Media
Links to my press articles, blogs, podcasts & other media
Press articles and blogs
- Teaching on the cheap? The extent and impact of teaching assistants covering classes and leading lessons – BERA blog, July 2024
- UK General Election: Could a new government mark the end a decade of disruption and dysfunction in SEND? – Special Educational Needs Policy Research Forum, June 2024
- Why inclusion makes economic sense – Tes, February 2024
- Does ‘what works’ work for SEND? – Tes, January 2024
- How do we measure inclusion? – Tes, November 2023
- How COVID revealed the essentialness of teaching assistants, and how they can help pupils survive and thrive – edpsy.org.uk, October 2023
- Do we really know what inclusion is? – Tes, October 2023
- Enhancing public dialogue about inclusion in school education: A Citizens’ Panel pilot – Special Educational Needs Policy Research Forum, October 2023
- Without detailed plans for its planned “Inclusion Dashboards”, the DfE is navigating towards an Inclusion Illusion – Special Needs Jungle, July 2022
- ‘Inclusion is not a place you commute to’. Why accountability measures must reflect inclusion’s relative dimension – Special Educational Needs Policy Research Forum, June 2022
- SEND Green Paper: Why the DfE needs to win families' trust – Tes, 29 March 2022
- Why we must find the 'missing' children with SEND – Tes, March 2022
- Why schools should rethink teaching assistants' role – Tes, September 2021
- Improving the connectivity of research on teaching assistants: Creating a new space for researchers – BERA blog, June 2021
- Who benefits from inclusion? – Schools Week, May 2021
- Why Ofsted is wrong about TA support for SEND pupils –Tes, May 2021
- Addressing the international data gap on teaching assistants – Education International, May 2021
- Internationalising research on teaching assistants: A call for expressions of interest in creating a research network – European Educational Research Association, May 2021
- Why the drive to inclusion depends on improving our understanding of the lives and work of teaching assistants – Global Education Monitoring Report blog, April 2021
- Who benefits from inclusive education – and how? – Special Needs Jungle, March 2021
- What can international data tell us about education paraprofessionals? Almost nothing – European Educational Research Association, March 2021
- The aim of the game is to support kids –The Psychologist, February 2021
- In the Covid-19 catch-up, beware intervention traps –Tes, September 2020
- Teach First mentors? This job is tailormade for TAs –Tes, July 2020
- Teaching assistants are pivotal to a successful catch-up strategy – The Psychologist, July 2020
- Proceed with caution: Unravelling the evidence behind the DFE’s Covid guidance on teaching assistants – IOE blog, July 2020
- Inspiring and supporting schools to maximise the impact of teaching assistants – BERA Research Intelligence, June 2020
- “Show me the evidence” Part 1: Why parents are pivotal to driving evidence-based practice in SEND – Special Needs Jungle, February 2020
- “Show me the evidence” Part 2: The questions parents should ask about SEND assessment and provision – Special Needs Jungle, February 2020
- Project to improve how schools use teaching assistants wins public engagement and impact award – IOE News, November 2019
- DfE research: Mainstream teaching assistant cuts negatively impacting SEND pupils – Special Needs Jungle, July 2019
- When it comes to Ofsted’s judgments about school inclusion, context is everything – IOE blog, June 2019
- Leading without limits: The role of school culture in implementing evidence-based practices – Chartered College of Teaching, February 2019
- Supply and demand: Looking to the past to meet the inclusive challenge ahead – IOE blog, January 2019
- Exclusive: First ever drop in TA numbers a 'serious problem' –Tes, December 2018
- Next week, there will be no TAs –Tes, December 2018
- What Ofsted needs to recognise about inclusion –Tes, October 2018
- Investigating classroom contexts for learning for pupils with special educational needs: Class size, groupings and interactions – BERA blog, August 2018
- Large classes for primary SEND pupils ‘troubling’ –Tes, July 2018
- Strictly classroom: Why knowing your dance routine can help you maximise the contribution and impact of teaching assistants – Chartered College of Teaching, June 2018
- It’s official: School budget cuts have finally caught up with teaching assistants – IOE blog, June 2018
- Why the Warnock report still matters today –Tes, May 2018
- 5 ways schools can support high-mobility learners – Schools Week, June 2018
- “How can I get them to trust me?” The million-dollar question at the heart of teaching – IOE blog, April 2018
- There can be no hiding place for schools that don't meet their responsibilities to children with SEND –Tes, October 2017
- Do-it-yourself weekend CPD is on the rise – but why should professional development happen in teachers’ leisure time? – Tes, July 2017
- The myth of inclusion –Tes, June 2017
- Special needs: Politicians should check the evidence before making claims about inclusion – IOE blog, June 2017
- Six steps to ensure effective TA-led interventions – Tes, May 2017
- Teaching assistants are being overstretched and exploited – Tes, May 2017
- Four steps to more effective joint planning between TAs and teachers – Tes, April 2017
- Budget cuts are threatening teaching assistant jobs, so we need to make every TA count – Tes, April 2017
- The five steps TAs must follow to increase student independence – Tes, March 2017
- Schools don’t use TAs effectively – here are four ways to get the most out of your TAs – Tes, March 2017
- TAs: Superheroes sold short –Tes, February 2017
- It’s time to end TAs’ classroom identity crisis –Tes, February 2017
- Tes talks to... Rob Webster –Tes, November 2016
- Is the solution to the teacher supply crisis already in our classrooms? – IOE blog, June 2016
- The power of talk: How teaching assistants can boost pupils’ independence and learning – IOE blog, September 2015
- How teaching assistants can make a real difference in the classroom –The Guardian, April 2015
- The best ways to work with teaching assistants – The Conversation, February 2015
- The freedom to make decisions about teaching assistants is nothing new, but now school leaders have the means to unlock their potential – IOE blog, February 2015
- The more things change…? Children with SEN and their classroom experiences over time – IOE blog, February 2015
- The National Agreement on teacher workload: Where did it all go wrong? – IOE blog, October 2014
- How headteachers are maximising the impact of teaching assistants and getting results – IOE blog, September 2014
- TAs: Only a research-policy-practice trialogue will lead to evidence-based policy-making – IOE blog, June 2014
- Relying on teaching assistant support for SEN students is a false economy –The Guardian, April 2014
- Be careful what you wish for: Parents, professionals and the new SEN system – IOE blog, March 2014
- Five reasons why any government should think twice about getting rid of teaching assistants – IOE blog, June 2013
- Pupils with special needs 'separated' from teachers –Tes, February 2013
Podcasts and videos
- How do we fix mainstream SEND provision? – Tes Podagogy, July 2022
- Supporting inclusive education through knowledge exchange – IOE podcast, February 2022
- TA Network Hub Conversation – video of conversation with Prof Michael Giangreco, Dr Rob Webster, Mrs Aimee Durning MBE and Dr James Biddulph, February 2022
- Catch-up interventions: The traps schools fall into and how to avoid them – video of keynote talk, LondonEd conference, March 2021
- SNJ in Conversation: Teaching assistants, their role and how schools can use them effectively – Special Needs Jungle podcast, October 2020
- The role of teaching assistants and SEND – IOE podcast, May 2020
- Coronavirus: The whole story. Are children learning under lockdown? – UCL podcast, May 2020
- The Warnock Report into Special Educational Needs 40 Years On – video of talk at University of Cambridge Primary School, Sept 2019
- How to make the move from TA to teacher –Tes podcast, July 2019
- Why you're (probably) not making the most of your teaching assistant –Tes Podagogy, March 2018
- The school leadership podcast – NAHT, October 2018
- Reflections on the Warnock Report. Interview with Baroness Mary Warnock – video | podcast, March 2018
- Teaching assistants and inclusive education – Centre for Education and Youth podcast, November 2017
- Teaching assistants: How can the role be developed and why aren't they appreciated more? –Tes Facebook chat, February 2017
Research for the Real World podcast
I presented the first seven seasons of UCL Institute of Education's Research for the Real World podcast: conversations about education and social science research and its impact on policy, practice and our everyday lives.
For more, visit the podcast page on the UCL website.