EdBlogs

​Welcome to the inaugural Teacher Olympics! Due to the current funding crisis, we regret to inform you that the opening ceremony has been cancelled. Instead, we will launch straight into the first event: weightlifting. Teachers from across the land will compete to see who can struggle from classroom to car with the heaviest plastic box of unmarked ...

I've recently begun to think about whether the school research/evidence community has a shared understanding of the similarities and differences between research, quality improvement and evidence-based practice (EBP). This is a critical issue because if schools and school leaders are not fully aware of the similarities and differences, there's a re...

Homework has taken a lot of flack lately. Unduly so, I believe. There is a push – and even a hashtag, #ditchHW – to end the practice of teacher-prescribed homework for students. Most of those who oppose it cite either a lack of evidence for its effectiveness or a more pressing need for quality family time. I totally sympathise with the argument for...

Professor Simon Burgess of the University of Bristol says: "Having a good teacher as opposed to a mediocre or poor teacher makes a big difference. Teacher effectiveness matters enormously. A pupil being taught for eight GCSEs by all effective teachers (those at the 75th percentile of the teacher effectiveness distribution) will achieve an overall G...

Progress in neuroscience is rapidly influencing the way we think about teaching and learning. Cognitive scientists and behavioural psychologists now claim to have a better understanding – based on new empirical evidence – of how our minds and memories work, how and why we make decisions and how we learn. Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary fi...