Simplicity Rules: How Simplifying What We Do in the Classroom Can Benefit Children

Teaching: the best job in the world. Yet, increasingly, it is considered one of the toughest professions. In recent years, practices have arisen and become widespread which overcomplicate teaching and increase teacher workload, while only having a marginal impact on pupil learning. Simplicity Rules explores how children learn and the most effective ways to teach them, focusing on achieving results using strategies that are low effort and high impact, along with a comprehensive framework underpinning the ideas.

Covering what to teach, talk, practice, starting a lesson, ending a lesson, and feedback alongside practical methods to reduce workload as well as simpler and clearer systems to support teachers in the long term, this book asks:

• Is this the very best use of my time as a teacher?
• What is the learning impact for the child?
• What is the impact on my own workload?
• Are the results worth this effort?

Promoting a simplification of teaching practices, Simplicity Rules is an essential guide for school teachers of all levels of experience, and school leaders.

Jo Facer is Vice Principal at The Ebbsfleet Academy, UK. She tweets @jo_facer and blogs at readingallthebooks.com.