1. I’ve somehow contrived to miss this report, Great Teaching Toolkit: Evidence Review, over the last four years since it was published by Cambridge Assessment International Education and Evidence Based Education (EBE) in 2020 https://2366135.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/2366135/Great%20Teaching%20Toolkit%20Evidence%20Review.pdf

Here’s a short video introduction from Rob Coe of EBE https://evidencebased.education/great-teaching-toolkit-evidence-review/

PDFs of the full report and the Executive Summary only below, and here’s the beginning of that executive summary:

What are the best bets for teachers to invest time and effort in if they want their students to learn more? We have reviewed existing research studies and frameworks that are relevant to the components and routes to improvement of teacher effectiveness. Our aim is to help teachers make better decisions about what they can best do to improve their effectiveness. In summary, we have identified four priorities for teachers who want to help their student learn more:

1. understand the content they are teaching and how it is learnt

2. create a supportive environment for learning

3. manage the classroom to maximise the opportunity to learn

4. present content, activities and interactions that activate their students’ thinking

Some of you may now be saying to yourselves, “That’s all very well and easily enough said, but the how is what interests me”. You’ll be pleased to learn that the report goes into considerable detail on the how!

2. I meant to include this on Tuesday, when I mentioned Vicky Saumell’s plenary at the IATEFL conference in Brighton, but better late than never! IATEFL continue to offer a wide range of professional development opportunities, the large majority free to non-members. Lots of good stuff here https://www.iatefl.org/events

What, I wonder, should one read into the fact that the two Business – business! – English SIG events listed fall within that small minority of events that are not free to non-members?

3. Two new posts from Alexandra Mihai on her blog, The Educationalist https://educationalist.substack.com/

i) Let’s burst some bubbles (again)! expressing nostalgia for the pandemic;

ii) The Facilitation Survival Guide about how “taking a step back and not being in the centre of attention, while actually guiding the discussion or learning process, can sometimes take more effort than ex cathedra teaching”.

4. Here’s something deeply depressing which I hope doesn’t upset too many people, America’s Monster: How the U.S. Backed Kidnapping, Torture and Murder in Afghanistan https://tinyurl.com/hxdtzank

And something less depressing and ever so slightly surprising on the part of our justice system – but maybe I’m just getting old and cynical – from The Guardian, Julian Assange wins right to appeal against extradition to US https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/may/20/julian-assange-wins-high-court-victory-in-case-against-extradition-to-us

5. And, finally, here’s a recent article from The Spectator by Philip Patrick, Why are the Japanese so bad at English? https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-are-the-japanese-so-bad-at-english/ A more sympathetic piece than its title might at first suggest!