Substacks recommended by David Didau: The Learning Spy

Recommended by David Didau: The Learning Spy

The Second Summer of Love is a serial novel published weekly on Substack – a coming-of-age story set in late-80s Birmingham, against the heat, hope and hedonism of the rave scene. Part memoir, part fiction, it’s about music, youth, longing, and the moment

This is my debut novel, set in Birmingham in 1989 against the backdrop of rave culture, pirate radio and charity scams.

- David Didau: The Learning Spy

Astral Codex Ten

By Scott Alexander

P(A|B) = [P(A)*P(B|A)]/P(B), all the rest is commentary.

Scott Alexander's Slate Star Codex was always a fascinating mix of the bewilderingly nerdy and the jaw-droppingly enlightening. This is the same.

- David Didau: The Learning Spy

Sammy Wright

Research and writing on schools, children, disadvantage and English teaching

Rebecca Birch - On Education

Exploring the intersection of evidence-based teaching, literacy, and the cultural politics of education. I write about how research, policy, and classroom practice collide—and what that means for teachers, students, and the future of education.

Filling The Pail

By Greg Ashman

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." – As W. B. Yeats never said

Greg is the man! His writing on education is clear, often caustic and very well informed. Not to be missed

- David Didau: The Learning Spy

Sarah Johnson

I generally have nothing to bring except for random musings

Predictably, Correct

By Adam Wray

My Substack to discuss all things teaching, learning, thinking and especially on the application of predictive processing ( active inference - predictive coding) to the filed of teaching.

Dominic’s School Improvement Newsletter

By Dominic Salles

Education, curriculum design, teaching, amazing progress for your students. Applying research to reduce your workload and double your impact.

Punchy, provocative posts on improving school leadership

- David Didau: The Learning Spy

We Are In Beta

By Niall

Learn how schools get the best outcomes for their students

Jen’s Substack

By Jen O’Sullivan

Where evidence-based meets chalk-dusted reality in literacy education.

Very promising new substack on the science of reading. Get in early

- David Didau: The Learning Spy

Text Savvy

By Josh Fisher

Collecting and commenting on quotes relevant to education.

Dan Davies - "Back of Mind"

By Dan Davies' "Back of Mind" newsletter

A newsletter of quiet contrarianism, slow analysis and ambient ideas

Who doesn't love cybernetics?

- David Didau: The Learning Spy

Powerful Knowledge

By Alex Crossman

Rediscovering the value of education, in its own terms

This is one of the best written education blogs out there. Highly recommended

- David Didau: The Learning Spy

The Learning Dispatch

By Carl Hendrick

Making sense of how learning happens. https://www.carlhendrick.com/

I don't care what anyone else says, Carl is, at heart, a decent human being.

- David Didau: The Learning Spy

The Next 30 Years

By Robert Pondiscio

A platform seeking to bridge the gaps between education practice, policy, and research.

Robert's blog (and book, How the Other Half Learns) is a trove of insigntful observation, mainly focussed on Ed in the US but applicable more widely

- David Didau: The Learning Spy

Pedagogy of the Oppressor?

By Phil Beadle

Critical left-wing analysis of trends in education.

Not always right but always interesting. Great writer.

- David Didau: The Learning Spy

100% Assessment

By Matthew and Becky

Assessment insights for schools.

Becky Allen and Matt Evans, two of the finest minds in education, on, well, assessment.

- David Didau: The Learning Spy

WAGOLL Teaching

By Ben Cooper

Researched-informed Primary School teaching in action. Here's What A Good One Looks Like.

Lots of great primary focussed content

- David Didau: The Learning Spy

Minding the Gap

By Natalie Wexler

A newsletter about education, cognitive science, and fairness from Natalie Wexler, author of The Knowledge Gap.

All about knowledge. Heavy emphasis on reading, writing & explicit instruction from one of the masterminds behind The Writing Revolution

- David Didau: The Learning Spy

Matthew Evans

Educational musings

Mr Salles Teaches English

By Dominic Salles

The easiest and most rewarding ways to get top grades in GCSE English language and literature.

Prolific posts - mainly aimed at students - on how to maximise grades for GCSE English Language & Literature

- David Didau: The Learning Spy

Claire Stoneman

Principal, Lift Schools▫️English teacher▫️Relay/GSE LLI Fellow 25/26▫️I write about teaching and school leadership. Sometimes I write about poetry▫️views own