Reflections: 'How to dismantle an atomic bomb'

That's a strange title for a U2 album. Apparently it refers to the band's attempts to get the volatile singer Bono to reflect on how his performances on the album were progressing. It shows that we can become so emotionally attached to our plans and our thinking that it is hard to explore alternative avenues.

The same can be true of our teaching, and this is where colleagues and collaborators can be so helpful. I have found that the people who collaborate best with me as a writer have rather subtle approaches to telling me that things could be improved. Any 'full-frontal' approach can often get my defences up and I will reject it out of hand. This is, of course, my problem, and I am grateful to have had people around me who care enough to be subtle.

A few years ago I was fortunate enough to be able to recruit and nurture a group of exceptional young physics teachers. Trained in the need for reflection they were always sitting and observing each other's lessons, making gentle but firm criticisms. And these criticisms were always accepted and acted upon. The department was close, caring and cohesive. This supportive atmosphere was shared with the children and interest in physics was strengthened within the school for boys and girls. Indeed, boys and girls chose to come to the school to study physics. The group were also active on physics teacher internet forums sharing best practice, listening and receiving.

It could not last forever, of course. If you train outstanding people, then you must expect them to move on and quickly. The group is now dispersed all over the world, but I hope they are still taking their reflective practices with them.

I learned a lot from them. For some of my generation, collaborative reflection is a new idea. When we were teaching, often our classrooms were closed 'fortresses' in which no one entered. There are still some of us who prefer it that way. I think we may be the poorer for that.

The background music for today's blog is from U2's atomic bomb album. 'You don't have to make it on your own' is a rather cheesy choice for this blog entry. But it is a great song and I loved this live acoustic version.