Literacy

Shooting the Messenger: If you can’t bear the witness, you might be on the wrong side of history

As a teenager, I was a regular visitor to Tripoli in Libya. My father was the British Consul there for around four years and being at boarding school, I went and stayed with him during my holidays. One year, it just so happened that hostilities between the USA and Libya were increasing, and many of …

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Vale, Sir Jim Rose

Vale Sir Jim Rose, whose life’s work contributed to the betterment of teaching reading and consequently children’s lives worldwide. He was the author of the UK’s famed “Rose Report” in 2006 which led to vital changes in the way reading was taught in Britain. I interviewed him back in 2018. Here is the transcript: Sir …

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The Culture that Kills

It’s been a bit of a tough week for literacy giants Fountas and Pinnell. Firstly their products were reviewed by edreports.org and found to be wanting. That’s a pretty damning indictment right there. As a damage-control measure, the authors decided to try to ‘navigate to a place of clarity’ by producing some strange, very unclear …

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Sounds about Right

    I keep getting drawn into situations where I feel a need to defend my work. That’s what you get when you say things publicly, I guess. I don’t mind at all, because every time I get asked for comment, I get to refine my thinking on my works. But let me clarify a …

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