Mr Ishmael Lewis BA, MA, MEd

Secondary PGCE tutor (English), Teach First (English), contributor to other courses

My move into ITET built upon eighteen years of classroom experience as well as considerable experience as a subject mentor and contributor to the PGCE English course. My work as a lecturer in ITET is largely concerned with the planning, delivery and assessment of  a successful English PGCE programme.

My work also extends into other routes into teaching, including work with the GTP and more recently, Teach First. I am actively involved in co-writing and managing the PGCE English course, as well as refiguring and piloting procedures and practices for monitoring and developing students’ skills and knowledge.

I devise and plan subject knowledge sessions that are tailored to current changes in national priorities, as well as to evaluation by schools and students.  I am also a cross-subject tutor on the PGCE course, teaching students from all subject areas with a focus on whole school concerns. Important elements of my work include exploring how research and theory are made manifest in classroom practices and approaches.

Alongside my work in ITET, I contribute to MA (Ed) courses at the university, including sessions on language development, behaviour for learning and Philosophy for Children. I am a SAPERE trained Philosophy for Children facilitator and trainer, and have run training sessions in a number of schools as well as in the university.  

• SAPERE 

My academic interests include critical thinking, including the development of pupils’ oracy through approaches such as Philosophy for Children and other dialogic approaches to learning. I am also keenly interested in the development of pupils’ skills in reading and writing –particularly in the secondary school. Underlying these interests is a continuing focus on effective, evidence -based pedagogical approaches.

My research interests are, in the main, focused on language and learning. This includes the role of oracy in developing literacy practices; dialogic teaching and language development; Philosophy for Children and literacy development; evidence based classroom practice and boys’ literacy skills.

My most recent research focused on the ways in which secondary school teachers responded to CPD in Philosophy for Children and what impact it has had in the classroom. I have also been part of a larger research project into literacy and numeracy practices across six schools in South Wales. More broadly, I have a keen interest in how theories of learning impact upon classroom practice and the ways in which purposeful, sustainable links can be made between research, theory and the classroom. 

My expertise has its roots in my in my career as a teacher. I deliver relevant sessions that seek to articulate the relationship between theory, research and practice. I have a secure awareness of the changing demands of the secondary school classroom and aim to deliver sessions that make theory and research evidence understood and actionable. 

I am experienced in assessment and set purposeful formative targets for all students. I also have considerable knowledge and experience of assessing classroom practice across a number of courses and for a range of purposes. My subject based areas of expertise include English in the secondary classroom, oracy, assessment, the teaching of  literature, developing skills in reading and writing.

Chapter ‘Language’ in Green, A ed. (2012) Practical Guide to Teaching English’ (Routledge)