Hi, I’m Omar Ahmed.
I’m a secondary science teacher, former Lead Practitioner of Teaching and Learning, and a firm believer that good professional development should make a difference long after the CPD session has finished.
I’m originally from London, where I’ve spent much of my teaching career working in secondary schools. I’ve recently taken on a new adventure, teaching at an international school in Qatar.
Throughout my career, I’ve become increasingly interested in one question: how do we turn what we know about effective teaching into what actually happens in classrooms?
It’s one thing to introduce a new teaching technique, deliver a CPD session or launch a whole-school framework. It’s another to make sure those changes genuinely improve everyday teaching.
That’s what this blog is about.
From the classroom to leading learning
Before moving to Qatar, I was a Lead Practitioner of Teaching and Learning at a London secondary school.
Alongside teaching science, I designed and delivered professional development, including weekly Breakfast Bites, where colleagues could explore research-informed teaching techniques and consider how to apply them in their own classrooms.
I also helped introduce instructional coaching, developed an automated learning walk and feedback system, and supported trainee teachers and early career teachers through their professional development.
These experiences taught me that introducing a teaching technique is often the easy part. Supporting teachers to practise it, refine it and sustain it over time is where things become interesting.
They also reinforced something I still believe: professional development should be practical, purposeful and grounded in the realities of teaching.
Research meets classroom reality
I recently completed my MA Education at the University of East London, achieving a Distinction.
My research explored the role of instructional coaching in supporting the implementation of a whole-school teaching and learning framework in a secondary school.
It brought together two areas I’m particularly interested in: what educational research tells us about effective professional development, and what teachers and school leaders experience when they try to put it into practice.
I’m interested in the gap between the research, the CPD session and what happens in the classroom afterwards.
That’s where Beyond the Framework comes in.
What you’ll find here
This website is my space to explore teaching, learning and professional development through three main areas.
Classroom Practice explores the techniques we use every day, including modelling, questioning, checking for understanding, active participation and classroom routines.
Instructional Coaching examines how teachers develop their practice through observation, feedback, modelling, rehearsal and reflection, as well as the challenges of sustaining coaching in busy schools.
Leading Learning looks at the bigger picture: designing meaningful CPD, implementing teaching and learning frameworks and creating the conditions that allow teachers to improve.
You’ll also find The Learning Lab, my series of practical articles examining individual teaching techniques. Each article explores the relevant research, what the technique might look like in a real classroom and how teachers can use it effectively.
Why Beyond the Framework?
Because having a framework isn’t the same as implementing one.
We can introduce lesson models, share research, deliver excellent CPD and agree on what effective teaching should look like. But what matters is what teachers are able to do with that knowledge when they’re standing in front of their classes.
I don’t have all the answers, and I don’t expect every strategy to work in every classroom. This is a place to examine the evidence, question our assumptions and reflect on what works, what doesn’t and what we could do differently.
Whether you’re a classroom teacher, instructional coach or school leader, I hope you’ll find something here that makes you think about your own practice.
Welcome to Beyond the Framework.
Omar Ahmed
The views and reflections shared on this website are my own and do not represent those of my current or previous employers.