Making Every Lesson Count: Six principles to support great teaching and learning

by Shaun Allison, Andy Tharby

Packed with practical teaching strategies, Making Every Lesson Count bridges the gap between research findings and classroom practice. Shaun Allison and Andy Tharby examine the evidence behind what makes great teaching and explore how to implement this in the classroom to make a difference to learning. They distil teaching and learning down into six core principles challenge, explanation, modelling, practice, feedback and questioning and show how these can inspire an ethos of excellence and growth, not only in individual classrooms but across a whole school too. Combining robust evidence from a range of fields with the practical wisdom of experienced, effective classroom teachers, the book is a complete toolkit of strategies that teachers can use every lesson to make that lesson count. There are no gimmicky ideas here just high impact, focused teaching that results in great learning, every lesson, every day. To demonstrate how attainable this is, the book contains a number of case studies from a number of professionals who are successfully embedding a culture of excellence and growth in their schools. Making Every Lesson Count offers an evidence-informed alternative to restrictive Ofsted-driven definitions of great teaching, empowering teachers to deliver great lessons and celebrate high-quality practice. Suitable for all teachers including trainee teachers, NQTs, and experienced teachers who want quick and easy ways to enhance their practice and make every lesson count.
Educational Book Award winner 2016

Judges' A highly practical and interesting resource with loads of information and uses to support and inspire teachers of all levels of experience. An essential staffroom book.

Genres: Education, Teaching, Nonfiction

296 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 16, 2015

Reviews

[Rikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really comprehensive book that keeps things simple - six strategy strands that should be used in any classroom. Experienced teachers may feel that some sections are teaching granny to suck eggs, but this is a great resource for NQTs and teachers early in their career, as it makes explicit what those with experience implicitly do.

[Isabel Jesson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bring your sister to work day

[Raeraeg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorough pedagogical theory with lots of practical strategies.

[Ben Breen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is vitally important that teachers are constantly developing their practice, drawing from current research to boost outcomes for their classes. But with the pressures of the job, it's often impossible to find the time.

Making Every Lesson Count does this work for you. Drawing from an extensive bibliography of up-to-date research, advice is broken into six sections: challenge, questioning, practice, feedback, modelling, and explanation. Each section is illustrated with practical teaching scenarios, and an exploration of the issues often encountered when making the recommended changes.

Current teaching fads - dialogic marking, 3-step lesson plans - are rejected in favour of more effective techniques, and it is clear that the authors are experienced and aware of the realities of the job. Equally, the authors are clear that there's no one size fits all approach -what works for one teacher may not for the next. And as such, the reader is encouraged to experiment with their practice, taking what works and leaving the rest. This is a dose of realism much needed in the profession.

Whilst I had covered a lot of the material in teacher training, this was a well argued, concise exploration of how to improve your lessons. Techniques were useful, examples illustrative across a broad range of subjects, and arguments clear, compelling and easy to follow. Highly recommended.

[Steve Candy]

As a teacher of some experience and a worrying level of cynicism I welcomed the chance to read this between my fourteenth and fifteenth years in the profession.

From a work based perspective I got reassurance that I have been doing an awful lot of things right without checking myself for a long time. As somebody who will play a part in shaping the careers of less experienced colleagues it has also given me a wealth of material to assist with their development.

Sometimes I cringed at the use of exclamation marks to make a comedic point, there were many opportunities to engage a teacher reading with humour without resorting to condescension, but the overall tone was pitched successfully enough to speak to new and experienced practitioners. Perhaps the final chapter on embedding the ethos could have been worked into the previous chapters rather than being a standalone.

If intending to use this book as a key part of your practice then I’d recommend focusing on a strategy a week from each of the six chapters in carefully selected lessons. Reflect on it, review it and then move forward in a way that suits you best. The last thing I believe the authors would’ve wanted was to create an army of robot teachers so allow for spontaneity and individuality to permeate.

[Matt Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very easy to read and had lots of great strategies that I will be writing up later. Would strongly recommend to anybody else in my shoes. I liked the emphasis on growth mindset and the very natural structure of the book. It was a great synthesis of many key figures in the pedagogical literature. Not a criticism of the book but some parts were not entirely relevant to maths. I think this is to be expected as most teaching books I have read so far focus on maths.

I left tabs (lots of them) next to key sections of the book. I found this a more efficient strategy than just writing up as I went. It gave me more freedom as I didn't have to be at a desk.

[Jasmine Hutchinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a newly qualified maths teacher (completed my NQT last year), I found the book informative and logically laid out. I enjoyed how each chapter started with two scenarios and also how it focused on a different teaching principal. Some pedagogy was not as applicable to mathematics (this was also the case during my training year) and I wish there was more about “Embedding the Ethos” throughout the book. Overall, it was a decent well thought-out book and I’m looking forward to reading Making Every Maths Lesson Count!

[Shelleebee Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marking as read at 68%. This book was good and I’ve annotated my copy but I’m no long a teacher. So while it was great while I needed it, I don’t see the need to finish it. If I do, it’ll be in my own time.
Very good book if your subject isn’t one of the many specie ones out there like maths or history.

[Suzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really accessible and helpful, I know it’s a few years old but it’s still relevant and useful for all teachers to reflect. I especially like how it’s just 6 things you can do/change to have impact and most of them are pick up and go strategies which can be implemented tomorrow. Glad I read it, wish I had read it a while ago.

[Chris Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book explores strategies and options for teachers that develop greatness in teaching and learning. The 6 principles explained show a progression of learning that, I believe, will be effective and create a tone in that classroom that is conducive to quality learning and quality instruction.

[Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent primer / refresher. Perhaps a little narrowly focused on the likes of Hattie, Lemov and Berger in terms of citations, but it offers a veritable cornucopia of ideas and strategies. I'll be keeping my copy close to hand as I embark on my first year of teaching in September.

[Becki Bawler · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best education ideas books I've read!

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

V good- will definitely read the English one.

[Val Connell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really comprehensive book with effective strategies

[Mícheál · Rating 5 out of 5]

Readable, informative, pragmatic

Bridges the gap between (genuinely useful) theory and practice so well, and so it is a really useful book about ‘teaching’; no nonsense, no fluff.

[Tabitha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did not finish, but what I did read was really helpful!

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a reasonable book which ended up covering quite a lot of professional tips and tricks for "supporting great teaching".

Being quite fresh into the profession there were quite a lot of repetitions from things I had heard in my training year but, on the other side of the coin there were some good points that were worth re-iterating. I can imagine that if you've been in the profession some time and are seeking some fresh help that this is a good place to turn to.

There was quiet a focus of English teaching in some of the chapters which was a bit annoying however most of the book tried to keep it balanced and appropriate for all subjects.

A good book, for those in the profession or looking at starting it, but I don't see anyone reading it otherwise.

[Zeba Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very useful and inspiring.