James Durran @jdurran Twitter profile

Pinned Tweet

James Durran

6 years

Teaching should be about imparting knowledge. That's simple. But it should also be about bringing pupils into a particular relationship with that knowledge. That's not so simple.

32

125

524

Last Seen Profiles

@AnishaMiah_

@seb_mrts

@Gofblug

@BlackHatEvents

@CCA_Activities

@ToldYouThusly

@jwoserim

@olivia88877

@faiz_shee

@weezthealien

@FiorottoBeatriz

@TimothyRugg

@wlldvs

@brozachino

@namekodaisu

@MayHuaMD

@ProfsElise

@GerkenSascha

@KickNurtz

@Dollect_net

@lab_nmr

@nuekerk

@o_Sikorsky

@dogukaradeniz66

@CO2_earth

@olayink76899334

@Wanxyz21

@bntmh6108379401

@quade_peterson

@noecastanonr

@_jithinsrinivas

@EthanBenard

@michael_kove

@Apexerkarma

@TheDevilsDNA

@forestsoftware

James Durran

@jdurran

3 years

11yo's first day in Y7 yesterday. "I made a new friend." "Great! How did you get talking?" "She was on her own at lunch and looked sad, so J and I went and introduced ourselves." Nothing heard about that first day could have made us prouder. Nothing.

38

30

2K

James Durran

@jdurran

1 year

@drlindalouise As a parent of a child with an EHCP, I find this thread frightening. He's about to go to go into Yr 7; the nagging fear that this might be the attitude of even one teacher there - let alone a leader - is crushing. The impact of subtle adjustments on him and on our lives is huge.

27

33

1K

James Durran

@jdurran

2 years

Teachers boasting, as a proud "achievement", that they "haven't had a day off in five years" is even worse than teachers saying "they behave for me". It's ignorantly undermining, insensitively anti-colleague, almost comically hubristic, and probably a discriminatory action.

60

52

1K

James Durran

@jdurran

1 year

Scarborough beach this morning

10

188

1K

James Durran

@jdurran

3 months

It's easy to say, "Don't give your teenager a smartphone." But it must be EXTREMELY hard to tell your own child that they're excluded from the now-normalised immediacy & depth of cultural access & participation which a phone now represents. These things are very far from trivial.

77

72

1K

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

After we visited Flamborough Head, 8yo made this animation to show how stacks form on a chalk coastline, as part of her geography homework over Easter. I reckon it's pretty good! #Knowledge #Creativity #Patience

43

120

992

James Durran

@jdurran

3 years

The vile pile-on against @MichaelRosenYes , mostly by those looking to score some sort of cynical point, but also by some who should know better, is an embarrassment. A complete misinterpretation of one tweet, & so utterly the wrong target at the moment. Shame on EduTwitter.

30

88

890

James Durran

@jdurran

2 years

As an English teacher, I used to spend ages in conversations with parents inventing authoritative-sounding advice about how to get their (usually male) child to read for pleasure. As a parent, I now know that none of it works. None of it. I'm stuck.

239

21

868

James Durran

@jdurran

4 years

"Key workers.' If you fall into one of the categories, please, please don't send your child to school unless: - your work really is 'critical to the fight against Covid-19', AND - there really is no way to keep your child at home safely

27

313

850

James Durran

@jdurran

4 years

It's Gove's dream, isn't it? 5 year olds all sat at individual desks, and not moving.

29

92

838

James Durran

@jdurran

3 years

Just swabbed an anxious child for a Covid test. It took quite a while, and that's as a trusted parent, in the relative secure environment of the family car. Really not sure what it would be like doing, say, all of Year 7...

29

46

742

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

Teaching: what works one day can fail on another or with a different class. Like the weather, classrooms are chaotic: imperceptible inputs can have massive effects. Research & the wisdom of others can only make broad predictions about what will "work". Teaching remains an art.

25

163

680

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

For homework, my 9yo daughter had to research the 1990s. It was suggested that she interview a grandparent. A grandparent. I feel so old.

55

25

611

James Durran

@jdurran

2 years

For much of my teaching career, including as HoD, I was single. When I had children, I realised just how much time that gave me - how dependent on circumstance my productivity had been. I enjoyed credit for work which I could never have done as a parent, or at least not as well.

23

29

603

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

Finished preparing my classroom for September. (Do I win?)

40

18

597

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

This post has been viewed 30,000 times in just over a month. It's a simple thing, but I think its resonance points to something very important about what's happened to the teaching of writing and, perhaps, to the teaching of English generally. #curriculum

Re-thinking ‘success criteria’: a simple device to support pupils’ writing

Colleagues and I have been working with primary schools to develop an alternative to listed ‘success criteria’ for writing, which we call ‘boxed’ or ‘expanding success criteria’ (or often jus…

jamesdurran.blog

38

187

588

James Durran

@jdurran

2 years

At work, we've discovered that no one has done the mandatory online course about phishing, because we all thought the emailed link was phishing, and ignored it.

20

21

556

James Durran

@jdurran

1 year

I hope no teacher takes it upon themself to decide that my child has been "mis-diagnosed".

41

22

532

James Durran

@jdurran

3 years

Is the whole "teachers aren't there to be liked" mantra another secondary-centric thing? As a parent of primary-aged children, it seems clear to me that a teacher not being likeable is fairly disastrous. (Personally, I think it's pretty important at secondary too.)

129

22

533

James Durran

@jdurran

4 years

September: some thoughts on subject planning... #September #Curriculum

Resuming the curriculum, September 2020

Questions for subject leaders and teams Subject leaders and subject teams are already working hard on planning for September – for what they will teach, in what order and in what way – in order to …

jamesdurran.blog

42

200

505

James Durran

@jdurran

2 years

I would suggest that anyone introducing a rule that pupils must "speak in full sentences" either doesn't know what a sentence is, doesn't know how speech works, or wants pupils to sound very odd indeed.

54

57

495

James Durran

@jdurran

4 years

Talk of "home-schooling" isn't helpful. There's no expectation on schools to be providing "schooling" for those attending, & full-time home-working doesn't allow parents to be teachers. We need to avoid using language which may add to people's sense of guilt and/or disadvantage.

20

86

458

James Durran

@jdurran

4 years

I think I made a disparaging comment about #acrostic poems, at a network meeting this week. However, the 9yo has written this at school. She tells me that it's a draft and needs editing, which it does, but it shows what children *might* do with the form. (Spot the influences!).

42

53

463

James Durran

@jdurran

3 years

Dear eduTwitter. When making blanket pronouncements on what does/doesn't work in classrooms, please remember that pupils are available in a range of ages, that subjects may vary, and that there are social & educational goals other than just "learn as efficiently as possible."

10

24

450

James Durran

@jdurran

1 year

Remember, having any fun in the last week of term, such that minutes are shaved off potential learning time, is failing your pupils. It is a dereliction of teachers' duty to squeeze every last drop of knowledge transmission time out of the term, whatever the human cost. 🎄

58

17

431

James Durran

@jdurran

5 months

And that's the familiar, daily battle in schools. "It's only banter. Yes, we make jokes - but it doesn't mean anything." #misogyny #safeguarding #discrimination #PSHE

James Cleverly apologises for ‘appalling’ date rape drug joke at No 10 event

Home secretary said secret of a long marriage was sedating spouse on the same day a new policy on spiking was announced

www.theguardian.com

11

63

424

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

English at KS3 and to GCSE really shouldn't be a junior version of university Eng Lit, even if it shares some disciplinary practices. It shouldn't be about making children into mini-academics. It should be richer, broader and more empowering than that. In my opinion!

24

48

407

James Durran

@jdurran

2 years

The 12yo has a non-binary class-mate, and uses their preferred pronouns & name without the tiniest, tiniest hint of hesitation, irony or self-consciousness. For her, and her friends, why anyone wouldn't do so simply doesn't compute. It's humbling.

21

13

395

James Durran

@jdurran

3 years

I'm grateful that, in 25 years, I never had to comply with a list of lesson 'non-negotiables' - just an expectation to teach with knowledge & professionalism. Consistency mustn't be confused with sameness. We need an ongoing, reflective conversation about teaching - not rules.

22

48

380

James Durran

@jdurran

3 years

I can teach dialogically with children sitting in rows, and while remaining the expert in the room. However, I prefer them to be sitting in groups. I know what I'm doing. Now leave me alone.

14

26

365

James Durran

@jdurran

3 years

In the days of 100% coursework in English & English Literature, it never occurred to us that we weren't perfectly able & qualified to assign grades to our students, and it never occurred to us artificially to inflate those grades. In-school moderation was intensive and rigorous.

46

34

357

James Durran

@jdurran

3 months

As a teacher, I got used to setting rules, to telling children what and what not to do, and to assuming that it would basically all be so. As a parent, I foolishly expected something similar. It's all a bit more complicated, isn't it?

36

5

351

James Durran

@jdurran

4 years

If true, the reported "devastation" of Yr 11s about cancelled exams, which they've "worked towards for five years" & have "known since Year 7 are what it's all about in the end", seems to me like an indictment of the way education has become narrowed & its values distorted.

36

51

349

James Durran

@jdurran

4 years

It's very hard to maintain dignity when, as you're nodding seriously during an important first Zoom meeting with a school's governing body, the 8yo stealth-crawls into the room and presses the lever that makes the desk chair drop eight inches. #home_working

14

8

341

James Durran

@jdurran

7 years

@mrlockyer Just finished my new displays for September.

21

62

327

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

Why isn't it outrageous that very few children are taught anything much about film at school - as art, as culture, as communication...? Why is it virtually never a part of any curriculum being trumpeted as 'knowledge-rich'?

62

57

309

James Durran

@jdurran

6 years

Analytical writing about texts: a couple of 'sophistication' tools for students to use. #teamenglish

Analysis sentences.pdf

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

15

105

286

James Durran

@jdurran

4 years

The goal of Key Stage 3 English should NOT be to get pupils writing in as academic-sounding a way as possible, as soon as possible. It should be to create the foundations upon which that sort of thing can be built properly, when it's actually needed.

23

47

281

James Durran

@jdurran

3 years

On a cheering note, here's Albus running in the snow.

18

7

281

James Durran

@jdurran

1 year

Just a friendly reminder that classroom #questioning is not just a way of checking understanding, or assessing, or requiring retrieval of what's already taught. It is also a way of requiring THINKING. And that may well be its most important use. It certainly is in my subject.

16

44

278

James Durran

@jdurran

4 months

I think what makes me instinctively want to kick against so much of the dominant discourse in education now is the insistent certainty. There used to be a shared acknowledgement that much in teaching is provisional - mights and maybes. Now it's all a strident "This is the way."

37

31

275

James Durran

@jdurran

6 years

Securing top grades in GCSE English Language and Literature. This, from North Yorks subject leaders' network, might be of interest. #teamenglish @Team_English1

Getting top grades at GCSE.pdf

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

6

90

269

James Durran

@jdurran

4 years

What, in school, are the unintended positives of Covid restrictions? Here are a few I've heard from school leaders:

162

82

266

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

What I keep hearing from teachers - anecdotally, of course - is that worsening behaviour is directly related ro the dismantling of long-established pastoral systems, to save money. Is this the case?

63

49

267

James Durran

@jdurran

2 years

Been talking with pupils about what makes learning "stick" in the long term. They mention repetition, recall exercises, refererence to prior learning & revisiting of material. But they also mention the importance, for making content memorable, of "lots of discussion" & "fun." 🤔

33

23

266

James Durran

@jdurran

6 months

It would be great if people could post some pictures of happy, smiling pupils chatting as they walk down corridors. As is normal in most schools.

21

19

265

James Durran

@jdurran

4 years

Anyone who claims to speak in 'Standard English' has never seen a transcript of their own speech.

10

42

262

James Durran

@jdurran

2 years

I am continually baffled by the limited imagination of those who insist that teaching is about nothing - nothing - except making children memorise a load of objective stuff which the teacher already knows and has decided to teach. And no, this is not a myth: they really exist.

36

12

267

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

Putting purpose and audience back at the centre of pupils' writing.

Re-thinking ‘success criteria’: a simple device to support pupils’ writing

Colleagues and I have been working with primary schools to develop an alternative to listed ‘success criteria’ for writing, which we call ‘boxed’ or ‘expanding success criteria’ (or often jus…

jamesdurran.blog

29

94

264

James Durran

@jdurran

3 years

Recently unmuted some eduTweeters. Now I remember why I muted them in the first place: because they remind me so strongly of the sneery, in-crowd obnoxiousness which I thought I'd left behind when I became a grown up and left school. That's a resonance I don't need.

13

4

260

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

Why this, and why here? Rationalising curriculum design. (Just in case it's useful.) @NorthYorksEng

18

96

255

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

Boasting on eduTwitter that you "teach right up the last minute" or "set tests on the final day" can be as unhelpful as announcing in the staffroom that "they behave fine for me." The end of term is complicated and difficult enough, without added guilt and self-doubt. (Perhaps.)

16

23

251

James Durran

@jdurran

1 year

@benkarlin1 Nothing on that. I once told a Yr 10 that, if he used 'air quotes' again, then I would have to have him killed. He gestured to the Ofsted inspector at the back, who - with considerable gravity - said that he would have to help.

2

3

249

James Durran

@jdurran

6 years

For English teachers with lots of poems to teach or revise - another outing for this. #teamenglish @Team_English1

What does the poem do? A revision tool

This is an approach which I have used successfully when revising clusters of poetry for GCSE. (Apologies for any parts which seem commonplace or obvious.) The basic idea is familiar – to prac…

jamesdurran.blog

11

101

244

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

NEW POST On ways to teach talk. Might be useful for primary and secondary teachers of all subjects. #literacy #oracy #teamenglish

Teaching talk

Classroom strategies for the explicit teaching of spoken expression When we think about how to develop pupils’ talk in the classroom, it is natural to focus on the ‘opportunities’ we’re provi…

jamesdurran.blog

22

86

235

James Durran

@jdurran

2 years

Oh, well - better stop those, then.

Museum visits do not improve GCSE results, study reveals

Report finds no correlation between better exam grades and exposure to ‘middle-class’ outings

www.theguardian.com

54

17

234

James Durran

@jdurran

6 months

The greatest risk in the growth of centrally-planned curricula, used across trusts or families of schools, is that the central planning might just not be very good. Sharing is good; imposition is hazardous.

31

33

224

James Durran

@jdurran

4 years

The 10 year old is proud to have got 10/10 in all of her weekly spelling tests since the start of Year 4. And this is what she puts on the front door.

20

10

219

James Durran

@jdurran

10 months

The 'Toilets' debate is all ridiculous: a mass of stupid binaries. Of COURSE pupils must be allowed to use a toilet when they need to. The reverse is inhumane. And of COURSE this has to be managed, so that there isn't a free-for-all. The reverse is neither safe nor tolerable...

15

7

218

James Durran

@jdurran

4 years

If teachers do wear face masks in the autumn, what on earth are they going to not do until Christmas?

26

20

216

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

Friend sent me a picture of a Mother's Day card made by their nephew. At the top, it said: 'LO: To make a Mother's Day card'

19

30

212

James Durran

@jdurran

4 years

Once, GCSE teachers wouldn't've had to fret about #BBCChristmasCarol 's effects on students' strictly curated, fragily memorised, exam-ready 'knowledge' of the novel; they'd've been inventing new, challenging, knowledge-rich coursework tasks, around shifting contexts of reception.

22

35

209

James Durran

@jdurran

2 months

Those criticising English teachers for asking pupils to imagine what soldiers might have written down 100 years ago should see some of the pretending that goes on in drama lessons. That stuff would blow their minds.

27

7

213

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

I am really tired of seeing it implied that children "sit in rows" because the "teacher is the expert", as though alternative classroom arrangements represent some sort of abdication of status, or 'expertise' is something that can literally only be exercised in a straight line...

37

35

209

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

Geography teacher Charles, 41, had somehow never felt like a proper teacher. He reassured himself that this was just imposter syndrome. #CatTeachers

5

20

204

James Durran

@jdurran

2 years

If removing 'unnecessary #cognitive_load ' means sucking out of learning all personal meaning, any possibility of self-discovery and any element of fun, then that is A BAD THING.

22

18

208

James Durran

@jdurran

3 years

New: on 'key learning questions'. An introduction, for those interested, to this way of framing learning within/across lessons. Different in each subject/context, so any corrections, criticisms or suggestions very welcome! #enquiry #objectives #curriculum

Key learning questions – an introduction

A ‘key learning question’ is simply a way of framing the learning in a lesson or across a sequence of lessons – of setting the learning agenda for pupils. It is an alternative to the traditional ‘l…

jamesdurran.blog

21

57

196

James Durran

@jdurran

2 years

Don't make up rules about "speaking in full sentences". Teach effective expression instead. Suggestions here for teachers of all subjects.

Teaching talk

Classroom strategies for the explicit teaching of spoken expression When we think about how to develop pupils’ talk in the classroom, it is natural to focus on the ‘opportunities’ we’re provi…

jamesdurran.blog

10

62

196

James Durran

@jdurran

3 years

This, from @Ofstednews , saddens me. I mean, I get the arguments and I realise that 'know' and 'remember' can be defined so broadly as to become meaningless, but it is such an arid, reductive view of what education can be about. It's perhaps unfortunate that I read it on the...

39

42

195

James Durran

@jdurran

7 years

So farewell to the point of Twitter. Farewell to the disciplines of concision. Farewell to the pleasures of succinctness. Farewell to the rhythms of the 'thread'. Farewell to acceptable abruptness, to inventive abbreviation and to reading with glances. I mean, where will it all e

5

56

190

James Durran

@jdurran

2 years

It's nearly the end of the summer term. Please, please don't forget to tweet about how you'll be teaching right up to the last minute, setting tests on the last day of term and DEFINITELY not watchilng any videos. Thanks.

27

3

188

James Durran

@jdurran

5 months

Retrieval can be a great way to start a lesson, although it can come in MANY guises. But here are some others: - A moment of theatre - A story - A moment of cognitive dissonance - A thing to imagine - A provocation - A joke - A brand new concept - A continuation ... 1/4

7

30

190

James Durran

@jdurran

3 years

So much hysteria (on both 'sides') about primary #grammar , mostly from people who don't teach it, or who don't know much about grammar. Knowing some theory and terminology can be very useful, but there are real problems about how it has been formulated in the curriculum. To...

15

30

184

James Durran

@jdurran

3 years

No it doesn't.

Katharine Birbalsingh

@Miss_Snuffy

3 years

This happens in classrooms across the country. This is inquiry-based learning. Kids leading instead of the teacher. Total abdication of adult authority with regard to behaviour and knowledge. It is so ingrained in our culture, we don’t even notice it now.

68

23

128

16

4

185

James Durran

@jdurran

6 years

Literacy across the curriculum This might be useful: an editable set of prompts for a 'literacy walk-through'. (Secondary, but very adaptable for primary.) #teamenglish #SLTchat #literacy

Literacy walk checklist.docx

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

18

71

185

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

Re teaching poetry: effective English teachers skilfully balance: - telling with eliciting - Instruction with discussion - personal response with guided analysis - elucidation with managed wondering... It really, really ISN'T an either/or thing.

15

48

182

James Durran

@jdurran

2 months

I'm sorry to be blocked by Adam Boxer, as I've gained a lot from reading & engaging with him, despite all that default sarcasm. But as I get older and as eduTwitter limps on, I am less and less patient with its overlords and their unchallengeable omniscience. 🙄

31

6

180

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

There's nothing necessarily wrong with showing pupils films at the end of term. Films are great. Films teach things. Films can often be a sensible use of lesson time at the end of term. It is not, in some way, intrinsically virtuous to not show films. (End of announcement.)

19

14

179

James Durran

@jdurran

1 year

#Oracy isn't a 'fad', any more than reading & writing are. And it isn't an 'approach' or a thing to 'implement', which has to be justified in terms of its 'impact'. Oracy is a hugely important set of social (& academic) practices & competences, worth developing in themselves.

10

36

177

James Durran

@jdurran

1 year

Are we missing the point by asking where all the #maths teachers are coming from? Is this to be an experiment in teacher-less teaching? Will students just access specially commissioned online materials from, say, a certain 'national' provider, while being cheaply supervised? 🤔

30

14

175

James Durran

@jdurran

4 years

A culture of #Inquiry in the classroom is essential. This isn't the same as 'discovery'; it's about always looking afresh, emphasising exploration, asking questions & re-making knowledge. This needs expert modelling: teachers have to be experts in wondering as well as in knowing.

17

47

175

James Durran

@jdurran

7 months

If a school finds a certain approach to behaviour (eg silent corridors) working for their circumstances, that's fine! What will grate is a self-righteous claim to superiority, & an assertion that "most" other schools are chaotic & failing their pupils. They're not & they aren't.

11

10

170

James Durran

@jdurran

4 years

As the key worker list gets longer and longer, "All schools closing" has basically become "All schools staying open, even in the Easter holidays." Is that going to last more than a week or two, as a peak-suppressing measure?

8

37

170

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

A timely reminder from @MichaelRosenYes that asking children questions like the ones in the KS2 test is NOT teaching reading. Children need to be real readers, exploring responses, thinking hard & having rich conversations about texts & language.

Dear Damian Hinds, please stop wrecking poetry for children | Michael Rosen

Children are being taught that there are right and wrong answers in poems

www.theguardian.com

5

71

164

James Durran

@jdurran

4 years

The real message from this morning's Twitter debate about pathetic fallacy & personification is how important it is to teach ideas rather than terms, and to train pupils to describe and explain uses of language, rather than to label them.

10

25

162

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

How do we make literary analysis in the classroom exploratory & responsive, but still 'rigorous'? This post has drawn a lot of interest. It's a KS2 example, but could easily be KS3. Thoughts from secondary English teachers welcome! #teamenglish

10

58

163

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

"We want to see children read really well. They won't do this by working through endless comprehension tests. They'll do it by being read to, by being encouraged to read across a wide range of subjects & having their imagination fired..." Via @HarfordSean

Ofsted's National Director for Education explains the new framework for the 2019 primary curriculum

Sean Harford, Oftsed's National Director for Education, breaks down the new September 2019 framework for primary schools.

www.risingstars-uk.com

13

59

159

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

Looking back over 30 years of teaching, I wince at SO many flaws, lapses & mistakes. However, I'm also proud of much & like to think it's averaged out well. That's how teaching is, and it's one reason why a constant scrutiny & measuring of teachers' 'performance' is problematic.

8

18

160

James Durran

@jdurran

4 years

Putting on a duvet cover is stressful enough, without it having buttons rather than press studs. So why, WHY would anyone also DO UP the buttons on a washed cover before putting it away in the cupboard? Why?

37

4

159

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

All the best things I've done professionally - as a beginning and more experienced teacher, as a subject leader, as an AST and as an adviser - have been because leaders invested responsibility in me, not because I was 'held to account'. For that, I'm fantastically grateful.

5

20

159

James Durran

@jdurran

10 months

Is it time to retire the term "knowledge rich" - a phrase which manages simultaneously to be utterly meaningless and insufferably smug?

21

10

158

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

I will choose whether or not to believe my child, thanks. And I will certainly never tell them that adults in authority are automatically right all the time.

Katharine Birbalsingh

@Miss_Snuffy

5 years

Because 99% of the time the child is telling fibs. And you cannot know. Never let your child believe you will believe them over the teacher, even if you quietly have a word with the head about your concerns. The child will never listen to the teachers again. Trust me.

222

76

517

15

20

157

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

On my way into a school yesterday to run staff training, I glanced at a 1924 photo on the wall and noticed my grandfather. I'd forgotten he once taught there. It was oddly moving suddenly to see him, and to reflect on how deeply rooted teaching is in my family - on both sides.

2

3

153

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

Why would pupils ever need to to talk to each other in lessons?

Quick talk about texts

Short-burst pair or group talk activities which can be woven into reading lessons In other posts, I’ve suggested that the most effective whole-class reading sessions allow for seamless weavin…

jamesdurran.blog

14

48

153

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

Email yesterday from Tesco: "I'm very sorry to hear about the issues with the cauliflower, I understand how disappointing that might be." My god, what have I become?

14

1

151

James Durran

@jdurran

5 years

30 years ago, it was completely normal for school children to be lined up and picked for teams by two teacher-appointed 'captains'. Now this seems incomprehensibly uncaring. In 30 years time, what might we look back on and wonder at it in a similar way?

65

20

151

James Durran

@jdurran

2 years

I'm lucky to have taught mostly in schools which treated pupils as young people, expecting respect in return for respect, & rejecting - no, abhorring - any behaviour by adults which dehumanised or belittled pupils, however convenient or efficient such compliance might have been.

12

11

147

James Durran

@jdurran

4 years

NEW on teaching and assessing reading. Written with @BarbaraBleiman . #primary_English #secondary_English

15

63

151

James Durran

@jdurran

3 years

There are lots of reasons why teachers might allow children to sometimes chat while working. Similar to why adults sitting next to each other might sometimes chat while working. Classrooms, like offices, are complex social spaces.

7

6

148