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Just listened to the latest @pna1977 podcast with @tguskey and I’ve got to agree with @KLMorgan_2 - it’s brilliant. Here are a few highlights: Thread 1/17 (actually 18 - sorry)
It’s all very well training and developing teachers, but their schools have to be ready to support the change that the training will bring. Too often, teachers and leaders are trained and inspired to make change happen, but their schools aren’t open to it. 2/17
There’s lots of evidence that teachers stop naturally improving after about 3 years. It’s called the plateau effect. Between 3-5 years teachers ‘settle’ into their preferred style -which is why PLD is so important for all teachers. Even those who’ve been in the game a while. 3/17
When asked what evidence of teacher effectiveness they trusted most, school leaders cited public exam results. But teachers cited their own, in-class, evidence. This is why data used for evaluating teachers and schools should be wide ranging. People trust different stuff. 4/17
Professional learning requires ‘mutual adaptation’ - adaptation of the learning by the teachers AND adaptation of the teachers as a result of the learning. There’s no one size fits all. Intelligent adaptation as cited by the @EducEndowFoundn implementation guide. 5/17
Risk though... too much adaptation of the learning means it loses fidelity. And too much adaptation of the teacher means mechanical application with no belief or understanding. School leaders have to help create the right balance. 6/17
If teachers are going to adopt a practice new to them, they need to see evidence of success within 2 weeks. If not, they’ll revert back to their own ‘tried and tested’ ways. They care too much about students to risk sacrificing them for a practice they don’t see working. 7/17
I laughed when @tguskey talked about a lesson that was so magnificent he thought ‘I am on FIRE! Someone should be recording this lesson!’ - and then none of his students understood the lesson at all. 🤣 We’ve all been there! 8/17
The point being made is that we’re not always great at predicting what students will learn, know, understand or remember. Which is why formative, responsive, low-stakes assessment is so important. 9/17
Makes me remember that I wrote this on my first day as a Deputy Head and I kept it on my wall ever since. 10/17 
Really interesting hearing @tguskey talk about how being a subject expert isn’t a prerequisite to being a great teacher. That pedagogical content knowledge is also crucial. He makes the distinction between being an expert and being able to communicate that expertise. 11/17
Also interesting to hear about a study where excellent teachers were distinguished not by who they are but by what they did. What they did was granular planning - where they really considered what students would think about / attend to and had 2/3 different ways to do it. 12/17
Basically it means there is hope for us all 👍 It’s entirely possible for all teachers to develop and become excellent. 13/17
Our grading systems are based on tradition, not evidence. Very interested to read all about this when the book comes out. 👍 15/17
At the end, @tguskey said he might come to the UK this Autumn, so I’m just putting it out there that we have @researchED1 in Sep and @ResearchedN in Oct... I’m sure many of us would love to hear from him 🙏 - & @pna1977 & @KLMorgan_2 could get to meet him in person! 😁 16/17
Oh and if you’d like to read about @tguskey’s five levels of evaluation you can find it here tguskey.com/wp-content/upl…
