For sustained success, educators must commit to their own lifelong improvement.Commitment to high-quality professional learning is a common aspect of educational systems of the the world’s highest-achieving nations. Despite evidence that effective professional learning can be a powerful lever for school improvement, much of the professional development (PD) that is conducted in the United States has had limited impact on teacher practice...In these...

Do the arts improve academic achievement? What does it mean to ‘teach’ art? What should the balance of classic and pop be in the music curriculum? Should we encourage young children on the stage? How do we judge whether what a child produces is good? How do we justify the arts in the curriculum? What should be the balance between form and content when teaching art?The arts in education inspire considerable commitment and passion. However, this is not always matched by clarity of un...

A great practical guide for CPD leadership in schools!Includes CD-Rom!`This toolkit will be a boon to those starting out in the CPD role and offers useful resources to those more experienced practitioners looking for ideas′ - Professional Development Today`′Sue Kelly rightly perceives that although theories of CPD are important, the co-ordinator′s job is very much about practicalities. She succeeds very well in showing how it can be done - ...

In recent years teacher leadership has undergone one major revolution and is in the process of undergoing another. The first came about as schools turned out to be far too complex for the responsibility of formulating and achieving their goals to be vested entirely in principals and head teachers. As a consequence, the rise of distributed leadership as an alternative model for understanding schools and their functioning is now commonplace. The second major revolution affecting teacher lead...

"This text illustrates the essence of what it really means to be a teacher—to care deeply and to think and act collectively about student and teacher learning."—Barrie Bennet, ProfessorOISE/University of Toronto, Ontario"Daniel Venables has made a terrific contribution to the growing effort of teachers to educate ourselves in professional learning communities through protocols that focus our attention on the right stuff. Happily his writing is as accessib...

Transitions to new educational experiences are a universal rite of passage encountered by children worldwide. This volume in the Educating the Young Child: Advances in Theory and Research, Implications for Practice series provides early childhood educators with a resource that focuses on the transitions that young children make to early care and education settings, along with the issues that surround this important time in their lives. New experiences, such as the start of formal ...

Infuse staff meetings with enthusiasm and purpose, and breathe new life into school culture!Could your staff meetings use a zap of energy? Do you want more participation and less reluctance when you gather your team? Good educators know that fun, emotion, meaningful connections, and high expectations drive learning and committed attention to a task. This sourcebook overflows with strategies, activities, and resources designed to bring these all-important q...

Part of a vital Springer series on self-study practices in teaching and teacher education, this collection offers a range of contributions to the topic that embody the reflections of science teacher educators who have applied self-study methodology to their own professional development. The material recognizes the paradox that lies between classroom science and the education of science teachers: the disciplines of science are often perceived as a quest for right answers, an unintentional b...

What makes a university teacher 'excellent'? As debates rage about whether this is down to subject knowledge, communication skills, taking a research-led approach or being a technological whiz, this book provides the first in-depth examination of teaching excellence in higher education. Identifying and examining interpretations of teaching excellence, it considers what ‘excellent’ means and implies for practice.

This book is the first ever collection about twenty-first century genre fiction. It offers accessible yet rigorous critical interventions in a growing field of popular culture and academic study, presenting new genres as a fascinating and powerful means of reading contemporary culture.The collection explores the history and uses of genre to date, analyses key examples of innovations and developments in the field and reflects on how these texts have been mobilised in teaching since ...

Based on a study of one secondary school located in a disadvantaged community in Australia, this book provides a different perspective on what it means to ‘play the game’ of schooling. Drawing on the perspectives of teachers, parents and students, this book is a window through which to explore the possibilities of schooling in disadvantaged communities. The authors contend that teachers, parents and students themselves are all involved in the game of reproducing disadvantage in schooling, ...

The Complete Multifaith Resource for Primary Religious Education Ages 4-7 is a definitive teaching and learning aid for cross-religious exploration in the classroom, offering stimulating and detailed ways in which to apply a concepts-based approach to the teaching of RE. It provides a model for learning which engages children and encourages the development of higher order thinking skills and which can be applied to other subject areas in a cross- curricular setting.Compris...