Tag: curriculum
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Tired teachers can’t teach
Teachers should teach. That should be the main thing they do. They should ‘make kids cleverer’ – to quote David Didau. They should make sure the learners in their charge build the knowledge and skills associated with their subject area. The best learning happens in the classroom, under the supervision of the subject expert who…
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The Pygmalion Effect
I first heard about the Pygmalion Effect about ten years ago, teaching at a successful school. I love a bit of Greek mythology, so this idea was always going to stick with me. Sculptor-king Pygmalion sculpts his ideal version of womanhood from ivory. He falls in love with his statue and prays to the goddess…
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A little bit of something is better than a whole load of nothing
I have sometimes been frustrated by my eldest son’s primary school experience. He’s in Year 6 now. I’ll start by giving an example of fantastic success in his primary education. My son is the second fastest student in his school at answering times tables and division questions, using a popular education app. He has been…
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Notes aren’t knowledge
During my time as head of sixth form, I noticed a phenomenon. In subjects that are text heavy, where sources or novels or social theories need to be studied in detail, some students made extensive, copious and beautifully presented notes in every lesson. Their folders became artefacts – precious receptacles of the knowledge that was…
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“Knowing is not enough; we must apply” – Bruce Lee
Children need to know things. The knowledge rich curriculum has been a sensible and noble aspiration for many schools over the last few years. Knowledge is not a snobbish, ugly thing. It is not the enemy of creativity (in fact, you cannot be creative in any field without expansive knowledge of what has already been…
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Normalise hard work
At the end of term, especially before the Christmas break or the summer holidays, schools can experience a terrible plague. If not prevented, it spreads throughout lessons like a roaring forest fire, destroying all learning. As one classroom burns, a single ember jumps to the next room, igniting the destructive flame: the ruiner of rigour,…
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Oppressive silence and productive silence
Children need silence. They need silence to think. They need to be able to subvocalise before they put words onto the page or before they share them in a discussion. They need their peers to be silent so they can hear and focus on the voice of the teacher – the voice of the expert…
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Shouting into the wind
“That lesson must have been the same every time, every week: a cacophony of teenage voices, talking about anything but the topic of the lesson.” Before I could start my teacher training, I had to spend a week observing lessons in a school. I went back to the secondary school I attended, and they…
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Do you have any idea what you look like?
Film yourself teaching. Set up your phone, on a tripod, at the back of one of your lessons and leave it there. Film yourself for the whole lesson. Leave it for a few days, so your subjective notions about the lesson begin to fade. Then watch it back (and I suggest you do this alone!)…
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Are you sure about this?
“An instructor should exemplify the things he seeks to teach. It will be of great advantage if you yourself can do all you ask of your students and more.” – Bruce Lee You better be ready. You are going to stand in front of a class of 30 children. You might teach 5 classes a…
Ten Rules for Teaching 