Putting the Test in its Place
Teaching well and keeping the number crunchers quiet
by Jon Berry
What Should Schools Teach?
Discipline, subjects and the pursuit of truth
Edited by Alex Standish and Alka Sehgal Cuthbert
UCL IOE Press
UCL IOE Press and its imprint, Trentham Books, publish books, eBooks, open-access titles, and journals in the field of education and related areas of social science and professional practice. Our publications are rooted in a commitment to careful analysis and social justice.
Visit our journals page to see our open-access titles which include the London Review of Education, Research for All, and the relaunched International Journal of Development Education and Global Learning.
We are based at the UCL Institute of Education.
New Titles
What Should Schools Teach?
Disciplines, subjects, and the pursuit of truth
The blurring of the distinctions between pedagogy and curriculum, and experience and knowledge, has resulted in a generation of teachers who are confused about the part that each of these plays in the education of children. Schools may still teach through subjects, but there is little consensus about what constitutes a subject and what they are for. The aim of this book is to contribute to a more robust rationale for, and understanding of, what schools should teach – the curriculum. This is not to dismiss the significance of pedagogy, how children learn or the personal knowledge and experiences they bring to the classroom. Rather, to become a successful teacher depends upon understanding the respective roles of each. But the curriculum – what to teach – is logically prior to how to teach it. There is no more important question in education.
White Working-Class Boys
Teachers matter
The book traces the educational trajectories of 15 white working-class boys who have succeeded academically. A unique contribution to the study of social mobility and justice, it offers policymakers, education researchers and teacher educators approaches for tackling long-standing issues of white working-class boys’ academic underachievement.
Will the Leopard Change its Spots?
A new model of inspection for Ofsted
Ofsted’s methods are invalid, unreliable and unjust. What is to be done? The author presents a new model based on five principles: education as growth; trust rather than fear; challenge matched by support; dialogue; and appreciative inquiry. When used in the way he suggests, they can dispense with league tables and grades.
Putting the Test in its Place
Teaching well and keeping the number crunchers quiet
Schools visited by Jon Berry demonstrate that in schools which collectively abide by the principles of teaching and learning, and not marketization, students achieve well. His research shows that we can still teach with creativity, energy and innovation, and that resistance to a regime of teaching to the test is both possible and rewarding.
The Principal
Power and professionalism in FE
Using Machievelli’s ‘The Prince’ as a metaphor, the contributors stringently examine how power is exercised and experienced in the Further Education sector and where it is leading. Playfully but with fierce commitment to FE, they consider adult education and the FE systems throughout the UK and in Ireland and Australia.
Sites of Resistance
Gypsies, Roma and Travellers in school, community and the academy
This account of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller policy and practice in education, social policy and politics is enriched by biographical narratives, theoretical analysis and the author’s quest for agency for these marginalized groups. It draws on his 25 years’ working as an activist, educationalist and researcher for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller rights.
Somali Parents and Schooling in Britain
Although Somalis are among the largest immigrant communities in Britain, the schooling needs of Somali children have gone mostly unrecognized. This book suggests how to maximize the educational outcomes of Somalis in British schools.