Ebook New Perspectives In Primary Education Meaning And Purpose In Learning And Teaching

"This is a timely book, enabling teachers to reflect critically upon their existing work-place practices, which have been so powerfully shaped by the target culture and the logic of performativity that has underpinned it for two decades. More importantly it will empower primary school teachers to play a more active role in effecting curriculum and pedagogical change in their schools and classrooms." Professor John Elliot, School of Education, University of East Anglia, UK This book encourages you to question the existing culture of schooling, its principles and practices. Current practices have been shaped and dominated by a target led and outcomes driven agenda. The book addresses some of the conflicts that arise in the demand for performance on the one hand and teachers' responsiveness to children and their learning on the other. Sue Cox sets out to show how change might be based on clear understandings of how children learn and how teachers contribute to that learning. She does this by providing frameworks for change and shows how, from these perspectives, participation is key to children's learning. She then goes on to explore the implications for teachers working collaboratively with children in areas such as interaction, curriculum and assessment. An underlying aim of the book is to provide the tools for teachers to develop a principled approach to what they do and how they think in order to challenge some entrenched practices and thinking. This book provides thoughtful reading and promotes reflective thinking for primary teachers, teachers in training and researchers with insight into new ways of thinking about and developing primary education.

“With care, and in partnership with others, it may yet be possible to overcome contemporary dilemmas and to provide the high quality, rounded and fulfilling education for all to which so many aspire. This book helps considerably in understanding contemporary problems and challenges in primary education – it is important, timely and deserves to be widely read.” Andrew Pollard, Institute of Education, London What is the impact of New Labour’s education policies on primary schools? What are the main lessons to be learned from recent research on primary schools? What are the implications for the future of primary education? In this topical book, leading academics in primary education evaluate New Labour’s Education policy. They draw on the findings of the latest research to discuss the impact of policies on primary school practice and on the views and experiences of primary school teachers and pupils. Current issues and initiatives are analysed to identify the extent to which policy is shaped by past events, trends and assumptions. The contributors consider the future of primary education, offer recommendations at school, LEA and national level, and make suggestions for future research. Changing Teaching and Learning in the Primary School emphasises the central importance of taking children’s perspectives into account when making changes in policy and practice. By focusing predominantly on teaching and learning at Key Stage 2, the book addresses the imbalance between the range and depth of information offered on pre-school and infant education and that available on junior teaching. This is key reading for students on primary initial teacher training programmes, Education Studies students, primary school teachers and classroom assistants, as well as education researchers and school leaders.

Teachers at all levels of education will find this book practical and inspiring as they read how other educators have engaged with challenges that reveal different dimensions of gratitude, and how some have discovered its relevance in gaining greater resilience, improved relationships and increased student engagement. In the first comprehensive text ever written that is solely dedicated to the specific relevance of gratitude to the teaching and learning process, Dr Howells pioneers an approach that accounts for both dilemmas and possibilities of gratitude in the midst of teachers’ busy and stressful lives. She takes a contemporary and philosophical view of the notion of gratitude and goes beyond its conceptualisation simply from a religious or positive psychology framework. Exploring real situations with teachers, school leaders, students, parents, academics and pre-service teachers - Gratitude In Education: A Radical View examines many of the complexities encountered when gratitude is applied in a variety of secular educational environments.

"Teaching and learning communities are communities of practice in which a group of faculty and staff from across disciplines regularly meet to discuss topics of common interest and to learn together how to enhance teaching and learning. Since these teaching and learning communities can bring together members who might not have otherwise interacted, new ideas, practices, and synergies can arise. The role of librarians in teaching and learning has been reexamined and reinvigorated by the introduction of the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, which offers a conceptual approach and theoretical foundations that are new and challenging. Building Teaching and Learning Communities: Creating Shared Meaning and Purpose goes beyond the library profession for inspiration and insights from leading experts in higher education pedagogy and educational development across North America to open a window on the wider world of teaching and learning, and includes discussion of pedagogical theories and practices including threshold concepts and stuck places; the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL); disciplinary approaches to pedagogy; the role of signature pedagogies; inclusion of student voices; metaliteracy; reflective practice; affective, behavioral, and cognitive aspects of learning; liminal spaces; and faculty as learners. This unique collection asks each of the authors to address this question: What do we as educators need to learn (or unlearn) and experience so we can create teaching and learning communities across disciplines and learning levels based on shared meaning and purpose? Six fascinating chapters explore this question in different ways ... Building Teaching and Learning Communities is an entry into some of the most interesting conversations in higher education and offers ways for librarians to socialize in learning theory and begin 'thinking together' with faculty. It proposes questions, challenges assumptions, provides examples to be used and adapted, and can help you better prepare as teachers and pursue the essential role of conversation and collaboration with faculty and students."--

First Published in 2004. This volume is a collection of papers from the participants and delegates at the Pupil Perspectives and the Curriculum symposium at the European Conference on Educational Research held at the University of Bath, UK in September 1995. One of the aims of the symposium, was to raise the profile of this under-researched area and for dissemination and exchange at an international level.

Becoming a Teacher provides a broad context for understanding education, addressing issues such as the influence of international policy and practice, education ideology and social justice. This is balanced with practical advice for the classroom on topics such as assessment for learning, learning technologies, literacy, numeracy and English as an additional language. Becoming a Teacher draws extensively on contemporary research and empirical evidence to support critical reflection about learning and teaching. Encouraging you to reflect on your knowledge and beliefs, it explores some of the complex social and cultural influences that influence professional learning and practice. The approach chimes with the government’s recognition that trainee teachers should take a research-informed approach towards classroom practice. The fifth edition is refreshed and revitalized throughout, with: • a complete revision of each chapter • new chapters on 'Reforming ITE', 'Teachers Lives and Careers', 'International Influences', 'Engagement and Motivation', ‘Learning and the Emotions', 'Data Usage in Schools', 'Safeguarding' and 'Learning with Digital Technologies' • up-to-date referencing of research findings • insightful policy analysis • critical commentary on issues For those training to teach in secondary school on a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) or a School Direct programme, or taking an undergraduate or postgraduate Education Studies course, Becoming a Teacher provides invaluable support, insight and guidance. “With every new edition this book confirms its place as one of the most commanding, authoritative and influential texts in teacher education”. Meg Maguire's leadership of this new editorial team means that this book remains my umbilical cord to those pivotal principals that I cherish in education: integrity, passion, critical engagement and transformation.” Gerry Czerniawski, Professor of Education, University of East London, UK “An excellent contribution to the Teacher Education and development literature”. “Many of the authors are leading thinkers in their field and as such the book offers a significant breadth, depth and coherence to the teacher development discourse.” Professor David Spendlove, School of Environment, Education and Development, The University of Manchester, UK

Higher education is a particularly complex site for enhancement initiatives. This book offers those involved in change a coherent conceptual overview of enhancement approaches, of the change context, and of the probable interactions between them. The book sets enhancement within a particular type of change dynamic which focuses on social practices. The aim is to base innovation and change on the probabilities of desired outcomes materializing, rather than on the romanticism of policies that underestimate the sheer difficulty of making a difference. Following a theoretical introduction to these ideas, there are case studies (from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Norway) at the national, institutional, departmental and individual levels, illustrating the argument that enhancement is best achieved when it works with social practices in real institutional and organizational settings. In a final section, the authors link the case examples and theoretical frameworks, inviting readers to consider their own enhancement situations and apply the 'frameworks for action' offered in earlier sections of the book. The book doesn’t offer quick-fix solutions but aims to support change with practical examples, conceptual tools and reflexive questions for those involved in change at all levels. It is key reading for higher education lecturers, managers, educational developers and policy makers.

This textbook provides a framework for teaching children’s language and literacy and introduces research-based tactics for teachers to use in designing their literacy programs for children. Exploring how sense-making occurs in contemporary literacy practice, Murphy comprehensively covers major topics in literacy, including contemporary multimodal literacy practices, classroom discourse, literacy assessment, language and culture, and teacher knowledge. Organized around themes—talk, reading and composing representation—this book comprehensively invites educators to make sense of their own teaching practices while demonstrating the complexities of how children make sense of and represent meaning in today’s world. Grounded in research, this text features a wealth of real-world, multimodal examples, effective strategies and teaching tactics to apply to any classroom context. Ideal for literacy courses, preservice teachers, teacher educators and literacy scholars, this book illustrates how children become literate in contemporary society and how teachers can create the conditions for children to broaden and deepen their sense-making and expressive efforts.