Phil Beadle
Literacy - Teaching in Challenging Circumstances - Cultural Capital
Since coming to our attention as a Teacher of the Year winner, Phil Beadle has been one of the UK's most influential teachers.
It is his willingness to challenge or disregard conventions, combined with his unrelenting high standards both for his students and himself, that make Phil such a controversial yet seminal figure
Phil was first ‘spotted’ for his work as an English teacher bringing the best out of young people in a multicultural working-class inner-London comprehensive. Since then he has widely shared his approach to teaching and learning - with a special focus on English teaching, behaviour management, literacy and creativity - through his prolific writing, his many speaking engagements, through his TV appearances, through speaking and lecturing tours of the US and Australia and by being a constant presence in classrooms in schools in various parts of the UK.
From a regular column in The Guardian and a number of books including the How to Teach series for the Independent Thinking Press, to TV series such as The Unteachables and Can’t Read, Can’t Write, Phil has challenged us all to reevaluate so much of what we believe teaching and learning can be like.
"Make everyone feel as good about themselves as you possibly can, set the bar right up there and mark every bloody word they write."
Phil Beadle
Recent titles include:
- What is and isn't - Cultural Capital?'
- Not your average approaches to creative writing and literacy
- Making literacy matter where it matters most
What’s more, he calls on us all to stretch ourselves too by tapping into our own innate creativity with extraordinary books such as Dancing About Architecture, described on the influential US Brainpickings blogsite as ‘a strong, pointed conceptual vision for the nature and origin of creativity, and a kind of activity book for grown-ups'.
One aspect of Phil’s work that makes him stand out as an educator and a speaker, apart from his experience as a professional musician and accomplished songwriter, is the way in which he draws on his own working-class background to highlight the power we have as teachers to change lives for the better.
For Phil, it was the manner in which he discovered that the ability to read and write – and choosing the right sort of newspaper was instrumental - could mean the difference between achieving your potential or simply being another statistic.
It is a story he recounts powerfully in his book How to Teach Literacy and his contribution to our collaborative book The Working Class is equally memorable, both as a paean to working class family life as well as an insight into just how we are missing what makes so many young people tick in our classrooms.
If you are looking for a highly regarded, controversial practitioner and educator who will challenge you as much from you as he is perpetually challenging himself, then Phil is just who you are looking for.
Phil Beadle In His Own Words
“IF YOU DO THINGS THE SAME WAY AS EVERYONE ELSE, YOU’LL GET THE SAME RESULTS AS
EVERYONE ELSE. STANDS TO REASON. BY DEFINITION, THEREFORE, YOU WILL BE AVERAGE
AND THE RESULTS YOU GET WILL BE AVERAGE” - DANCING ABOUT ARCHITECTURE
To make an enquiry about booking Phil please give us a call on +44 (0)1267 211432 or fill in the Booking Enquiry form.
If you have a date in mind that will help too.
We'll then get back to you reassuringly quickly for a free, no-obligation chat to explore your needs in more detail.
We look forward to hearing from you.
- Phil has been with Independent Thinking since 2005
- Phil is an accomplished recording artist and singer/songwriter
- You will find Phil's work in our Teaching and Learning topic area
- You might also want to consider Lisa Jane Ashes or Martin Illingworth
- He is available for an On-Demand Conference in partnership with Martin Illingworth
Enjoy a free no-obligation chat.
Make a booking. Haggle a bit.
Give us a call on +44 (0)1267 211432 or drop us a line at learn@independentthinking.co.uk.
We promise to get back to you reassuringly quickly.