EdBlogs

Robin Alexander gained his PhD from the University of Cambridge, beginning his career as a teacher before becoming a lecturer at the University of Leeds. He is currently a fellow of Wolfson College at Cambridge, honorary professor of education at the University of York, professor of education emeritus at the University of Warwick, and chair of...

The short answer is, of course, that they don't. Not unless they get effective, structured feedback from their students. This is where 'formative assessment' comes in. Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam, in their seminal work, 'Inside the black box: raising standards through classroom assessment' define formative assessment as encompassing: "all those act...

Why do some people learn at a faster rate than others? Answering this question has been researcher K. Anders Ericsson's life work. He has studied expert performers in various walks of life, including chess, music, sport and business. He found that experts in these very different areas shared one thing in common: they didn't just work hard, they wor...

by John Winwood  In the chaos of your first year at the helm of a classroom, it's good to take a moment to reflect and remember what supports great teaching and learning. In fact, whether you're a newly qualified teacher (NQT) or have been marking books for decades, it's always beneficial to remind yourself of the basics. So here are my top 10...

 For any school dipping their toe into evidence-based practice, journal clubs may seem like an obvious activity to try. It gives teachers chance to engage with research and discuss their ideas, and how they might implement the findings, with colleagues in a supportive, environment. But what does the research say about how journal clubs work be...