Making Sense Of Teaching In Difficult Times

Thinking about teaching in educational terms has become increasingly difficult because of the conceptions of higher education that predominate in both policy and public debate. Framing the benefits of higher education simply as an economic good poses particular difficulties for making educational sense of teaching. Moreover, the assumptions about social mobility, usefulness, and the economic advantages of higher education, upon which these conceptions are based, can no longer be taken for granted. The chapters in this book all wrestle with understandings of education and teaching experiences in changing global, national, and institutional contexts. They explore questions of difference and privilege, the social transformation of teaching through transforming teachers, contestations of global citizenship and interculturality, learning and sensibilities of self-in-the-world, the relationship between programme content and student decision-making, divergent conceptions of learning in international education, and subject-centred approaches to embodied teaching. The book considers the value of disciplinary tools of analysis in addressing contextual challenges in developing societies, connections between pedagogies, autonomy and intercultural classrooms, and ways of countering the marketization of higher education through online teaching communities. This book was originally published as a special issue of Teaching in Higher Education.

Making Sense of Race in Education: Practices for Change in Difficult Times takes a fresh look at the perennial issue of race in American schools. How do educators, in all settings, confront the issue of race with students and colleagues, given the contemporary backdrop of social movements for racial justice and change? How do educators affect change within their everyday classroom practices without fostering further alienation and discord? Although much has already been written about race and racism in school, this book addresses racial incidents directly and offers practical insights into how P-20 educators can transform these events alongside students and colleagues. Each chapter provides detailed analysis of curriculum, instruction, practices and pedagogical strategies for addressing race while at the same time wrestling with theoretical conceptions of race, justice, and fairness. Perfect for courses such as: Social Foundations of Education | Sociology of Education | Higher Education | Multicultural Education | Cultural Studies in Education | Schools and Society

Develop a deep understanding of mathematics. This user-friendly resource presents grades 3–5 teachers with a logical progression of pedagogical actions, classroom norms, and collaborative teacher team efforts to increase their knowledge and improve mathematics instruction. Focus on an understanding of and procedural fluency with multiplication and division. Address how to learn and teach fraction concepts and operations with depth. Thoroughly teach plane and solid geometry. Explore strategies and techniques to effectively learn and teach significant mathematics concepts and provide all students with the precise, accurate information they need to achieve academic success. Benefits Dig deep into mathematical modeling and reasoning to improve as both a learner and teacher of mathematics. Explore how to develop, select, and modify mathematics tasks in order to balance cognitive demand and engage students. Discover the three important norms to uphold in all mathematics classrooms. Learn to apply the tasks, questioning, and evidence (TQE) process to ensure mathematics instruction is focused, coherent, and rigorous. Use charts and diagrams for classifying shapes, which can engage students in important mathematical practices. Access short videos that show what classrooms that are developing mathematical understanding should look like. Contents Introduction 1 Place Value, Addition, and Subtraction 2 Multiplication and Division 3 Fraction Concepts 4 Fraction Operations 5 Geometry 6 Measurement Epilogue Next Steps Appendix A Completed Classification of Triangles Chart Appendix B Completed Diagram for Classifying Quadrilaterals

Proven through more than a decade of rigourous research to be effective with both teachers and students, Making Sense of SCIENCE helps teachers gain a deep and enduring understanding of tricky science topics, think and reason scientifically, and support content literacy in science, thereby increasing student achievement. The materials presented in this book help teachers gain a solid understanding of trick science concepts and common misconceptions, support productive and worthwhile professional learning communities, and prepare teachers to implement standards-based science curriculum. Topics are central to the Next Generation Science Framework and aligned with the Common Core State Standards in literacy. This book guides teachers through investigations of motion, changes in motions, force, and the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration, and features: hands-on experiments with easy-to-follow instrucitons and illustrations; clear explanations of tough science concepts; examples of classic misconceptions; a bank of formative assessments; a CD containing reproducible black line masters; and a guided protocol for evaluating student work in professional learning communities.

"Upending deficit narrative of learning loss, combating broken approaches to racial equity, and wading deep into the contested waters of democratic principles of learning within today’s schools, Dr. Skerrett and Dr. Smagorinsky offer an accessible guidebook for making our classrooms sites of justice and joy. Perhaps most importantly, theirs is a book that reveals classroom practices as they really are--the voices of teachers are situated as co-authors in this important journey. I cannot think of a more timely or relevant book for English educators than Teaching Literacy in Troubled Times." — Antero Garcia, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education, Stanford University Relevant instruction to move education forward instead of "back to normal" Educators often bemoan the so-called learning gap that followed the upheaval to schooling in 2020, but the real learning gap will occur if the watershed events and social shifts of the early 2020s are not integrated into school instruction and learning. For today’s learning to be relevant to today’s students, it must reflect their lives and the true social worlds they inhabit. But how? Teaching Literacy in Troubled Times empowers educators to engage students in critical thinking, literacy activities, and inquiry to investigate the personal and social issues of pressing importance to today’s middle and high school students. Six units of study, each co-authored by a teacher who road-tested the activities in their own classroom, guide teachers through the process of teaching literacy around the topics of identity, social inequity, global justice, empathy, racism and racial literacy, and conflicting ideas of patriotism. This urgent, timely guide to creating a relevant classroom includes: Instructional methods, content knowledge, and learning activities for each unit that engage students in critical inquiry and social action. Insights and guidance from teachers who put the full unit plans in action with students. Reflection questions to help teachers envision the work in their own classrooms. Templates, rubrics, examples of student work, and other tools that help teachers to plan and implement activities that grow students’ capacity to understand and act in society. Prime your students with the critical thinking, investigative, and communicative skills they need to connect themselves to broader social movements and create a new generation of educated changemakers.

What makes teachers great? Teacher quality isn’t just content knowledge and pedagogical skills. The dispositions that educators have and act upon in the classroom can be the difference. What dispositions work best with learners and how can they be developed?

This text examines the nature of teaching in schools from the teachers' perspective. The authors access teachers' professional craft knowledge and facilitate their own articulation of the ordinary teaching which they do routinely and spontaneously.

Top 10 Pick for Learning Ladders’ Best Books for Educators Summer 2021 A groundbreaking guide to improve teaching based on the latest research in neuroscience, from the bestselling author of A Mind for Numbers. Neuroscientists and cognitive scientists have made enormous strides in understanding the brain and how we learn, but little of that insight has filtered down to the way teachers teach. Uncommon Sense Teaching applies this research to the classroom for teachers, parents, and anyone interested in improving education. Topics include: • keeping students motivated and engaged, especially with online learning • helping students remember information long-term, so it isn't immediately forgotten after a test • how to teach inclusively in a diverse classroom where students have a wide range of abilities Drawing on research findings as well as the authors' combined decades of experience in the classroom, Uncommon Sense Teaching equips readers with the tools to enhance their teaching, whether they're seasoned professionals or parents trying to offer extra support for their children's education.