In June 2023 Gary Swabel approached me to advise him on how to develop his embryonic AI teacher coach called Aristotal. It was six months after ChatGPT had been released. My instant response was to reject Gary’s approach, but after thinking about how AI was here, seemingly, to stay,…
Billy Bragg - A People's History has just been published. The book is an oral history of the singer-songwriter and political activist. It’s the story of the Bard of Barking in the words of over 600 people who have been moved by his music, either seeing Billy…
I know only too well that it is only ever now. I have just this current moment, this very nano-second. Nothing else is guaranteed. The time is 05:35 on Friday 18 July 2025. I may not make it until 05:36. Yesterday, I renewed my Senior Railcard until…
Since the focus of the OFSTED inspection framework changed in England in c.2018, schools have spent a great deal of time thinking about the content they want pupils to learn and the sequence in which that content should be taught. They have spent less time thinking about how that…
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’…
I stepped down from headship in July 2021, nearly four years ago. In my role as an educational consultant, my currency has inevitably and inexorably waned since then. And yet, I have become better at some things than when I was a headteacher. I would argue that I now watch…
I taught every year for 33 years, 18 of those years as headteacher of large state secondary schools. So what? Well, on Thursday Claire Stoneman’s tweet made me reflect upon what I do now, as an educational consultant, since I stepped down from headship. One thing I learned whilst…
Our dad died 40 years ago today. All my family were there the night before he passed away except me. I returned to university in the January. I don’t know why I did that now. It's something I still regret. The night he died, family myth has…