Appendix 2: Examples of useful websites

Providers of Web resources for teachers do so for a range of purposes. Some sites are professional such as subject associations sharing knowledge between professionals, others explicitly support government policy so advice may be changed or withdrawn on ideological grounds, and others are designed to sell you products. The list below includes websites from:

professional associations, teaching councils and unions;
charities and university research centres and social enterprises;
government-funded organisations; and
private companies.

For the most part, we have excluded websites apparently linked with just one individual. Exceptions are where the individuals have clearly researched and published widely in the area.

There are formal and informal networks on various social media sites, including Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

You are advised to check the reliability of any advice – on the Web or in print. For teaching to be an evidence-informed profession, teachers need to know the strength of evidence for any pedagogical intervention. By strength of evidence, we mean:

Methods and ethics: Has the advice been gathered by ethical (see the BERA ethical code, www.bera.ac.uk) and reliable research methods (see Unit 5.4 and Patterson’s MESHGuides)? Usual research instruments are interviews, questionnaires, documentary analysis and observation, but there is huge variation of options within each instrument.
Independence: Were the researchers independent? Who funded the research? Were researchers free to publish adverse findings?
Quality assurance: Has the advice been independently peer-reviewed? Peer review, by an independent panel of educators, is the normal form of quality assurance used for professional association and professional journal sites. Materials from other sites may or may not be peer reviewed.
Sample: What is the size and type of the sample used to provide the evidence? What confidence does this give you in the results?
Transferability: How transferable is the advice likely to be? How similar is the research context to your context? This is not at all to say you reject research and evidence from contexts different to your own, but just that you need to bring your professional judgement to bear in applying the findings. Teachers in many countries face similar challenges in maximising the learning of young people and there is a lot to learn from solutions elsewhere.

For an up-to-date list, see www.meshguides.org/website_list/. To submit websites for inclusion, email enquiries@meshguides.org. The MESH initiative is run by an educational charity and teacher volunteers to give teachers quick access to research summaries and tools and resources to support teaching becoming an evidence-informed profession. To become involved, see the ‘Get Involved’ tab on www.meshguides.org.

All websites listed here were accessed on 10 August 2015.

Further information is given only where it is not obvious what the website offers.

The list starts with generic websites followed by a list of sites grouped alphabetically by theme (e.g. Behaviour, Neuroscience, Subject Associations, Unions).

Additional websites by theme

A

Assessment for learning: see specialist MESHGuides www.meshguides.org and, for example,

D. Wiliam: www.dylanwiliam.org/Dylan_Wiliams_website/Welcome.html

Autism: National Autistic Society: www.nas.org.uk

B

Behaviour

Behaviour2Learn: www.behaviour2learn.co.uk

C

Citizenship:

British Humanist Association: www.humanism.org.uk/education/education-policy
Citizenship Foundation: www.citizenshipfoundation.org.uk
CitizED subject resource bank: www.citized.info
Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues: www.jubileecentre.ac.uk

Code of practice for teaching – see Teaching Councils

Curriculum – national requirements:

England: www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-framework-for-key-stages-1-to-4/the-national-curriculum-in-england-framework-for-key-stages-1-to-4
Northern Ireland: www.nicurriculum.org.uk/
Scotland: www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningandteaching/thecurriculum/whatiscurriculumforexcellence/
Wales: http://wales.gov.uk/topics/educationandskills/schoolshome/curriculuminwales/arevisedcurriculumforwales/?lang=en

D

Deaf and hearing impaired:

National Deaf Children’s Society: www.ndcs.org.uk
BATOD Foundation: www.batodfoundation.org.uk

Dialogic teaching:

R. Alexander (2015): www.robinalexander.org.uk/dialogic-teaching/
University of Cambridge: www.educ.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/dialogic/whatis.html

E

English as an additional language:

N. Flynn (2015) Teaching English as an Additional Language MESHGuide. University of Winchester, UK: www.meshguides.org/category/meshguides-published/general-pedagogy/english-as-an-additional-language-general-pedagogy/
Equal and Human Rights Commission (EHRC): www.equalityhumanrights.com
Joseph Rowntree Foundation (focus: poverty and injustice): www.jrf.org.uk

Ethics:

Professional – see Teaching Councils
Research – see BERA

Europe: European Schoolnet (EUN): www.eun.org

G

Gifted and talented: National Association for Able Children in Education: www.nace.co.uk

H

Handwriting: National Handwriting Association: www.nha-handwriting.org.uk

Health:

British Nutrition Foundation: www.nutrition.org.uk
Food Standards Agency: www.eatwell.gov.uk
NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence): www.nice.org.uk/guidance

I

Intelligences: H. Gardner: http://howardgardner.com/multiple-intelligences

L

Lesson study: P. Dudley: http://lessonstudy.co.uk/about-us-pete-dudley/

Learning theories:

see the specialist sites in this list
G. Claxton (2015) Building Learning Power: www.buildinglearningpower.co.uk/

N

Names (remembering):

Neuroscience:

S. Blakemore: www.ted.com/talks/sarah_jayne_blakemore_the_mysterious_workings_of_the_adolescent_brain?language=en
Centre for Neuroscience in Education led by Professor Usha Goswami: www.cne.psychol.cam.ac.uk/people/ucg10@cam.ac.uk
Neuroscience for Kids: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html
Royal Society: http://royalsociety.org/policy/projects/brain-waves/education-lifelong-learning
The Brain from Top to Bottom: http://thebrain.mcgill.ca
The International Mind, Brain and Education Society: www.imbes.org

P

Philosophy: Philosophy of Education: www.philosophy-of-education.org/resources/students/video-listing.html

Projects:

Collaborative projects across Europe – E-twinning: www.etwinning.net/en/pub/index.htm
WebQuests UK: www.webquestuk.org.uk/

R

Research methods/research ethics:

British Educational Research Association: www.bera.ac.uk
E. Patterson (2016) Research Methods 1: How to Get Started on a Literature Review MESHGuide, University of Winchester: www.meshguides.org/meshguides-full-list/
E. Patterson (2016) Research Methods 2: Developing Your Research Design MESHGuide, University of Winchester: www.meshguides.org/meshguides-full-list/
E. Patterson (2016) Research Methods 3: Considering Ethics in Your Research MESHGuide, University of Winchester: www.meshguides.org/meshguides-full-list/

Risk:

CLEAPSS: www.cleapss.org.uk/attachments/article/0/L196.pdf?Secondary/Science/Guides/
Eaton Vale Schools Activity Centre: www.eatonvale.co.uk/schools/riskassessments.aspx
Health and Safety Executive: www.hse.gov.uk/risk/classroom-checklist.htm

S

SEND: see also deaf, dyslexia:

NASEN (National Association for Special Educational Needs): www.nasen.org.uk/ and www.nasen.org.uk/onlinesendcpd/
M. Blamires and others (2014) Special Educational Needs and Disability: Enabling Pupil Participation MESHGuide: www.meshguides.org/category/special-needs-2/enabling-pupil-participation-special-needs-2/
The Professional Association of Teachers of Students with Specific Learning Difficulties (PATOSS): www.patoss-dyslexia.org
Royal National Institute for the Blind: www.rnib.org.uk

Subject associations are represented by the Council for Subject Associations: www.subjectassociation.org.uk/. Here is the list of subject associations: www.subjectassociation.org.uk/members_links.aspx

T

Teacher Support Network: www.teachersupport.info (24-hour confidential counselling)

Teacher Training Resource Bank:

www.ttrb3.org.uk/, maintained by Mike Blamires
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20101021152907/ www.ttrb.ac.uk/

Teachers’ councils:

England (GTCE, closed by UK government 2011, College of Teaching now being developed (2016)): http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20111213132132/http:/www.gtce.org.uk
Northern Ireland: www.gtcni.org.uk/
Scotland: www.gtcs.org.uk/home/home.aspx
Wales: www.teachertrainingcymru.org/node/26

Teacher Standards:

England: www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2003/1662/schedule/2/made
Northern Ireland: www.deni.gov.uk/index/school-staff/teachers-teachinginnorthernireland_pg.htm
Scotland: www.gtcs.org.uk/standards/
Wales: http://gov.wales/topics/educationandskills/publications/circulars/becomingateacher/?lang=en

Teaching and Learning: As well as MESHGuides (www.meshguides.org) and Education Endowment Foundation and EPPI Centre above, see the specialist sites listed here and British Council/British Broadcasting Corporation Learning Styles and Teaching: www.teachingenglish. org.uk/articles/learning-styles-teaching

Thinking: see also Dialogic teaching:

Education Scotland (2015) Skills in Practice: Thinking Skills: www.educationscotland.gov.uk/resources/s/skillsinpracticethinkingskills/knowing.asp
University of Cambridge, Thinking Together: https://thinkingtogether.educ.cam.ac.uk/
University of Cambridge/Professor Neil Mercer (2015) Thinking Together:

http://thinkingtogether.educ.cam.ac.uk/resources/

Transitions: www.dundee.ac.uk/eswce/research/resources/

U

Unions: some professional associations listed on the CfSA site (www.subjectassociation.org.uk) are also unions and some invest in research.

Association of Teachers and Lecturers, England, Wales and Northern Ireland (ATL): www.atl.org.uk/
Irish National Teachers’ Organisation, Northern Ireland: www.into.ie/NI/
National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (NASUWT): www.nasuwt.org.uk/
National Union of Teachers, England and Wales (NUT): www.teachers.org.uk/
Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association, Scotland: www.ssta.org.uk
The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), Scotland: www.eis.org.uk/
Ulster Teachers Union, Northern Ireland: www.utu.edu/
Voice, previously the Professional Association of Teachers, England, Wales and Northern Ireland: www.voicetheunion.org.uk/

V

Values – see Citizenship