Making Education Educational

This book is an argument for reflexivity in the act of teaching, which means to acknowledge that intention guides the act of teaching. Teaching must create attention towards processes of collectivity in the classroom. Today, teaching is both acts of expressing knowledge and acts of securing justice to all students through a mediation of knowledge. Teaching therefore expresses both knowledge with reference to school subjects, and justice according to the distribution of this knowledge. The authors argue for teaching as the driver of education. To pay attention to teaching is to pay attention to that which is inside the system of education. To consider education as a mediation of knowledge between generations, places teaching as an act of performing the content of education, in a class in a school. The complexity of these processes is easily overlooked when education is used as a means in competitive economies. The approach taken in this text is that deliberations about teaching must be based on historicity. The support for this argument builds on a reading of the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur. The book addresses teaching as an integral part of the learning process. In education today, everything seems to be concentrated around learning, as if teaching no longer takes place. Teachers and teacher educators need a language to discuss and understand teaching, both as personal and institutional actions. A Ricoeurian approach to a discussion on teaching as a reflexive and institutional practice, provides a timely approach to important questions related to teaching in our day and age.

New in Paperback! Make learning more meaningful by teaching the "whole game" David Perkins, a noted authority on teaching and learning and co-director of Harvard's Project Zero, introduces a practical and research-based framework for teaching. He describes how teaching any subject at any level can be made more effective if students are introduced to the "whole game," rather than isolated pieces of a discipline. Perkins explains how learning academic subjects should be approached like learning baseball or any game, and he demonstrates this with seven principles for making learning whole: from making the game worth playing (emphasizing the importance of motivation to sustained learning), to working on the hard parts (the importance of thoughtful practice), to learning how to learn (developing self-managed learners). Vividly explains how to organize learning in ways that allow people to do important things with what they know Offers guidelines for transforming education to prepare our youth for success in a rapidly changing world Filled with real-world, illustrative examples of the seven principles At the end of each chapter, Perkins includes "Wonders of Learning," a summary of the key ideas.

This book brings together the notions of material school design and educational governance in the first such text to address this critical interrelationship in any depth. In addressing the issue of governance through analysing current and historical material school designs, it looks at the intersection of politics, economics, aesthetics and pedagogical ideas and practices. More specifically, it explores and unfolds educational governance as it is constituted, materialized and transformed in and through material school designs. It does so by studying a range of issues: from the material and aesthetic language of schooling to the design of the built environment, from spatial organization to the furnishing and equipment of classrooms, and from technologies of regulation to the incorporation of tools of learning. The book presents examples from Europe, Latin and Central America and the United States, and relates to the past, present and future of governance and school design. It focuses on design processes and on designers/architects and people involved in the planning of school design, as well as on school leaders, teachers and pupils adopting, inhabiting and re-shaping them in everyday school life. Furthermore, the book discusses how to study governance by material school design, and how to act upon governance by material design on wishful, actual and ethical terms.

This volume gives educational theorists the chance to let rip and say what they really want to say. In doing so it sends a blast of fresh air through the dusty halls of academe. The vast majority of the literature in education theory and philosophy follows the conventions of academic writing, and rightly so. Yet its formal, abstract and objective style, which focuses on the careful presentation of theoretical and philosophical arguments, doesn’t always give us insights into what motivates and drives the authors—while for academic neophytes it can be dense and arcane. Here, those same theorists and philosophers have been given the chance to expound at length on the topics that most exercise them. What concerns them, what gets them up in the morning, and what really matters most to them? Readers will discover what happens when these thinkers are explicitly invited to go beyond academic conventions and experiment with form, style and content. Featuring collected essays from leading educationalists from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the USA, Canada, Israel Germany, Belgium and the UK, these essays provide vital insights into their work as well as being a compelling introduction to contemporary attempts to make sense of education through theory and philosophy. All these authors have made key contributions to the field, and their unique ‘manifestos’ make a fascinating read for any student or practitioner in education.

Making Sense of Education provides a contemporary introduction to the key issues in educational philosophy and theory. Exploring major past and present conceptions of education, teaching and learning, this book makes philosophy of education relevant to the professional practice of teachers and student teachers, as well of interest to those studying education as an academic subject. The book is divided into three parts: education, teaching and professional practice: issues concerning education, the role of the teacher, the relationship of educational theory to practice and the wider moral dimensions of pedagogy learning, knowledge and curriculum: issues concerning behaviourist and cognitive theories of learning, knowledge and meaning, curriculum aims and content and evaluation and assessment schooling, society and culture: issues of the wider social and political context of education concerning liberalism and communitarianism, justice and equality, differentiation, authority and discipline. This timely and up-to-date introduction assists all those studying and/or working in education to appreciate the main philosophical sources of and influences on present day thinking about education, teaching and learning

Your students will change the world! Today’s learners know they face a complex future. They yearn to live in a world where people are working with purpose, leading with character and making a difference. Learning to identify problems and use smart tools to develop meaningful solutions will help them make a difference in their families, their communities and for society. They need your help. This inspirational, yet practical guide shows educators how to build on students’ own talents and interests to develop their desire for a better world, entrepreneurial mindset and personal leadership skills. Features include: New learning priorities centered around making a difference A framework based on the 25 most important issues of our time Examples and case studies from a diverse range of projects, people, and places Students learn more when they feel a sense of purpose. With adults like you to guide them, they’ll be ready to make a difference—and shape the world to come.

In a seemingly tumultuous time of political change, caring and healing are needed now more than ever. This is especially true in education, which has been criticized for a disproportionate focus on the technical aspects of teaching with less focus on its “human” aspects. Creating Caring and Supportive Educational Environments for Meaningful Learning is a collection of innovative research on the practical and theoretical questions involved in organizing traditional and nontraditional areas of study around themes of care and support for students within the framework of current educational systems and standards. While highlighting topics including service learning, ethics of care, and student mental health, this book is ideally designed for teachers, administrators, researchers, and academicians seeking current research on the importance and ethics of the human aspects of education.

Higher education institutions around the world are increasingly turning to e-learning as a way of dealing with growing and changing student populations. Education for the knowledge society means new skills and knowledge are needed and it means that lifelong learning has become a necessity. Higher education institutions are looking to e-learning to provide convenient and flexible access to high quality education and training that is needed to meet these emerging demands. As they implement e-learning, however, institutions are struggling with the many pedagogical, organizational and technological issues. Making the Transition to E-learning: Strategies and Issues provides insights and experiences from e-learning experts from around the world. It addresses the institutional, pedagogical, and technological issues that higher education institutions are grappling with as they move from conventional face-to-face teaching to e-learning in its diverse forms.