Bringing The English Curriculum to Life by David Didau

I never miss a book by David Didau. He has a clarity of expression that enlightens every every concept discussed- even if I feel I know it well already. I have read his works, heard him speak and engaged in professional discussion with him and have always learnt something.  This new book is a field

How Teaching Happens by Paul Kirschner, Carl Hendrick and Jim Heal

This blog has lay (lain/layed???) fallow for nearly two years. Partly due to a relentless year in my last Deputy Head (Pastoral and Safeguarding) role and then a long summer of travelling, cycling and sleep. But as I began to look around for a new challenge it became clear that I would probably need some

Symbiosis by Kat Howard and Claire Hill

This book was built around the idea that curriculum development is probably the most important aspect to get right in a school. It proposes that classroom teachers need to be at the heart of this. “We cannot extricate the curriculum from those who nurture, shape and deliver it in the classroom: their relationship is symbiotic”.

Back on Track by Mary Myatt

This book has the feel of Myatt’s excellent High Challenge, Low Threat. It had lots of short, sharp, thought provoking chapters. These tended to be only a few pages long, packed with quotes and little bits of wisdom. The overall theme of the book was around staff workload, the curriculum and essentialism. Essentialism (as described

Educating with Purpose by Stephen Tierney

I read and thoroughly enjoyed Stephen Tierney’s Liminal Leadership. This newest book received lots of mentions and enthusiasm on Twitter so I was delighted when it arrived. The book lacks the humour that came with his earlier book- it was a delightful look back on a career. This is a far more academic and rigorous

The ResearchEd Guide to the Curriculum. Edited by Clare Sealy

The ResearchEd series continues with a focus on the curriculum. I have some mixed feelings about the guides. What I had half expected was a tightly edited collection of the best guesses that are out there. But what they tend to be are a series of essays – the written equivalent of ResearchEd talks- which

A Curriculum of Hope by Debra Kidd

It is quite rare to read a book that is totally counter to your own beliefs on what works in teaching. It is rare because my recommendations tend to come from the Twitter echo chamber. Undoubtedly, it is a healthy thing to do. This book is an exploration of what a hopeful curriculum should include

Curriculum – Athena versus the Machine by Martin Robinson

I have always found Robinson’s work challenging and therefore quite rewarding. But- I often found it somewhat impenetrable and leave wondering whether it is a lack of clarity from him or intellect from me. I enjoyed Trivium, for example, but didn’t manage to access all of it even if the overarching theme was clear. I

The Curriculum: Gallimaufry to Coherence by Mary Myatt

I enjoyed Mary Myatt’s High Challenge, Low Threat and had seen this book pop up a lot on my Twitter feed. It is also another John Catt publication, during an incredible year for the educational publisher. It turned out to be a fairly dense book but was relatively easy to read as it was a

Trivium 21C by Martin Robinson

This is a much-lauded book. It challenges the ideas of 21st Century skills that need modern teaching to be developed and instead challenges educationalists to look back to the past. It suggests that we could develop the skills need for the future based on Grammar, Dialect and Rhetoric. It was a challenge to read at