David Didau

Bristol

Freelance Writer at Freelance

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Articles

Does assessment fail the test?

1 week ago | daviddidau.substack.com | David Didau |Martin Robinson

This week, we take a brisk stroll through the minefield of school assessment in the UK. Politicians are murmuring about reform, the Guardian is foaming at the mouth, and students… well, they’re apparently either panicked or bored. So, where are we really? Assessment, like death taxes and school shoes, feels inevitable. No one seems especially fond of it, but everyone insists we need it.
Does assessment fail the test?

1 week ago | daviddidau.substack.com | David Didau

This week, we take a brisk stroll through the minefield of school assessment in the UK. Politicians are murmuring about reform, the Guardian is foaming at the mouth, and students… well, they’re apparently either panicked or bored. So, where are we really? Assessment, like death taxes and school shoes, feels inevitable. No one seems especially fond of it, but everyone insists we need it.
You’ve been thinking about plot all wrong

1 week ago | daviddidau.substack.com | David Didau

I’ve been reading James Wood’s wonderful book How Fiction Works and enjoying it immensely. It’s a lucid, elegant exploration of the techniques that make fiction feel alive. Rather than offering rigid rules, Wood unpicks the subtle craft of narration, character, and style, placing particular emphasis on free indirect discourse - the blending of narrator and character voice - as one of fiction’s most potent devices.
If it’s worth reading, it’s probably worth re-reading

2 weeks ago | daviddidau.substack.com | David Didau

“Real reading is rereading.” Harold Bloom, How to Read and WhyThere’s a particular kind of revelation that arrives not in the first encounter with a text, but in the second. Or the third. Or the thirteenth.1 It is the thrill of discovering that what you thought you’d already understood still contains multitudes. That a book you believed you knew now glints with fresh meaning, like light striking a familiar surface from a different angle.
Catering for the few?

2 weeks ago | daviddidau.substack.com | David Didau

Jamie Oliver has a new TV showing airing on Channel 4 on how schools should cater for neurodivergent students. In order to whip up some anticipation, he’s written an article for Schools Week. What follows is my advice to restauranteurs like Jamie. I feel confident that my expertise, based on eating out regularly of the last 30 years or so will be welcomed by all chefs. It’s 2025. Surely it’s time restaurants moved on. I’m 53 years old and I’ve just spent the last few weeks dining out.
Is the curriculum to blame for plummeting attendance?

2 weeks ago | daviddidau.substack.com | David Didau

In a recent TES article, Becks Boomer-Clark, CEO of Lift Schools (formerly know as AET,) argues that the current curriculum is fuelling a “crisis” in pupil engagement. Based on internal survey data from Lift schools, she claims that the drop in pupil engagement between Year 6 and Year 9 is so severe, it should prompt a “radical overhaul” of the national curriculum.
David Didau: The Learning Spy

2 weeks ago | daviddidau.substack.com | David Didau

The Learning Spy Substack is a sharp, provocative dispatch from the front lines of education, where ideas are tested, myths are challenged, and nothing is taken for granted. Over 2,000 subscribersBy subscribing, I agree to Substack’s Terms of Use and acknowledge its Information Collection Notice and Privacy Policy“Invaluable insights coming thick and fast from David Didau. ”“The OG of teacher bloggers. David never fails to surprise and educate. He loves writing and treats it as a craft too.”
David Didau: The Learning Spy

3 weeks ago | daviddidau.substack.com | David Didau

The Learning Spy Substack is a sharp, provocative dispatch from the front lines of education, where ideas are tested, myths are challenged, and nothing is taken for granted. Over 1,000 subscribersBy subscribing, I agree to Substack’s Terms of Use and acknowledge its Information Collection Notice and Privacy Policy“Invaluable insights coming thick and fast from David Didau. ”“The OG of teacher bloggers. David never fails to surprise and educate. He loves writing and treats it as a craft too.”
It’s Your Time You're wasting: It's Artificial, but is it Intelligent?

1 month ago | daviddidau.substack.com | David Didau

In this bonus Bank Holiday episode, Martin & I wander from ancient Athens to AI-generated essays, from Heidegger’s hammer to handwritten exams, trying to pin down what separates mind from machine. With help from Pete Seeger, Alison Gopnik, Michael Polanyi, and a cast of sundry other philosophers (and provocateurs), we explore the tools we’ve built and whether they’re beginning to remake us. And here’s the podcast for those who prefer to listen on the move. If instead you’re a reader, read on.
Thinking critically about rhetorical questions

1 month ago | daviddidau.substack.com | David Didau

Everyone loves a good rhetorical question, don’t they? Well, do they? Are we really so quick to nod along to these comforting prompts? The real answer might surprise you, and that’s where the critical thinking comes in. It’s natural to want to build consensus. We all occasionally fall into the trap of assuming that what we think is reasonable or true will naturally be seen the same way by others.