Category Archives: teaching

Literacy empowers (Pt5): Teaching writing

This article was written for SecEd magazine and first published in June 2017.  You can read the original version on the SecEd website here.   You can read more of my monthly columns for SecEd here.  This is the final part of a 5-part series.  Read parts one, two, three and four first. In this series I am making the caseContinue reading “Literacy empowers (Pt5): Teaching writing”

Pass on the power of reading (Part Two)

This is an abridged version of a keynote speech Matt gave at the Closing the Literacy Gap Conference in June 2017. This is part two of two…read the first part here I ended the first of this two-part blog with the question, ‘So what can we do to help the word poor become richer?’  InContinue reading “Pass on the power of reading (Part Two)”

Literacy empowers (Pt4): Teaching reading

This article was written for SecEd magazine and first published in June 2017.  You can read the original version on the SecEd website here.   You can read more of my monthly columns for SecEd here.  This is part four of a 5-part series.  Read parts one, two and three first. In this five-part series on literacy across the curriculumContinue reading “Literacy empowers (Pt4): Teaching reading”

Literacy empowers (Pt3): Teaching oracy

This article was written for SecEd magazine and first published in June 2017.  You can read the original version on the SecEd website here.   You can read more of my monthly columns for SecEd here.  This is part three of a 5-part series.  Read parts one and two first. So far in this series, I have madeContinue reading “Literacy empowers (Pt3): Teaching oracy”

Pass on the power of reading (Part One)

This is an abridged version of a keynote speech Matt gave at the Closing the Literacy Gap Conference in June 2017. This is part one of two… Recently, I had the pleasure of giving the keynote speech at the Closing The Literacy Gap Conference, which was held at the Valley Parade football stadium in Bradford.Continue reading “Pass on the power of reading (Part One)”

Literacy empowers (Pt2): Why every teacher is a teacher of literacy

This article was written for SecEd magazine and first published in June 2017.  You can read the original version on the SecEd website here.   You can read more of my monthly columns for SecEd here.  Last time I made the case for literacy as a cross-curricular concern, arguing – as did George Sampson in 1922 – thatContinue reading “Literacy empowers (Pt2): Why every teacher is a teacher of literacy”

Literacy empowers (Pt1): Why every teacher is a teacher of literacy

This article was written for SecEd magazine and first published in June 2017.  You can read the original version on the SecEd website here.   You can read more of my monthly columns for SecEd here.  Literacy empowers. Y Kassam’s 1994 paper Who Benefits from Illiteracy? argues that: “To be literate is to gain a voice and toContinue reading “Literacy empowers (Pt1): Why every teacher is a teacher of literacy”

Closing the literacy gap

I have the privilege of speaking at the Reading Matters ‘Closing the Literacy Gap’ conference in Bradford on 29 June. Ahead of that event, and to whet your appetite, I’d like to share some strategies for closing the gap between our word-rich and word-poor pupils so that all of them – irrespective of their startingContinue reading “Closing the literacy gap”

When is revision not revision?

This article was written for The Association of Colleges’ website to promote my workshop in London in April.   I have the pleasure of delivering a workshop for AoC Create in London in April on the subject of teaching English re-sits at post-16. According to Ofsted, “Too much teaching in [post-16] English is not goodContinue reading “When is revision not revision?”