Reflections: What's the point of book reviews?

October 7, 2024

So many authors think they ought to be the recipient of the Nobel prize for literature.

How can CHatGPT be used in education? And can it write decent book reviews?

January 10, 2023

I asked ChatGPT, and here’s what it said…

What's the point of book reviews?

September 28, 2022

So many authors think they ought to be the recipient of the Nobel prize for literature.

Is objectivity in book reviews possible, or even desirable?

April 22, 2022

You want the review to be fair, but you also want it to be honest. Maybe being honest is neither objective nor neutral.

Recent book reviews

Review: Teach Fast

The book contains some interesting ideas.

A question of leadership

I have somewhat dichotomous views of this question of whether leaders make a difference, or much of a difference. I think my views can be classified as macro and micro.

Review: Making Good Progress?

Daisy Christodoulou carefully picks apart the pitfalls of various kinds of assessment, drawing on different subject areas to do so.

principles and practice of assessment.jpg

Review: Principles and Practices of Assessment

There is plenty in this book to like.

Review: Effective Teaching: Evidence and Practice

Although this is a few years old now (2018), it has stood the test of time.

Review: One for maths teachers

This wide-ranging book takes in probability, fractals, astronomy, Babbage, Lovelace and a host of other areas and people.

Reviews: Two for History teachers

Two books on the Nazi era.

Review: One for English teachers

No book about the craft of writing seems complete without a stern chapter on the importance of eschewing adverbs and adjectives - but what to put in their place?

Review: The Great Formal Machinery Works: Theories of Deduction and Computation at the Origins of the Digital Age

If you’re of a mathematical bent this could be just the book to delve into.

Review: How to lie with statistics

Although this book is over 60 years old, it is remarkably apposite for our times -- and especially in the fields of educational research and assessing pupils' understanding and progress.