“The ‘quiet children’ are more willing to speak now.”

For two years I led the 'Dialogue' sessions of the Moving On Together (M.O.T.) collaborative learning programme for Manchester Teaching School Alliance. I prepared and delivered the intensive half day sessions to bring teachers up to speed about both established and cutting-edge research on dialogue and pupil talk.

After they had been confronted with the research findings, I challenged them to think critically about their own teaching, and decide how they would apply these findings to maximise achievement in their own classrooms. Participants valued the time to reflect deeply on specific aspects of their own practice as well as the practical, participatory and active approach to the session. My approach enables them to walk away with techniques that they can implement immediately.

This was a powerful experience for many, who despite being good teachers, were not implementing well-documented findings such as 'no hands up' which have huge potential to transform learning environments.