Teachers and Teaching

The real keys to school improvement

• Dean Fink

This book argues that nations with higher degrees of trust in their professional educators achieve better results for all students. But trust needs a verification system to remain robust. This compelling book provides a unique, research-based look at trust and distrust and compares their impact on school improvement across seven nations.

How global education reform has failed to crush the spirit of educators

• Jon Berry

Teachers continue to do their best for students despite clumsy government intervention fed by forty years of political and economic circumstance. Filled with the testimony of those who still teach with energy, creativity and commitment, this is a book for both serving and trainee teachers, and anyone interested in preserving a rounded education.

Lessons learnt from three decades of educational research

• Shirley Simon

In this lecture Professor Simon draws on thirty years’ experience as a teacher, teacher educator, and international researcher to argue that teachers’ professional learning can be advanced by engagement with research.

What is an ‘institute of education’ for?

• Chris Husbands

Explores the extent to which teaching is changing in response to external pressures in the twenty-first century. It examines the implications for teachers, schools and learners and asks what this means for research, teacher education and the nature of an ‘institute of education’.

• Christopher Arnold
• Jane Yeomans

This book gives Teaching Assistants precisely the understanding they need about how children’s minds work. Outlining the psychology of human development, of learning and of institutions and groups, it is an entirely revised edition of the successful 2005 book, and is based on the current debates and emphasising multiple perspectives.

An ideal context for learning?

• Judith Ireson

This lecture evaluates the impact on attainment of one-to-one tuition in both the state and shadow systems and argues that while it can be very effective, it is not a panacea.

• John J. Curran

Each year over 4,000 teachers and lecturers face malicious allegations which – even when false – blight their career. The book has interviews with teachers, trade unionists and lawyers and combines authoritative legal analysis with sound professional advice about how to deal with this recurring injustice. Essential for anyone maliciously accused.

Truths and Values

• Jerome Satterthwaite
• Heather Piper
• Pat Sikes
• Simon Webster

Examines the nature and role of trust in contemporary culture. Is it safe for learners – the children and adults in the world of contemporary education – to trust their teachers to care, and to tell the truth? And can teachers trust their managers and institutional practices? Volume 8 of the DPR series, Discourse, Power, Resistance.

• Carrie Winstanley

Teachers are – rightly – exhorted to challenge children so as to help them maximise their abilities, broaden their horizons and increase their achievement. But what exactly are challenging activities? This book examines the notion of challenge and breaks down its different elements to determine practical ideas grounded in theory.

A study of professional learning

• Ruth Heilbronn
• John Yandell

This timely book uncovers all of the processes that should be considered when high-quality teacher education is designed, delivered and studied around the world. Written by experienced teacher educators, this book shows what critical practice is and how it can be used to facilitate a deeper understanding of practice that draws upon personal experience and knowledge of theory, research and policy. Critical Practice in Teacher Education outlines a compelling argument that the best quality teacher education should not just be experienced in schools, but simultaneously in different overlapping communities, including those from the course and discipline or subject area. Attention is directed towards how reading, writing and assessment are used with students to undertake tasks such as developing portfolios, participating in reflective discussions and writing autobiographically, and to how this can develop their intellectual identities and practical judgment. The book presents five in-depth case studies, each of which tell a particular story from a particular subject perspective, illustrating how a range of approaches can be taken on initial teacher training and Masters-level courses. Each story features descriptions of challenges and assignments along with excerpts of the students’ responses. Critical Practice in Teacher Education is a must for all policy-makers, teacher educators and their students, school-based mentors and local authorities who want to understand, improve and develop the quality of teachers’ professional development.