A Lesson From The Best

Description

Philip Beadle, the 2004 Secondary School Teacher of the Year, teaches two lessons in classrooms where the climate for learning is infectious.

A highly creative teacher of English and drama, Philip connects with pupils by using visual, audio and kinetic stimulus material in unique ways.

"Teaching can be unbelievably uplifting one day and spirit crushing the next morning," he says. Despite such ups and downs, his results are exceptional. In the past three years his pupils have averaged 98 per cent A-Cs, despite the fact that the school only recently emerged from special measures.

One of Philip's secrets is the degree of rigour with which he marks pupils' work. This, he says, is probably the best way to impact on their learning: "I get as much out of reading their work as I do out of a Leonard Cohen album."

Part of the series: Inspirations