I have been thinking a great deal about teacher quality, inspired by the London researchED conference earlier this month.
Since then, I have been planning my next book; here is the plan:
This Much I Know About Truly Great Teachers (and what we can learn from them)
The book begins with a chapter on teacher quality, referencing and exploring the debate in these blog posts:
https://johntomsett.com/2024/09/08/this-much-i-know-about-what-makes-great-teaching-2/
https://johntomsett.com/2024/09/10/this-much-i-know-aboutwhat-constitutes-a-great-teacher/
It goes on to cite Dylan Wiliam, who says pedagogy trumps curriculum. We have spent so long on curriculum content, we have not thought hard enough about the pedagogy that makes curriculum content interesting to pupils, entices them to become scholars and results in better learning.
The next c.15 chapters will feature c.15 teachers. Each teacher gets a full chapter. In each chapter there will be:
- a biography,
- an interview with me,
- testimonials from colleagues & pupils/parents,
- lesson observation reflections (I intend to spend a whole day with each one),
- exam/pupil progress results data,
- and a summary of the traits that make them exceptional.
It ends with a substantial chapter on what we learn about the characteristics of great teaching from these truly great teachers and what we need to do to develop those characteristics sector-wide.
Consequently, I would need to come to the school to watch the teacher teach a couple of lessons, interview their pupils to see what they think, and interview the teacher about teaching and learning. The rest will be desk-based.
This book builds on Dylan Wiliam’s claim that, “A great intended curriculum badly taught is likely to be a much worse experience for young people than a bad intended curriculum well taught”. It really doesn’t matter how good your curriculum paperwork might be, you need a truly great teacher to make the curriculum content irresistible to pupils!
I am steadily compiling a pretty impressive list of teachers, and have another five or so to find. The book will be published next summer by Crown House.
I’m genuinely excited about this project. As Isabel Allende once said, I haven’t retired quite yet, I’ve just retired from things I don’t like doing…