Claire Coolin, Oxford High School GDST, Oxford, United Kingdom Introduction Reflecting on my time in the classroom, I recognise that girls in my classes were achieving well and performing, in many cases, beyond age-related expectations. They understood concepts taught and, when given routine problems which followed the theme or topic being covered that week, were […]
Beng Huat See, Professor in the School of Education, Durham University, UK Ensuring an adequate supply of appropriate, suitably qualified teachers is a major policy concern facing many education systems around the world. It is generally agreed that the quality of teachers is an important element in the learning outcomes of their students (Darling-Hammond, 2000; Hanushek […]
Thomas Perry and Rebecca Morris, University of Warwick, UK Implementation: Easier said than done Underlying a lot of current thinking about evidence-based practice is the idea of teachers selecting and implementing the programmes and strategies that researchers deem to be effective. In this division of labour, researchers find out ‘what works’ and teachers are tasked […]
Gary Aubin, Director of SEND, Future Academies, UK Sarah Green, Director of Literacy, The Prospere Learning Trust, UK Fliss James, Early Years Teacher and Deputy Director of East London Research School, UK Julie Kettlewell, Assistant Headteacher and Assistant Director of Huntingdon Research School, UK Kirstin Mulholland, Assistant Professor in Education, Northumbria University, UK Bob Pritchard, […]
Dylan Wiliam, UCL Institute of Education, UK Introduction There is increasing consensus, among both researchers and policymakers, that teacher quality is both variable and consequential; some teachers are more effective than others, and the differences are both large and significant for the students they teach. Predictably, this has led to a variety of proposals for […]
Meg Maguire and Emma Towers, King’s College London, School of Education, Communication and Society, UK Different perspectives on ‘teacher effectiveness’ Good teaching matters, and decades of research has shown that teachers can make a difference in student learning (Stronge, 2018) and that teachers are one of the most important in-school factors in students’ academic success […]
Nick Pointer and Steve Farndon, Ambition Institute, UK Teacher educators face a common problem. During professional development sessions, teachers engage with new ideas or strategies, finding them stimulating and relevant. Yet these same teachers subsequently fail to change the way they act or make decisions in their classrooms; a phenomenon dubbed the ‘knowing–doing gap’ (Knight […]
David Atkinson (CLead), Headteacher, Dr Challoner’s Grammar School, UK Introduction A core purpose of education, since the time of Aristotle, is to develop the next generation of people of good character, for the benefit of those people and for society as a whole. Recent experience suggests that, more than ever, it is important that we […]
Hannah Thomson, Curriculum Associate at The Teacher Development Trust, UK (Assistant Headteacher at the Laurus Trust at time of writing) Pedagogical knowledge Pedagogical knowledge is the generic knowledge required for the processes and practices of teaching and learning – for example, student learning, classroom management and instructional design. A teacher with deep pedagogical knowledge understands […]
Dr. Rina P.Y. Lai, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom Sarah Tong, Big Bang Academy, Hong Kong Introduction After the disruptive wave of the pandemic, educators are standing at the critical junction of the future of educational technology (EdTech). In particular, witnessing the ubiquity of digital technologies giving rise to new ways of teaching and learning, […]
Chris Larvin, Research Specialist, Teach First, UK Jenny Griffiths, Knowledge & Research Manager, Teach First, UK Luke Bocock, Head of Research & Learning, Teach First, UK Recent research suggests that the impact of high-quality teacher development on pupil outcomes can be equivalent to a pupil taught by a teacher with 10 years of experience compared […]
William Gray, Deputy Headteacher, Westerhope Primary School, UK Kirstin Mulholland, Assistant Professor, Northumbria University, UK; Local Leader of Mathematics Education, Great North Maths Hub, UK The research is clear that teachers’ professional development (PD) can positively impact pupil outcomes (Cordingley et al., 2015; Rauch and Coe, 2019; Sancar et al., 2021), with some sources suggesting […]
Fliss James, Deputy Director, East London Research School, UK Julian Grenier, Director, East London Research School, UK Melissa Prendergast, Deputy Director, East London Research School, UK As practitioners working with children throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we are keenly aware of the legacy of difficulties from lockdowns. In keeping with the recently published findings of the […]
Alex Tomkins, Headteacher, Spring Common Academy, UK; EdD student, University of Derby, UK What makes a special school different? Special schools educate students with a variety of needs; most have diverse cohorts and often teach the most marginalised in our school system. The school in which this case study is set is a large special […]
Lucy Parker, Ludwick Nursery School, UK This article draws on findings from a small-scale research project that explored the formation of pedagogical beliefs in female Early Years teachers (Parker, 2017). The study sought to provide an opportunity to listen to Early Years teachers’ ideas, and gain a greater understanding of their pedagogy and how their […]
Jo Lomax, Programme Lead, and Luke Watkins (CTeach), Learning Specialist, Church of England Foundation for Educational Leadership, UK Context Reforms to the induction of our newest teachers, through the Early Career Framework (DfE, 2019), and the reformed NPQs (DfE, 2020) for those who aspire to develop expertise in specialist areas and leadership are underpinned by […]
Caitlin Parker, Special Educational Needs Coordinator, The Academy of Contemporary Music, UK Lewis A Baker, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, UK To meet the diversity of learning needs within the classroom, teachers face the challenge of keeping abreast of developments in educational research in order to implement sound curriculum design and […]
George Davies-Craine, Subject Leader for Geography and Digital Learning Lead, Dr Challoner’s Grammar School. Introduction The advancement of effective digital practice is beyond students just ‘googling’ the answer. Teachers need to be given effective CPD (continuing professional development) to ensure that students communicate, innovate and critically analyse information when using digital devices in the classroom. […]
Matthew Tragheim, Head of Maths, Wayfield Primary School, UK Tamara Hunter, Deputy Head, Barnhurst Primary School, UK In 2020, education leaders across the UK were rapidly responding to the ever-changing permutations of COVID-19. Distributed leadership, blended learning models and creative curriculums flourished. However, early career teachers and subject leaders faced many challenges: effective reporting, digital […]
Jim Mepham, Headteacher, Shield Road Primary, UK The aim of this reflective piece is to suggest that, as a profession, we need to consider a broader, more holistic version of primary education than we currently have, one that has moral purpose as its central focus. The [Ofsted inspectorate] framework itself is driven by an ideology […]
