01
2020
Quiet Leadership
In a gentle way, you can shake the world Mahatma Gandhi Fifty years ago, as he became the first person to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong uttered the words that would go down in history: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Armstrong had a quiet disposition. According to his biographer, James R Hansen, “There was nothing in Neil’s...
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02
2020
Avoiding Burnout: ‘A Quiet Education’ chapter.
‘Take a rest. A field that is rested gives a beautiful crop’ Ovid A short journey through the etymology of the adjective “quiet” proves interesting in the context of burnout in teaching. It stems from the Latin quietus, meaning to be calm, at rest and free from exertion, and is borrowed from the Anglo-French and Middle French quiete, first appearing in the 14th century. For...
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28
2019
On the Value of Quiet in our Schools
In typical introverted fashion, I can only really feel confident delivering presentations at Education events if I write a script in advance. I then spend a fairly ridiculous amount of time trying to learn the material. This was the vision for my talk at ResearchED Scotland; in the wise words of Robbie Burns, however: “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft...
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14
2019
Improving students’ writing about personal experiences
“I don’t know what to write about.” Ah, how familiar we English teachers are with the above adolescent lament. When it comes to writing about personal experiences, all of a sudden they have never left the darkened shelter of their rooms, never interacted with anyone and pursue absolutely no hobbies whatsoever. Their heads shake and they gaze wistfully off into the distance: “I don’t do...
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24
2019
The first five years of teaching: motivation, CPD and retention.
It has been a very quiet few months on this blog. The TES English teacher podcast has been keeping me very busy (this latest episode with Matt Pinkett and Mark Roberts on helping boys achieve is a cracker) and I have been trying to finish off my Masters in Practitioner Enquiry. This post is a brief summary of some of the key findings of the...
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01
2019Teaching The Secrets of Effective Revision
Half of my life is an act of revision. John Irving I can’t quite believe that ‘Slow Teaching: Finding calm clarity and impact in the classroom’ came out a year ago this weekend. I have hugely appreciated all the people taking the time to pass on feedback and write reviews. It has been so rewarding to see that it has helped some teachers and had...
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01
2019
The Introduction to ‘A Quiet Education’
Schools are anything but quiet. Their walls reverberate with noise, with a hubbub of activity that begins long before the bell loudly dictates the start of the day. The interpersonal demands are huge: talk and communication dominate every space. For those of us who are more inclined to quiet, it can be an exhausting experience. To the untrained eye it may not appear...
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17
2019
Ten Non-Fiction Books Every Teacher Should Read
“The differences between expert performers and normal adults are not immutable, that is, due to genetically prescribed talent. Instead, these differences reflect a life-long period of deliberate effort to improve performance. K. Anders Ericsson I didn’t write as much as I would have liked in 2018: it was a busy old year with the arrival of a wee chap who doesn’t fully support any writing...
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16
2018
Teaching Writing Using Comparisons
“Thought the quest for improvement may be informed by lessons and honed by practice, it must first be kindled by delight in the best works of the masters and a desire to approach their excellence”. Steven Pinker ‘The Sense of Style’ Over half-term I had planned to read ‘Learned Optimism’ by Martin Seligman and Steven Pinker’s ‘The Sense of Style: The Thinking person’s guide to writing...
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06
2018
‘The Four M’s’ in the English classroom
Yesterday, I delivered a workshop to a group of English teachers from Harris Academy, under the title of ‘Sustainable Outstanding Teaching’. In part of the talk I wanted to talk about what I am focussing on developing in my own classroom practice this term. I have, in a moment of lightning bolt genius, deemed one my pedagogical projects for the year ‘The Four M’s.’ Now...
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