As Christiano Ronaldo stares lovingly at his reflection in the European Football Championship trophy, we may do well to reflect on the most interesting story of the tournament. Of course, …
The Problem With Professional Development
I recently had the great pleasure to read a paper called, provocatively and insightfully, ‘Professional Development: A Great Way to Avoid Change’. It was published in 2004, by an Australian …
Teacher Coaching & Improving ‘Continuous Professional Development’
We are in the midst of a turbulent time in education. Stringent accountability measures, an apparently ceaseless curriculum change and the seeming erosion of our professionalism threaten to attack and …
Opening The Door On Our ‘Craft Knowledge’
My last post of the school year is a resolution for the school year ahead. There is no special philosophy, research or expensive equipment required. It is a simple focus …
Overcoming the ‘OK Plateau’
Leap over you professional plateau. (This post is a copy of my article for the Guardian Teacher network) I’m a huge football fan and I always have been since my …
Coaching in Schools: Top Five Reads
There appears to be a significant rise in coaching in schools at the moment that provides hope for a more coherent approach to teacher improvement. The whole topic of Performance …
Becoming a Better Teacher by ‘Deliberate Practice’
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who had practiced one kick 10,000 times.” Bruce Lee When I was a young …
School Improvement – The Dave Brailsford Model
Today there is a great article on the BBC website about the inexorable progress of the Sky cycling team under the expert stewardship of Dave Brailsford – see here. The …