Next week I will lay my hands on the first copies of my two latest books, about truly great teachers. I am unbearably excited! Like a six year-old on Christmas Eve…
The genesis of the books lies in a disagreement I had with Professor Rob Coe at last September’s researchED national conference about how to measure the quality of teaching. He is engaged in a project to establish a progress score for individual teachers which will allow his team to statistically identify high performing teachers by the progress their pupils make, year-on-year, and, once identified, to establish what behaviours and attitudes these high performing teachers have in common. I, on the other hand, visited 19 truly great teachers I knew or who were recommended to me. The narrative of each visit forms the core of each teacher’s chapter in the books.
I love lots of things about the books, one being that Rob wrote the introduction for both, and it is tremendous. You can read it here, on Crown House’s website. Whilst Rob and I disagreed on that day last autumn, it didn’t result in us taking a binary stance. When it comes to teaching and learning, understanding what works is nuanced and complex. Anyone who says otherwise, is, I would suggest, lacking in wisdom.
The other thing I feel both happy with, and proud of, is how the books give a platform to teachers who are doing the real work, in classrooms in corners of these islands, day-in, day-out, when no-one’s looking. For the past 13 years, I have been incredibly fortunate to have people read what I write and listen to what I say. Well, I was never as good a teacher as any of the 19 featured in these books, and it is a delight to allow them to enjoy the limelight. They, and thousands more like them, deserve it.
Finally, yesterday I completed making an oak and ash stool, my first foray into woodworking, guided by the remarkable Tom Trimmins. An intense day in Tom’s workshop in deepest North Yorkshire a few weeks ago, was very special. I spent several hours on Saturday morning applying Odie’s Oil to give the stool's wood grain a deep, lustrous finish.
I am learning something new and I am in my element. My dad loved working with wood – planing, sanding and sawing feel, somehow, right and true – and I have some of his old tools to work with. As our youngest son steps out into the world, and forges his new life in Newcastle, I will have more time to follow what feels like a nourishment of the soul.
This Much I Know About Truly Great Primary Teachers (and what we can learn from them) and This Much I Know About Truly Great Secondary Teachers (and what we can learn from them) will be published in July 2025. For details of how to pre-order, you can click on the links and visit the Crown House Publishing website.