Changing Places: some reflections

Essentially, this is an account of my recent change of post within the world of education, from Head of English in a comprehensive school to Lecturer in English in Education in a university department of education. In reflecting on this change of places, I consider various aspects of both professions, including my own expectations, the nature of the teaching involved, educational research, partnerships in teacher education and differences in management. I attempt to draw tentative conclusions about the relationship between school life and that of teacher education and how each, through the sort of cross‐fertilisation which inevitably occurs when practitioners change places, may draw benefits from the other.