“Limited men with limitless energy”: Why we should be wary of ‘passion’
In Philip Roth's best novel American Pastoral, there's a phrase that has always stayed with me and one I've since associated with a most unpleasant sort of person. Seymour 'Swede' Levov is the blonde...
View ArticleThe Air Traffic Controller Paradox: Why Teaching Generic Skills Doesn’t Work
Being an air traffic controller is hard. Really hard. The job entails having to remember vast amounts of fluid information often within a context of enormous pressure. Essentially the job is about...
View ArticleAmused to Death: Why the Internet Should Be Kept Out of the Classroom
Writing in 1985, Neil Postman made the interesting observation that of the first fifteen U.S. presidents, many of them could walk down the street without being physically recognised yet they would be...
View ArticleThings Aren’t Getting Worse, They’re Getting Better.
"Any comfortable American who is cynical of progress - or the competent decency of modern civilisation - hasn't pondered how life was for our ancestors. Any day that cossacks haven't burned your home...
View ArticleEducation is an end in itself not a preparation for the workplace
It's a well observed truth that because everyone has had an education, everyone feels well placed to comment on all aspects of education. Often that takes the form of "My experience of education was...
View ArticleFive Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Teaching
1. Motivation doesn't always lead to achievement, but achievement often leads to motivation. While there is a strong correlation between self perception and achievement and we tend to think of it in...
View ArticleTen books every teacher should read
I was asked to write a piece for the Guardian Teacher network on what books teachers should read. You can read it here.
View ArticleThe Abilene Paradox: Why Schools Do Things Nobody Actually Wants
On an indecently hot day in Texas, professor Jerry B. Harvey was visiting his wife’s family when his father-in-law suggested they visit a new restaurant in the town of Abilene to which his wife...
View Article‘Four Quarters Marking’ – A Workload Solution?
In our new book ‘What Does This Look Like in the Classroom?’ we interviewed Dylan Wiliam on how to implement research on assessment in the classroom. A central problem in the area of assessment in...
View ArticleAmerican edition of What Does This Look Like in the Classroom? with new...
Delighted to announce that the American edition of ‘What Does This Look Like in the Classroom?’ has been released this week with a new foreword by Dylan Wiliam which you can read here. The book is the...
View ArticleJust Because They’re Engaged, Doesn’t Mean They’re Learning
One of the difficulties with determining what is effective in a classroom is that very often, what looks like it should work does not and vice versa. Take, for example, the notion of engagement. On the...
View ArticleWebinar : How Learning Happens
Please join us on Thursday 3 Jun, 16:30 – 18:00 (BST) where Paul and I will be giving a webinar on the first section of our book. Find out more here. How Learning Happens: How Does Our Brain Work? Thu...
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