he A-Z of Great Classrooms is a celebration of that magical double act of teaching and learning, organised around the 26 letters of the English alphabet.
Over the past twenty years as a reviewer and inspector of schools and colleges in the UK and across the world, Roy Blatchford CBE has visited over 15,000 lessons in more than 1,000 settings. In this book he seeks to distil what happens in classrooms where learners are engaged and excited by what the skilled and knowledgeable teacher presents, weaving in examples, analysis and personal reflections.
Roy Blatchford notes in the introduction: Across continents I have enjoyed being in the presence of children, young people and adults being taught by teachers who love their work and whose passion for subject shines through their every gesture and every word. The best lessons - you just dont want them to end!
And theres nothing quite like the professional privilege of being in such classrooms, laboratories, dance studios, workshops, music practice rooms, sports halls, libraries, learning centres, sensory zones, outdoor settings, lecture theatres - wherever the learning unfolds.
In Section One readers will form their own views about whether the A-Z alphabetical headings impose an editorial strait-jacket when teaching and learning are such dynamic affairs. An extended Venn diagram or a series of linked Olympic rings might well be a richer way of presenting the complexities, intricacies and flow of classrooms.
The Foreword is by Rebecca Boomer-Clark, CEO of Academies Enterprise Trust.
Roy Blatchford is founder of www.blinks.education working with schools, multi-academy trusts, colleges, universities and local authorities in the UK and internationally. He currently chairs and advises a number of Boards in the education and charity sectors.
Following headships in London, Oxfordshire and Milton Keynes, he was Founding Director of the National Education Trust. He has extensive experience of writing inspection frameworks and has reviewed over 1,000 schools, colleges and faculties in Europe, India, USA, Middle and Far East. He was one of Her Majestys Inspectors (HMI) in England, and has served as an education policy adviser to the UK and other national governments.
Roy was lead author of the Teachers Standards (2012) and chaired ASCLs The Forgotten Third (2019). He is the author/editor of over 150 books including The Restless School, The Three Minute Leader and Must Do Better.
He was appointed CBE for services to education in the 2016 New Year Honours.
