Meet Ross Morrison McGill
Ross is globally known as @TeacherToolkit, with over 19 million readers visiting his website to date.
Having attended seven state schools as a free school meals pupil, Ross's early experiences shaped his passion for education and equality. Despite facing significant personal challenges as a survivor of child sex abuse, he channelled his resilience into a lifelong commitment to improving the lives of others through teaching and learning.
He began teaching in 1991 and taught for 26 years in London's national-challenge (secondary) schools, including 20 years as a school leader. Today, Ross works with teachers and schools worldwide, enhancing teaching and learning, reducing workload, and improving teacher mental health.
A multiple award-winning teacher, blogger and author, Ross was featured in The Sunday Times’ '500 Most Influential People in Britain' (2015). To this day, he remains the only classroom teacher to have been included on the list.
Ross is also the author of 12 books on education, which continue to inspire and empower teachers globally.
Ross has worked with 100,000+ teachers across the world, including physical work with teachers in Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Jordan, Malaysia, Spain, South Korea, Switzerland, Vietnam and the UAE. Known online as @TeacherToolkit, the ‘most followed educator on social media in the UK’, he has built one the most influential education websites in the world.
Biography
Ross is a qualified teacher who across three decades, has worked in some of the most challenging secondary schools in London as a design technology teacher, middle leader and as a deputy headteacher. He is regularly asked to reflect on educational developments in multiple publications about education policy, including The Guardian and The Telegraph newspapers and through his website, advocates teaching and supports thousands worldwide.
The Guardian
Ross has been responsible for improving the quality of teaching and learning and has an international profile as a leading contributor and organiser of professional development, research, and teacher wellbeing.
Ross is also a primary and secondary school governor, a PGCE tutor and a visiting lecturer at the University of Buckingham. Currently struggling with his doctoral research, he travels to work with teachers, or is podcasting, writing papers or tweeting! In August 2018, after 32 years of silence, he spoke out about male sexual abuse to encourage more men to speak up.
Ross started his doctorate (EdD) in September 2018 at Cambridge University and is researching 'How Twitter provides teachers with autonomy and how this influences English education policy.' It's the hardest thing he's ever done!
As the most followed educator across social media in the U.K., he offers unique social media insights for teachers and organisations working within education ...
Career
Ross qualified as a teacher with a BAEd in Design Technology with Secondary Education (QTS) from Goldsmiths College, University of Arts London (93-97). He gained a masters degree in Design Studies from Central St. Martins College, University of Arts London (2006). He is a former SSAT Design Technology Lead Practitioner and was recognised by The Teaching Awards in 2004. He supports the charity work of Survivors UK; Education Support UK; Bliss Charity and Tommy’s Baby.
He also volunteers as a primary governor and acts as a judge for the National Teaching Awards.
Social media luminary
In 2012, Goldsmiths College (London) celebrated its 110th anniversary and represented every decade of its existence, representing the many who have passed through the education department; people who have gone on to serve education in various capacities, as well as society more widely.
I was honoured to represent the 90s as someone who has 'made their mark on education and society both locally and nationally, over the past 110 years'.
Writing
Ross has sold over ~70,000 books worldwide. As a result of writing content on this blog, Bloomsbury Publishing asked him to write his first book, 100 Ideas – Outstanding Lessons in 2013 after a difficult period in his career. 100 Ideas reached the top-30 of all books listed on Amazon, immediately after publication; Ross wrote and edited the book in just three months! His second book, Teacher Toolkit: helping you survive your first five years (September 2015) is very popular with new teachers as well as his third is the award-winning Mark Plan Teach, published in September 2017 which reached international success with 25,000 copies reaching schools across the world. This makes Ross Bloomsbury’s most successful education author, ever.
Ross's fourth book, Just Great Teaching offers insights from schools across the UK and is gradually reaching (British) school leaders worldwide. His fifth was a re-write of Mark Plan Teach (2.0), published in January 2021, and his sixth, Guide To Memory explores the world of cognitive science. He has also written for Schools Week newspaper, for Guardian Education and The Telegraph. Take a look at all citations and publications in the press.
Awards
Ross was recognised by Debrett’s in The Sunday Times (Dec 2015) and features in People of Today, which recognises over 20,000 individuals who positively influence Britain and inspire others through their achievements and leadership. Ross's website regularly reaches the number one spot for most blogger and influencer awards; the pinnacle to date has been winning the UK Blog Awards for several years, particularly in other industries that recognise TeacherToolkit as a force for good in education...
In 2021, Education Business listed Ross as one of 50 most influential people in English Education, alongside Marcus Rashford OBE and Sir Kevan Collins. Ross received a Teaching Award and was nominated for ‘Teacher of the Year in a Secondary School in London, 2004’. In his free time, he is currently a judge for The Teaching Awards, for the ‘Outstanding Use of Technology in Education’ category.
Worldwide Audience
Teacher Toolkit website is consistently ranked highly within education across the world by many organisations. Ross's articles and resources exceed 14 million views collectively. From 2014 to 2020, many organisations have awarded Ross's website with the ‘Best UK Education Blog‘ and for ‘Best Use of Social Media‘ alongside BBC, ITV and Vogue Magazine.
Worth noting, Ross also founded @SLTchat in 2012 for school leaders, and @EdDchat in 2019 which brings thousands of researchers online to discuss issues and share ideas once a week. He also shared the famous #5MinPlan which has been downloaded over two million times in 170+ countries across the world.
Ross is currently studying for his doctorate at Cambridge University. When he is not researching, he champions the work of teachers and schools with his pragmatic training ideas to reduce teacher workload. His popular book, Mark. Plan. Teach. has influenced many schools across the world.
