professional development and school improvement?

A data analysis of the effect of coaching on teachers' practice and students' outcomes caused a bit of a stir recently. The meta-analysis of 37 studies found that coaching was an effective method of professional development for teachers. It is worth noting that coaching was most effective in small groups, however. In fact, it was half as effective ...
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Memorisation, retention and learning

Teachers often assume that because they are teaching and their students are sitting there in front of them - looking attentive - that they are actually learning. They could be right. On the other hand, it could be that their students are just performing the role of student - but not learning.  Even if they are learning, how long will they reta...
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