Reasonable Teaching: The 13x4 to Master The Art of Teaching (Udemy.com)
Master the art of teaching by focusing on just one thing at a time, using an adapted 13x4 for education, the 9x4.
Created by: Tom Cassidy
Last updated November 2014
What you will learn
- By the end of the course you will be able to implement the characteristics of exceptional teaching into your everyday practice
How it compares
Against the other 503 rated Udemy courses in Teaching & Academics on CourseDuck:
- Rating4.5 out of 5higher than 42% of them
- Reviews292#315 of 504 by number of reviews
- Length7.2 hourslonger than 76% of them
- Last updatedNovember 2014earlier than 98% of them
Course Description
This course is a framework for developing the characteristics of exceptional teaching, through focusing on one thing at a time, using a customised version of the 13x4 for education, the 9x4.
It's part of Tom Cassidy's Reason-Ability series.
Meta studies of the characteristics of exceptional teaching point to a number of key qualities that these teachers possess. My own research on the impact of teaching on student outcomes, from 2005-2012 using the 4Matrix system, supports these findings and I have now extended these conclusions into an actionable framework.
2. How does it work?
There are 9 broad characteristics of exceptional teaching, each representing either something teachers believe or something they do. In order to develop these characteristics, you concentrate on just one aspect at a time, on a weekly basis until you have covered all 9. This takes 9 weeks. At that point, you repeat the cycle and continue to repeat it until you have completed the cycle 4 times. This takes 36 weeks which corresponds with the length of the academic year, hence The 9x4.
The idea of ‘One thing at a time’ as a developmental tool is not new. It was first turned into a system by Benjamin Franklin who used it to master the skills he required to develop his character. It has often been referred to as the Franklin 13, or Franklin’s Thirteen virtues, since he was working on the full 52 weeks in a year and 13x4 = 52.
Instructor Details
- 4.5 Rating
292 Reviews
Tom Cassidy
Tom Cassidy - Comprehensivist, Education Reformer, Reasonable Polymath, using continuous development frameworks to help people improve all areas of their lives: self-worth, self-belief, goal-achieving, feeling good, achieving sustainable health and deeply fulfilling relationships.
My mantra is: 'Feel Good. Do Stuff.'
Life's not about meditating on the top of a mountain in Nepal, feeling great, achieving enlightenment for yourself...
And it's definitely not about going through life doing things, without having awareness, being busy, achieving a lot but not being mindful of the bigger picture.
It's about both.
Feel good. Do Stuff.
Feel great about yourself, about life, the universe and everything, but do loads of things as well. Have a family, run a business, learn Italian, travel the world, change the world - Do Stuff.
I mean, why not?
I've spent the last 25+ years combining the wisdom of hundreds of years of the study of global philosophies, human effectiveness, modern findings of behavioural science, recent breakthroughs in the understanding of brain physiology and even the results of quantum mechanics into practical, continuous development frameworks for getting things done.
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Reviews
By Alex Andrei Ungurenasu on 2/27/2025
Seems that most of the course is about how to think about things rather than how to do things. In theory it all checks out, but practically it's not always (or ever) possible to focus on one area at a time when you're teaching and dealing with all the other administrative work. And some of the practical advice itself is either bad or dated: never call a student's parent in front of the class.
By Sai Tejaswi on 5/19/2024
I found the course to be highly engaging, particularly due to its exploration of seemingly minor details that ultimately proved to be essential. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to have taken this course. The realistic examples and real-time applications of the model were particularly valuable. Special thanks to the team for providing such an exceptional learning experience.
By Maria Vivas on 4/25/2022
The content is realy good and I had the chance of learning valuable information regarding my teaching. I just have a comment about the set of dogmas, the font of layout is too small and as I have a vision impairment it was hard to read. Thank you.
By Hugo Ernesto Grijalva López on 4/1/2018
It was a great course some of the ideas exposed were really awesome, and make me ponder for quite some time. Overall, a great experience, skills, and information that you could apply to the real world. I would have appreciated a more in-depth explanation of some topics in the videos, but the slides take care of the issue.
By Kristina Jensen on 11/29/2017
Interesting topic, it made me think and I could relate to lot of the things mentioned. Lots of great advice that I will definitely apply to my children's education as well. Highly recommended, an eye opener!
By Lisa Stapp on 5/23/2017
There is lots of good, useful, actionable information in this course. It was a little bit too much "Touchy-Feeley" for me, but I will be recommending this course to others.
By Sandra J. Freeman on 3/5/2017
In my opinion, this is a great course for teachers. It would get beginning teachers off to a good start by building their confidence and giving them tools that can be used immediately in almost any classroom. For mid-career and veteran teachers, I believe it would rekindle their passion for teaching when inevitably the flame burns low and threatens to go out altogether. I know it did for me.
By Portia Paschal on 2/16/2017
I'm a children's church teacher and I actually enrolled for this course to learn how to be a better teacher cos I want to venture into the academic work and I don't have any professional qualification. This course is beyond my expectation! this course not only teaches you how to master the art of teaching, it practically teaches you about life! thank you!
By Carlo Sala Cattaneo on 8/1/2016
The first part of course is good, but the hangouts video are very long, very boring and unuseful. Also, those are in the wrong order. This course doesn't teach "how to" do something, but just "what to" do, and the nine principles are very well known from teachers, even if with different names.
By Karsten Brabänder on 1/30/2016
So much information! I have to watch all the videos again and read again. A fantastic course with magnificent material. I loved it, and will love it! Thank you very much for this vast amount of ideas and creative suggestions!
Quality Score
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Overall Score : 90 / 100







