The Teacher's Reading List: 15 Books That Will Change How You Teach

Every teacher's CPD shelf has the same books on it. This is not that list. These are recommendations from experienced primary practitioners — books that changed how they thought, not just what they did.

**On how children learn**

Peter Brown, Henry Roediger, Mark McDaniel — *Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning*. The best single-volume summary of cognitive science applied to learning. Everything you need to know about retrieval practice, spaced repetition, and interleaving — explained clearly with excellent stories.

Daisy Christodoulou — *Seven Myths About Education*. A short, direct book that demolishes several widely held beliefs about progressive education and provides clear alternative frameworks. Read it even if you end up disagreeing.

**On behaviour and classroom culture**

Paul Dix — *When the Adults Change, Everything Changes*. Consistently rated the most practically useful behaviour book by primary teachers. Warm, concrete, and deeply respectful of children.

Adam Boxer (ed.) — *The researchED Guide to Responsive Teaching*. Accessible summary of formative assessment research. Short chapters, highly practical.

**On reading and writing**

Alex Quigley — *Closing the Reading Gap*. The most useful book on reading instruction for non-specialists. Clear, evidence-based, and directly applicable.

Pie Corbett and Julia Strong — *Talk for Writing Across the Curriculum*. Whatever you think of Talk for Writing as a brand, this book has genuinely useful principles about language development and writing teaching.

**On being a teacher**

Tom Sherrington — *The Learning Rainforest*. The best book about what makes a great teacher, written with the sort of warmth and clarity that makes you want to go back to school on Monday.

Rafe Esquith — *Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire*. American, occasionally over the top, but more genuinely inspiring than anything written in the British tradition. Read it when you need to remember why you started.

**On the bigger picture**

Mary Myatt — *High Challenge, Low Threat*. Short and practical on school improvement culture. More relevant at leadership level but useful for understanding why schools work the way they do.

Philippa Perry — *The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read*. Not about teaching — about relationships and emotional development. Relevant to every interaction you have with children and parents.