EdBlogs

What is it? Lesson Study is a continuous professional development (CPD) programme, based on an approach widely used in Japan. Teachers work together in small groups – usually threes – to investigate, plan and then teach 'research lessons' that meet a shared learning goal. Colleagues observe each other in these lessons and give feedback on...

In early December, there was a strange alignment between the real-world and Twitter when the issue of evidence-based practice in education was discussed in three conversations: The Coalition for Evidence-Based Education talked about the notion of strategic abandonment (thank you @DrCarolineCreaby)Later in the evening, #DebatED discussed "wheth...

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...

 Teaching is a highly nuanced, complex art, where the most effective teachers build up a range of strategies over years and years of practice. I opted out of the classroom too early to do that, and moved into what in many ways is a less complex, but equally demanding, role of senior administrator, or leader, in schools. I taught for about 15 y...

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 ...