Even good schools are subject to entropy
How expertise, memory and coherence decay over time and what we can do it
David Didau: The Learning Spy
The Learning Spy Substack is a sharp, provocative dispatch from the front lines of education, where ideas are tested, myths are challenged, and nothing is taken for granted.
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The anthropology of school rituals
How rituals create belonging, preserve order and, all too often, outlive their purpose
The economics of attention
Why we should budget attention before we spend it
The ecology of schools
An ecological perspective explains why relationships, feedback and adaptation matter more than isolated interventions
The best case fallacy and the need to audit optimism
Why optimism is often unscrupulous and positive thinking makes things worse
Film review: Nolan straightens out Homer's many-turning man
How Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey smooths away world literature’s greatest creation
Digital exams are a solution in search of a problem
Why we should avoid confusing novelty with progress
The Proxy Trap: how poor are 'poor proxies for learning'?
Why schools can't live with proxies or without them
A letter to a young head of department
A contrarian's guide to surviving middle leadership without surrendering your soul
Why I hate 'beautiful books'
Why students' exercise books make for dangerously unstable proxies for learning and poor revision resources
Wax On, Wax Off Retrieval Practice
Three recent studies show why retrieval practice needs better questions, better timing and better support.