Castles of the classroom

All resource publishers want to give you the tools to deliver successful lessons. Unfortunately, too many providers cannot tell you about the pedagogy underpinning them.

Having spent 6 years leading teacher training in ICT and Computer Science at the University of Gloucestershire, plus thirty years in the classroom, Craig and Dave have developed a pedagogical confidence in their teaching. Not every teacher will agree with our thinking or approaches, but we have thought very carefully about HOW we teach and WHY we teach in particular ways. Too often teachers are preoccupied with WHAT they are teaching without underpinning their methodologies by asking themselves why they deliver lessons the way they do. This leaves you vulnerable, not just to under-performance of students, but criticism from those observing your lessons if you just use resources without questioning how you should be using them. CraignDave was borne out of a desire to be reflective. To thrash ideas around between two Heads of Department in different schools, challenging each other to teach the best possible lessons. Asking, “why do you deliver this in that way?” It caused us to take a step back and ask ourselves, “what is the point of the lesson?”

It is important for any teacher delivering lessons with CraignDave resources to understand the sound pedagogy behind them. We defend this pedagogy ruthlessly against attack and evidence it with what students themselves say about our lessons and the results they achieve. We call this our “castle of the classroom”. To be defended and fought for against those who apply initiatives and educational buzz words without thinking deeply enough about what you are trying to achieve in the classroom. Even Ofsted themselves have come around to this way of thinking. It is no longer about a perceived way to teach, but whether what you do is successful or not.

There are many ways to deliver outstanding lessons, and our method is not the only one. All teachers need to find what works for them and their students. That said, our pedagogy has a proven track record of success in better outcomes, better progress, better engagement, and far more responsible and independent learners.

Read what we have to say about each of these key principles of pedagogy:

• Challenge
• Differentiation
• Homework
• Programming
• Starters
• Taking notes from videos

We also recommend reading:

• PINK, D. H. (2009). Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us.How can you motivate students and colleagues at school? As Daniel Pink explains in his paradigm shifting book, the true secret to high performance and satisfaction in today’s world is not to have targets, rewards and punishments, but instead to satisfy the deeply human need to direct our own lives, and to learn and create new things. Put the students in control of their own learning and watch what happens. This is exactly how Craig and Dave think and work.