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Having endured some fairly dreadful ‘initiatives’ in my time, delivered from on high with the directive to ‘make it work’, I approached Iterate with some trepidation. However, aside from one unfortunate acronym that would likely be a source of some derision in British schools (the author is American), my fears proved to be unfounded.

The book sets out several routes to innovation, emphasising how it needs to be both teacher-centred and responsive. Reich shows us numerous examples of teacher- and department-led innovation, some of which could be attempted relatively quickly, given sufficient senior leadership support, such as providing time and cover.

Reich may be an MIT professor, but he’s evidently sensitive to the many pressures teachers face. In Iterate, he’s produced a highly readable guide to prompting positive change in small ways, while involving both students and teachers in the evaluation process.

This review was originally published in Teach Secondary magazine.