About the Author

Phil Beadle knows a bit about bringing creative projects to fruit. His self-described 'renaissance dilettantism' is best summed up by Mojo magazine's description of him as a 'burnished voice soul man and left wing educationalist'. He is the author of ten books on a variety of subjects, including the acclaimed Dancing About Architecture, described in Brain Pickings as 'a strong, pointed conceptual vision for the nature and origin of creativity'. As songwriter Philip Kane, his work has been described in Uncut magazine as having 'novelistic range and ambition' and in Mojo as having a 'rare ability to find romance in the dirt' along with 'bleakly literate lyricism'. He has won national awards for both teaching and broadcasting, was a columnist for the Guardian newspaper for nine years and has written for every broadsheet newspaper in the UK, as well as the Sydney Morning Herald. Phil is also one of the most experienced, gifted and funniest public speakers in the UK.

Reviews

I found Phil Beadle's latest book, which focuses upon the importance of 'plenaries' -- the summing up of learning in a lesson -- really useful and engaging as well. If I'm honest, it's a part of my teaching repertoire that I could do with significantly improving since too often I don't plan for my plenaries in a satisfactory fashion. Phil shows how the latest educational research by experts like Hattie, Wiliam and host of other teachers indicates that when you get the plenary right you attain much better results and improve children's learning generally. I really like the no-nonsense tips like ending lessons with the learning objectives and starting with a gag; they're workable and don't involve tonnes of preparation. As ever with Phil's books -- and work generally -- thoroughly recommended. He's a very rare voice of sanity and good fun in an increasingly dogmatic and dispiriting educational landscape.Francis Gilbert author of 'I'm A Teacher, Get Me Out Of Here',