EdBlogs

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...

It's a widely recognised fact that the quality of our schools, our teachers and leaders varies too much. Good leaders are proven to transform schools and so demand for top 'superheads' has soared, leading to salaries that are nothing short of eye-watering.  But the latest research, hot off the press from the Centre for High Performance, throws...

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...

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...

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...