Is your teaching approach tailored to the needs of each student? Sometimes “it is not the program itself that presents a challenge, but something [in the student] that is not up to the educational challenge” (Bailey and Pransky, 2014) I have spent the last ten years understanding cognitive science to the point...
Do reflective teachers teach better? There is very little empirical evidence on the connection between teacher reflection and the quality of teaching. However, a caring teacher may simply have an advantage in terms of teaching quality and engagement. This new study examines the connection between teachers’ personal development (reflection), their commitment and the quality of teaching. Why is this important? At a time when more is required of educators, it’s not just about theoretical skills. The study by Huang et al. The study, conducted in 2023 among 998...
Do shorter schedules lead to better teacher performance and retention? New research using English school staff census data has revealed links between the number of hours teachers spend with students (contact hours), the complexity of working hours, students’ GCSE results and teacher turnover. The article begins with a familiar scenario. It’s the end of the academic year and...
How many questions does a teacher ask during a school day? Asking questions helps us understand each other. By asking them, we can gather more information and better process the world around us. Not all questions are effective! As humans, we ask others questions...
As a teacher, capturing and maintaining students’ attention is crucial to effective teaching and learning. Understanding the complex relationship between hormones like dopamine and cortisol and attention can help you plan your lessons. Dopamine is associated with pleasure and reward and plays a key role in...
Retrieval practice is an effective learning strategy that improves students’ long-term knowledge retention and strengthens their ability to retain and apply knowledge. By actively retrieving information from memory, students engage in a process that accelerates learning and strengthens connections in their brains....