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David Didau

@didau.bsky.social

Same old same old Substack: daviddidau.substack.com/

3,585 Followers  |  112 Following  |  849 Posts  |  Joined: 17.12.2023
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Posts by David Didau (@didau.bsky.social)

It was so valuable to have a more reluctant pupil in the room (albeit unintentionally, I'm sure) as this is the modelling it's really useful and reassuring to see. Exemplar videos often show a leafy/half-size class where nothing's wrong - great for showing some things, but not everything.

01.03.2026 11:29 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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What are we really doing when we let students opt out? How low expectations protect adults and diminish children

We say we care about children. So why do we let them opt out?
At researchEDBrum I taught a live lesson. One student wanted to opt out. I could have backed off. It would have been easier. Instead, I insisted they participate, as warmly as possible
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

01.03.2026 10:36 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1
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Chilled to the bone and five miles to home I'm messing in the dark and feelin' all alone Chapter 43 of The Second Summer of Love

Chapter 43 of The Second Summer of Love

It’s going to kick off…
open.substack.com/pub/secondsu...

26.02.2026 15:15 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

A very interesting read. "Reading comprehension is not a single, detachable skill. It is the visible outcome of many interacting components: decoding fluency, vocabulary, background knowledge, inference, working memory, " #edpsychs

24.02.2026 06:54 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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Is reading comprehension even a thing? And if it is, how should we teach it?

New study casts doubt on what reading comprehension is and how best to teach it. Is background knowledge less important than we thought? Is reciprocal teaching the way forward? Or is it a bit more complicated than that?

open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

24.02.2026 06:30 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2
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Is reading comprehension even a thing? And if it is, how should we teach it?

New study casts doubt on what reading comprehension is and how best to teach it. Is background knowledge less important than we thought? Is reciprocal teaching the way forward? Or is it a bit more complicated than that?

open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

24.02.2026 06:30 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2
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If it wasn't for your misfortune I'd be a heavenly person today Chapter 42 of The Second Summer of Love

Chapter 42 of The Second Summer of Love… where did it all go wrong?
open.substack.com/pub/secondsu...

23.02.2026 11:50 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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If it wasn't for your misfortune I'd be a heavenly person today Chapter 42 of The Second Summer of Love

Chapter 42 of The Second Summer of Love… where did it all go wrong?
open.substack.com/pub/secondsu...

23.02.2026 11:50 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Pleased with 1 hour 40 :)

22.02.2026 18:08 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Pretty flat :)
Hope to meet you there

22.02.2026 18:07 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Yeah. They sound good πŸ˜‚

22.02.2026 09:57 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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8 weeks out from Newport Marathon - half marathon in Bath today. Cold, rainy, windy. What could be better?

22.02.2026 09:32 β€” πŸ‘ 25    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0

Because what works for learning is deeply counterintuitive and human judgment is fundamentally biased towards β€˜stuff I like’

21.02.2026 16:56 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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Decomposition for dummies: how to break down a curriculum Does the way knowledge is stored in the brain tell us anything about how to design a curriculum?

Do brain scans tell us anything about how to structure a curriculum? Should we be lead by what cognitive psychology indicates about how we learn or by what neuroscience suggests about how knowledge is stored?
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

21.02.2026 06:46 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 3
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Over the last year, we've built an innovative model of writing assessment that blends human & AI judgement.

If you would like to see how it works & try it for free, sign up for our webinar next Wednesday at 4pm. We will give all attendees 30 free AI credits.

us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

19.02.2026 17:16 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Spinning on that dizzy edge Chapter 41 of The Second Summer of Love

Chapter 41 of The Second Summer of Love… open.substack.com/pub/secondsu...

21.02.2026 10:05 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Decomposition for dummies: how to break down a curriculum Does the way knowledge is stored in the brain tell us anything about how to design a curriculum?

Do brain scans tell us anything about how to structure a curriculum? Should we be lead by what cognitive psychology indicates about how we learn or by what neuroscience suggests about how knowledge is stored?
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

21.02.2026 06:46 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 3
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Using Talk As a Cognitive Lever β€” Think Forward Educators This session explores how structured talk can be used to improve writing, not as a warm up or engagement strategy, but as a cognitive tool. It begins by clarifying the important differences between sp...

FREE webinar next Wednesday (8.40 AM UK Time)
Using talk as a cognitive lever

thinkforwardeducators.org/events/title...

20.02.2026 12:47 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Using Talk As a Cognitive Lever β€” Think Forward Educators This session explores how structured talk can be used to improve writing, not as a warm up or engagement strategy, but as a cognitive tool. It begins by clarifying the important differences between sp...

FREE webinar next Wednesday (8.40 AM UK Time)
Using talk as a cognitive lever

thinkforwardeducators.org/events/title...

20.02.2026 12:47 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Ah, there I’m not so sure I agree. I definitely think we should do our best to prevent students making avoidable errors. They’ll make plenty of mistakes without our help :)

19.02.2026 11:43 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Opening the closed circle: why being wrong helps us find out what's right Falsifiability, pseudoscience and why "it works for me" is a pedagogical dead end

It’s not good enough to say β€œit works for me”. How do you know? What are the criteria by which you’d change your mind? If there are none, you have insulated yourself from reality.
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

19.02.2026 07:21 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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Opening the closed circle: why being wrong helps us find out what's right Falsifiability, pseudoscience and why "it works for me" is a pedagogical dead end

It’s not good enough to say β€œit works for me”. How do you know? What are the criteria by which you’d change your mind? If there are none, you have insulated yourself from reality.
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

19.02.2026 07:21 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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researchED Birmingham 2026 The world's greatest education conference returns to Brum!

BABS!!

WE’RE BACK ON 28TH FEB!! FEW TIX STILL AVAILABLE. COME ALONG AND HEAR FROM ACE PEOPLE INCLUDING @carlhendrick.substack.com @daisychristo.bsky.social @didau.bsky.social @jonhutchinson.bsky.social @marymyatt.bsky.social @alexjquigley.bsky.social

#rEDBRUM

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/researched...

15.02.2026 16:09 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Sweetly, softly I'm falling in love with you Chapter 40 of The Second Summer of Love

Chapter 40 of The Second Summer of Love

Let’s get it on… open.substack.com/pub/secondsu...

16.02.2026 08:12 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

What’s that now?

16.02.2026 11:15 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Sweetly, softly I'm falling in love with you Chapter 40 of The Second Summer of Love

Chapter 40 of The Second Summer of Love

Let’s get it on… open.substack.com/pub/secondsu...

16.02.2026 08:12 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Did you read the actual blog?

14.02.2026 18:36 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Sorry, what’s that now?

14.02.2026 18:09 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

It does not require it although it helps

14.02.2026 18:09 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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Good teaching is not a special measure Why the principles that support children with special educational needs are the foundations of effective teaching for all

All children deserve good teaching. Some need it more than most. If support replaces thinking, it isn’t support.
Our aim must be independence.
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

14.02.2026 07:15 β€” πŸ‘ 192    πŸ” 57    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 1