Despite the relative paucity of immediately obvious National Curriculum links, teachers will find several of sections of this book to be highly engaging.
Read More
Review: The Dictators: 64 Dictators, 64 Authors, 64 Warnings from History
In some respects one could view this book as a single warning repeated 64 times.
Read More
Review: The Bookshop, The Draper, The Candlestick Maker: A History of the High Street
Taking readers from the Middle Ages to (more or less) the present day, Gray charts how the places where we do our shopping and what we buy have changed over the centuries.
Read MoreReview: Extraordinary Learning For All
As a source of potential ideas and inspiration, the book could be very useful indeed.
Read More
Review: Bad Education: Why Our Universities Are Broken and How We Can Fix Them
One has the impression that the main role of the university these days is to maximise profit, while that of the majority of teaching staff is to ensure the ‘correct’ views are passed on to students. All the while, students’ main concern seems to be to seek protection from anything that might make them feel unsafe.
Read More
Review: Next Practices - An Executive Guide for Education Decision Makers
Is a 2014 book on managing the computing provision in a school still worth buying?
Read More
Still relevant (sadly): How to lie with statistics, by Darrell Huff
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.
Read More
Quick looks: Bad Education: Why Our Universities Are Broken and How We Can Fix Them
It was a great source of pride to me, getting hundreds of students through their A levels and encouraging them to go to university. But for some time I have asked myself a question: would I recommend this route now?
Read More
Review: The Bright Side: Why Optimists Have the Power to Change the World
At first glance, you might take this to be one of those books full of affirmations and anecdotes designed to lift your mood.
Read More
Review: Small Habits Create Big Change: Strategies to Avoid Burnout and Thrive in Your Education Career
My review of this for Teach Secondary magazine has just come out. Here is the published version, followed by the copy I submitted, which is slightly longer because it has a little more detail.
Read More
Review: Productive Failure: Unlocking Deeper Learning Through the Science of Failing
My review of this for Teach Secondary magazine has just come out. Here is the published version, followed by the copy I submitted, which is slightly longer because it is a little more detailed.
Read More
Review: AI Snake Oil: AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference
My review of this for Teach Secondary magazine has just come out. Here is the published version, followed by the copy I submitted, which is slightly longer because it has a little more detail.
Read More
A Town Without Time
We all need a break from work, so why not curl up with a good book?
This is a great boook, full of interesting and wonderfully-written stories, and the publisher has made a copy available to win as a prize.
Read More
Review: The Shortest History of Music -- two reviews in one!
The music programme of study requires students to possess an understanding of the music they perform and that which they listen to, as well as a grasp of music history, and an appreciation of different musical styles.
Read More
Review: The Art of Uncertainty (two reviews in one)
The Computing department would find the section on facial recognition interesting, because apart from possible ethical concerns, the fact is that even if the system has high accuracy, most of its identifications will be wrong.
Read More
Review: The Newsmongers: A History of Tabloid Journalism (two reviews in one!)
I was intrigued to discover that a popular news magazine of the sixties had been anticipated by Defoe.
Read MoreQuick look: AI For Educators
There are some good ideas here, especially for prompts.
Read More
Hitler's People: The Faces of the Third Reich -- Extended review
Nearly a hundred years after the Nazi phenomenon people are still asking the question: how could apparently ordinary or, in some cases, highly cultured, people commit such terrible crimes.
Read MoreEducation book reviews of 2024
This pdf contains the reviews of mine that were published in Teach Secondary magazine in 2024.
Read More
Review: Nuts and Bolts: How Tiny Inventions Make Our World Work
It's rather disconcerting when one considers that buildings like The Shard are essentially held together by nuts, bolts and washers.
Read More