Peter Westwood was born in 1936 in the town of Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. After serving in the RAF for two years he trained as a primary school teacher at Trent Park College in Middlesex. For some years he taught in primary and secondary schools in the UK before becoming a lecturer at Manchester City College of Education. In 1974 he moved to Adelaide in South Australia, serving as a university lecturer and later as Principal Education Officer (Special Education) in the South Australian Education Department. For a brief period (1987-1991) he operated a boat hire business on Magnetic Island. In 1998 he left Australia to take up a post in the University of Hong Kong. He is now a freelance education writer and editor, residing in Macau, China. Peter has more than 150 articles in peer reviewed journals, and is author of the following books:

Westwood, P. (1970-74). Read, Write and Enjoy: Series of six books for secondary schools, Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.

Westwood, P. (1975). The Remedial Teacher's Handbook. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.

Westwood, P. (1977). Over to You: An Assignment Card Scheme for Secondary Schools. Adelaide: SA Department of Education.

Westwood, P. (1977). Adapting the curriculum for hearing impaired students. Adelaide: SA Department of Education.

Westwood, P. (1977). Alternative provision for less able secondary students: A handbook for schools. Adelaide: SA Department of Education.

Westwood, P. (1979). Helping children with spelling difficulties. Adelaide: SA Department of Education.

Westwood, P. (1987). Commonsense methods for children with special needs. London: Croom Helm.

Westwood, P. (1993). Commonsense methods for children with special needs (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.

Westwood, P. (1997). Commonsense methods for children with special needs (3rd ed.). London: Routledge.

Westwood, P. (1998). Commonsense methods for children with special needs. Japanese Translation: Tokyo: Tutile-Mori.

Westwood, P. (1999). Spelling: Approaches to teaching and assessment. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.

Westwood, P. & Scott, W. (Eds). (1999). Learning disabilities: Advocacy and action. Melbourne: AREA Press.

Westwood, P. (2000). Numeracy and learning difficulties. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.

Westwood, P. (2001). Reading and learning difficulties. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.

Westwood, P. (2001). Commonsense methods for children with special needs. Chinese translation. Taipei: Hurng-Chih Books.

Westwood, P. (2003). Commonsense methods for children with special educational needs (4th ed.). London: Routledge-Falmer.

Westwood, P. (2004). Learning and learning difficulties. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.

Westwood, P. (2005). Spelling: Approaches to teaching and assessment (2nd ed.). Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.

Westwood, P. (2006). Teaching and learning difficulties: Cross-curricular perspectives. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.

Westwood, P. (2007). Commonsense methods for children with special educational needs (5th ed.). London: Routledge.

Westwood, P. (2008). What teachers need to know about spelling. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.

Westwood, P. (2008). What teachers need to know about numeracy. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.

Westwood, P. (2008). What teachers need to know about reading and writing difficulties. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.

Westwood, P. (2008). What teachers need to know about teaching methods. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.

Westwood, P. (2008). A parent's guide to learning difficulties. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.

Westwood, P. (2008). What teachers need to know about learning difficulties. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.

Westwood, P. (2009). What teachers need to know about students with disabilities. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.

Westwood, P. (2011). Commonsense methods for children with special educational needs (6th ed.). London: Routledge.

Westwood, P. (2013). Inclusive and adaptive teaching: Meeting the challenge of diversity in the classroom. London: Routledge.

Westwood, P. (2014). Teaching spelling: Exploring best practices. London: Routledge.

Westwood, P. (2015). Commonsense methods for children with special educational needs (7th ed.). London: Routledge.