The Truth about Teaching

Greg Ashman grew up in the UK. In 1997, after studying Natural Sciences at Cambridge, he began training as a teacher at the Institute of Education in London. He went on to teach in three London comprehensive schools and took on roles including Head of Science, Assistant Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher. In 2010, he moved to Ballarat, Australia, with his young family. Since then, he has worked as Head of Mathematics at Ballarat Clarendon College. During this time, he has developed an interest in education research and is currently undertaking a PhD in Instructional Design, as well as taking on the role of Deputy Principal at Clarendon.

Chapter 1: A short history of education Chapter 2: Classroom management Chapter 3: The science of learning Chapter 4: Motivating students Chapter 5: Explicit teaching Chapter 6: Alternatives to explicit teaching Chapter 7: Planning lessons Chapter 8: Assessment and feedback Chapter 9: Using technology Chapter 10: The phonics debate Chapter 11: To be a teacher

Greg Ashman has written something about behaviour management that is rare in education: useful and evidence-informed. So many commentators write about children as we would like them to be rather than the ones we find on classrooms. His focus on prevention and cure as simultaneous strategies of core importance, is one of the most overlooked manifestos in the craft of running a room. There's more sense in this one chapter than in half the teacher training courses I have seen on the matter, and I wish that every new teacher had a chance to read, absorb and reflect on its clear and simple wisdom. -- Tom Bennett This is a highly readable, practical and thought-provoking account of the evidence about how we learn and how to teach. Anyone interested in improving education should read it. -- Daisy Christodoulou Greg Ashman changed my life. I was introduced to his blog via Dylan Wiliam, and Greg's subsequent interview on my Mr Barton Maths Podcast in 2017 left me and thousands of listeners questioning everything in teaching that we had previous taken for granted. It took me 12 years to think deeper about the the way I planned lessons, the things I did in the classroom, how I marked books, and many other things. The Truth about Teaching is the book I wished I'd had all those years ago. -- Craig Barton ...Ashman admits that "teaching cannot claim to be evidence-based ... Instead, we can hope to be evidence-informed." It's a welcome admission that cognitive models and large scale meta-analyses might not tell us everything about what goes on in the classroom, and sets the tone for the rest of this detailed and absorbing book. -- George Duoblys * Schools Week * New and aspiring teachers will find this book gives valuable insights. The author's extensive background in teaching means he writes from an informed and empathetic viewpoint, giving his readers confidence. An understanding of educational research is demonstrated, along with the most vital ideas necessary to succeed in teaching... It's a practical book, firmly rooted in actual classroom experience with real children - it's just what teachers will encounter and therefore reassuring and positive to use and apply. -- Sarah Brew * Parents in Touch *