It is our absolute pleasure to welcome David Didau to Morethanajob podcast in association with ResearchED. We briefly spoke to David at ResearchEd21 but now we have the pleasure of a full interview to fully explore the mind and philosophy of the ‘King of English’.

David runs one of the most influential education blogs in the UK and has won an awards for this. He has got Ofsted listening to him and has consulted on the Inspection Handbook. He works with schools and offers advice and support to those who need it. He is a bestselling author has committed to ‘Making Kids Cleverer’ and ‘Making Meaning in English’.

💥 In one of your blogs you use the phrase “Rather than settling for good things, we must be alert for better things.” To close the literacy gap what strategies would you suggest and or what considerations should school leaders have full awareness of?

💥 Can you give us the overwhelming argument for why we need to read out loud? Will this create fluent readers?

💥 Cancel Culture. Of Mice & Men. To Kill a Mockingbird. What are your thoughts on these texts and their place in the English curriculum? Also what is your advice to build a curated reading curriculum for schools?

💥 Marking books – is it worth the cost? What would you advocate to promote effective teaching & learning?

💬 "Show me how this book demonstrates that the curriculum is being learned. You are looking at the kids work [not the marking]."

💥 Is Curriculum 'all That'?

💥 What do we need to do to make kids cleverer?