Twenty seconds to really make you think #1: ‘How Children Fail’ overview. As we’re all stuck inside thanks to corona virus (2020), I thought I’d share some provocative thoughts from the book I’m reading at the moment: ‘How Children Fail’ by John Holt. It’s about his work in primary schools in the 50s and 60s, but how much of it is true for schools and further education today. Do we never learn? I’ll post one a day. ‘How Children Fail […]

If your lesson observation system includes the observer giving feedback, there’s a strong chance it won’t create real, sustainable improvement – particularly for the 20% of staff whose positive impact on learning most needs improving. Watch this one-minute film to see that there is another way: https://youtu.be/hE1waiu6L0E. The RED System – Lesson observation reinvented. www.ccqi.org.uk/RED

Too often, lesson-observation systems seem to be designed primarily for accountability to management (even though many leaders will attempt to claim their system is about learning). Watch this 2-minute film and hear the teacher talk about accountability within The RED System – a learning-focused, data-rich replacement for traditional observation practice. There is another way – www.ccqi.org.uk/RED – Lesson observation reinvented.

Lesson observation. Every system has an impact. Do you know what impact you’re having? Is it the one you want? These teachers and governor are clear about the impact of graded, Ofsted-style observation and feedback. There is another way – The RED System www.ccqi.org.uk/RED – Lesson observation reinvented.

It’s fascinating to talk to teachers and managers in FE & Skills about Independent Learning; everyone is of one mind here: we all want it for our learners. But as a professional observer, it’s quite amazing to see the range of traditional pedagogy used that promotes dependence on the teacher, rather than independence of them. And management diktats about how teachers should teach are often to blame. At the itslearning UK conference next week at Hopwood Hall College I’ve just […]