“How can I know what I think till I see what I say?” — Graham Wallas How to harness the 'Generation Effect' by externalising thinking... ↓

🚨 LIBERAL OVERREACH When applying our values backfires: ↓

Tailor to lesson content, not student preferences. An alternative to the learning styles myth: ↓

To boost learning & reduce workload... Agree the toolkit: ↓

Upstream Thinking How to get ahead of behaviour in schools: ↓

Student behaviour is a big deal. It's best taught (rather than told): ↓

🔥 16 hottest education related research papers from the last 8 weeks: (all open source 🔓) ↓

Composite Planning (vs solo planning). Leveraging specialisation & scale for better education: ↓

Despite best intentions and significant investment, England’s SEND system is failing too many students and their families. To fix it, we need to understand why. Mega-thread summary of my presentation at #FestivalOfEducation today: ↓

A large part of being an expert planner is about having specific knowledge in 3 areas: ↓

As teachers, getting planning right is paramount. It not only makes a big difference to student learning, but also to teacher workload: ↓

Darren is what it's all about.

Distractions eat attention and their appetite is BIG (over 33% of lesson time). BUT... our efforts to tackle them should be in proportion to their effect: ↓

Mindblowingly advanced thinking on attention & learning from @mikehobbiss.bsky.social hobbolog.wordpress.com/2025/06/02/m... Someone knight this guy asap

Q. Why do distractions consume so much learning time? ↓

Pretty much everyone knows the origin story of Steplab by now. But for those who don’t, I cornered Josh and made a quick video: 🍿 www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfWz...

Distractions consume more learning time than we tend to think. Here's the lowdown: ↓

Why AI hype about personalised learning is (likely) overblown. A thread: ↓

🚨🚨NEW PAPER ON INCLUSIVE TEACHING ...that I've been working (pretty intensely) on for the last few months. Details below: ↓

🔥 15 hottest edu-research papers from the last 15 weeks: (all open source 🔓) ↓

The most important idea when it comes to AI & education: WHOEVER DOES THE THINKING GETS THE LEARNING More: ↓

Procrastination can be a major threat to independent study. Despite having the desire and the strategies, many students (and adults) struggle to get started. We can help reduce this risk by pre-empting procrastination. ↓

Many students recognise the power of spacing their study. However, few manage to make it work consistently in practice. @examstudyexpert suggests that spacing rituals can help students overcome this knowing-doing gap. ↓

One of the most effective ways to drive effective inclusion is to make our teaching ‘accessible by default’. Let's dig into what that means: ↓

The double-edged sword of SEND labels: ↓

*Diagnostic overshadowing* can thwart inclusive teaching. What's useful for teachers to know: ↓

Few events coming up: 1/ Science of Teacher Expertise, with Carl Hendrick et al → 11JUN in Birmingham, UK 2/ Instructional Coaching, with Josh Goodrich et al → Various dates in May in Charlotte, New York, and Philadelphia, US Full details below ⬇️

Two core ideas underpin effective inclusive teaching: 1. Cognitive similarity 2. Instructional sensitivity Let’s dig into both… ↓

📣 We're excited to be partnering with Carl Hendrick to bring you a day of professional learning on the science of teacher expertise Join Carl Hendrick @pepsmccrea.bsky.social @scottinghatt.bsky.social and @joshpd.bsky.social for an unmissable day of edu-nerdiness 🎟️ Book now 👉 bit.ly/3DtPuOu

It’s important to consider *measurement error* when assessing learning. Otherwise, there is potential for misplaced confidence: ↓

🚨NEW VID Where I grill two of my biggest heroes—my mum and Professor Dylan Wiliam—on how education has changed over the last half-century ⤵️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLVx...

Maximising assessment validity: (An attempt to make sense of this stuff) ↓

🚨BANGING NEW EXPERIMENTAL STUDY on effective teacher development just dropped. Quick summary: ↓

Short thread where I try to explain what validity is and why it's important. (This stuff is hard: tell me where I'm wrong) ↓

🎓 New study throws shade on 'confidence rating' (where students to say how confident they feel about their answer), suggesting it shifts focus from 'understanding' to 'memorisation', potentially limiting knowledge transfer. [refrains from commenting on my confidence in this result]

Norm alignment: When teachers row together, we go faster, with less effort. ↓

NEW PAPER suggests that: • Teacher enthusiasm matters, but... • it's often not noticed by students • and sometimes even misinterpreted Dial up that zeal folks (and remove all ambiguity) 🔥

To harness norms, accentuate the positive. A short thread: ↓

Neena is one of the amazing teachers featured in our new documentary Great Teaching, Unpacked 📽️ Watch it for free: steplab.co/film And join Neena, @pepsmccrea.bsky.social and @joshpd.bsky.social for the documentary's virtual premiere: 🗓️ Thurs 13 Feb 🕓 4 pm 🎟️ bit.ly/4gdx9lO See you there 👋

16 must-know edu-research papers from the last 16 weeks: (all open source 🔓) ↓

Wise, beautiful & powerful piece. Must-read if you are interested in how we can do a good/better job of SEND provision ⤵️

Norms are more powerful than rules. How to leverage this idea in school: ↓

🚨 What is Teacher Expertise? 🚨 We easily recognise expertise in fields like sports or medicine, where success is often measurable. But how do we define expertise in teaching? Sign up to our newsletter for more content like this: lnkd.in/eN7MmeBU

Funniest thing that has happened to you as a teacher?

🚨🚨 NEW TODAY For the last 18 months, I've been working on a top secret documentary to capture & deconstruct some of best teaching in UK. Why We Made It & How To Access It (For Free): ↓ www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SQ0...

🚨NEW VID🚨 Alignment: The Secret Sauce of Effective Schooling? KEY MOMENTS 0:51 → The emerging evidence 2:11 → Interview w Dr Jen Barker & Jon Gilbert 5:40 → The role of codification 9:41 → Alignment vs autonomy 11:06 → Getting started www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-1B...

📢The Building Belonging Project 📢 So happy to share a big project that I’ve been working on for the last few years with my LSX teammates. The building belonging project features insights from world experts, as well as classroom resources. And we’re just getting started! youtu.be/t1suFA6BXvg?...

A bit of Steplab news I promised to post here as well as (& before) the other place… I'm delighted to share Steplab has been working with the wonderful team at Teach Like a Champion to add their brilliant resources to our platform for any schools that choose to add it! Details & webinar below 👇

With the big #rED24 event this weekend, I’d love to know: What is the edu research that most changed your practice, how you think about education, and/or that you come back to most often? I have few that I always return to but would love to know others’! #EduNerdChat #EduSky #UKEdu

🚨Review of Edu-Research in 2023/24 → 11 standout papers → 5 emerging themes → My finding/sharing process (this is my first crack at a vid—would love any feedback, esp how it could be better next time) www.youtube.com/watch?v=egdN...