EdBlogs

 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...

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...

Student wellbeing is top of the list priority list for many teachers at the moment. Issues, such as stress, anxiety, depression, fear of failure and perfectionism, are having a chilling effect on students of all ages. NHS data shows that there has been a 68% rise in hospital admissions for self-harm among girls under 17 in the last decade. Els...

A recent Twitter conversation about the advantages and disadvantages of headteachers having a teaching commitment made me thoughtful. I was a head for 30 years and taught each class of year 7 one English lesson every week throughout this time. I was paired with the English teacher who taught them for the rest of the time. If I had to be out of...

We are asking school research champions to do an impossible job. This isn't a poor reflection of the professionals in these roles – the job is simply too much for one person. There are three aspects to being a research champion: identifying and analysing data and research; linking up and exchanging ideas between professionals (from policymakers to ...