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What primary and secondary leaders need to know about effective writing transition
Same word, different expectations: why writing transition fails when primary and secondary schools prepare students for different kinds of success.
Apr 29
•
David Didau
62
8
6
Five principles for effective questioning
This post is the latest in a series focussing on five key aspects of effective classroom practice
Apr 25
•
David Didau
42
1
13
Onwards and upwards: my marathon journey
And some tenuous links to writing, endurance and the necessity of practice
Apr 22
•
David Didau
45
9
7
Demand, Diversity and the Canon
If we want to broaden what schools teach, the case must be made on significance, not symbolism
Apr 20
•
David Didau
and
Martin Robinson
17
5
8
Five principles of effective scaffolding
If support is not temporary, responsive and designed to disappear, it's probably not effecive scaffolding
Apr 18
•
David Didau
33
4
13
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The myth of teaching children to 'read for pleasure'
Dec 6, 2025
•
David Didau
80
4
28
Five principles of effective modelling
Apr 11
•
David Didau
87
1
16
Three Ways That Curriculum Fails
Apr 4
•
David Didau
60
4
13
The Dual Coding Delusion
Nov 1, 2025
•
David Didau
51
20
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Easy Things Are Easy; Hard Things Are Hard
On teacher charisma, classroom calm and the difficulty of building the habits of hard work
Apr 15
•
David Didau
66
6
9
Five principles of effective modelling
Why exemplars so often fail, and how to make modelling genuinely instructive
Apr 11
•
David Didau
87
1
16
Does checking for attention help students learn?
Spoiler: yes. Yes it does.
Apr 6
•
David Didau
58
4
8
Three Ways That Curriculum Fails
Why students fail to make progress when curriculum lacks specificity, systematicity and subject sensitivity
Apr 4
•
David Didau
60
4
13
Chesterton's Library: which fences should we destroy, which walls should we mend?
Chesterton, Frost and the panic over AI, safeguarding and dangerous ideas
Apr 2
•
David Didau
and
Martin Robinson
9
5
3
On punctuation: distinguishing between knowledge problems and practice problems
One of the difficulties in teaching writing is that not all mistakes are the same kind of mistake.
Mar 28
•
David Didau
43
4
11
The principle of reciprocity: a low threat model for teacher development
Why lesson observation so often fails to change practice and how to get more of what we want
Mar 26
•
David Didau
94
10
25
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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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