The double helix of reading and writing: A new theory of teaching being taken up in practice and policy

DOMINIC WYSE, PROFESSOR OF EARLY CHILDHOOD AND PRIMARY EDUCATION, UCL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION, UK; FOUNDING DIRECTOR, HELEN HAMLYN CENTRE FOR PEDAGOGY, UK CHARLOTTE HACKING, RESEARCH AND CURRICULUM LEAD, HERNE HILL SCHOOL, UK; TEACHER ENGAGEMENT LEAD, HELEN HAMLYN CENTRE FOR PEDAGOGY, UK The aim of this article is to describe a new theory of teaching, to reflect on engagement with this theory by teachers and policymakers, and to prompt those with an interest in education to think more explicitly and critically about using theory to inform teaching. Effective teachers have an extraordinary amount of knowledge, much of which is not easily seen or understood by people who are not experts in education. A key area of this knowledge is pedagogy. One of the professional roles of teachers is to make decisions about which pedagogies to use for the classes that they teach. These decisions are informed by many factors, but the factor on which we focus in this article is theory – general i