Seven authoritative contributions to the emerging field of pedagogy and to comparative, cultural and policy studies in education. A must for those who want to do more than merely comply with received versions of ‘best practice’.Pedagogy is at last gaining the attention in English-speaking countries which it has long enjoyed elsewhere. But is it the right kind of attention? Do we still tend to equate pedagogy with teaching technique and little more? Now that governments, too, have b...

Building on Robin Alexander’s landmark Towards Dialogic Teaching, this book shows how and why the dialogic approach has a positive impact on student engagement and learning. It sets out the evidence, examines the underpinning ideas and issues, and offers guidance and resources for the planning, implementation and review of effective dialogic teaching in a wide range of educational settings.Dialogic teaching harnesses the power of talk to engage students’ interest, stimulat...

A national system of education cannot function without policy. But the path to practice is seldom smooth, especially when ideology overrules evidence or when ministers seek to micromanage what is best left to teachers. And once the media join the fray the mixture becomes downright combustible.Drawing on his long experience as teacher, researcher, government adviser, campaigner and international consultant, and on over 600 published sources, Robin Alexander expertly illustrates and ...

Getting to the heart of primary education: six contrasting studies of teachers, teaching, learning and classroom discourse, all set in a historical frame. Contains extended lesson transcripts for re-analysis.The five studies in this book span the tumultuous period from the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s. This was a time when the dominant educational ideas and practices of the previous two decades were being questioned and primary teachers were being catapulted from the Plowden era into...

Leah Marks has no idea what is missing from her quiet, uneventful life until a simple change in her daily routine alters her existence. From the moment she meets antique dealer, Reagan Montgomery, Leah’s world is turned upside down. A unique gift given to her by Reagan leads them on a journey that defies logic and the laws of time.The Gift of Time is a story of love, devotion and a bond that has carried two women from one life to the next.

The small town of White Oak Lake, Louisiana, is home to a group of colorful characters, three of whom take their Cupid duties seriously. Their pet project is Jaclyn Wyatt, a single mother who, in their opinion, needs a little help in the romance department. Jaclyn doesn't agree, but the trio secretly springs into action when a newcomer arrives.Morgan Chassion retreated to White Oak Lake to mentally and emotionally recover from losing her father, being dumped by her girlfriend, and ...

The Cambridge Primary Review Research Surveys is the outcome of the Cambridge Primary Review – England’s biggest enquiry into primary education for over forty years. Fully independent of government, it was launched in 2006 to investigate the condition and future of primary education at a time of change and uncertainty and after two decades of almost uninterrupted reform. Ranging over ten broad themes and drawing on a vast array of evidence, the Review published thiry-one interim r...

Detailed accounts of two influential initiatives of the 1990s, whose educational and political lessons remain highly relevant: systemic and pedagogic reform in one of Britain’s largest cities, and the controversial ‘three wise men’ government enquiry into primary teaching to which it led.Alexander's controversial and widely-read report on primary education in Leeds has now been revised as a major study of policy initiatives in primary education and their impact on practice. The boo...

When Shawna Haydel was sixteen years old, she dropped Ashton Guidry's name into a potion that would supposedly make Ashton fall in love with her. She knew it was silly, but she clung to one irrational thread of hope their friend Patty's concoction would grant her heart's desire. Shawna's hopes were dashed when Ashton packed up her things and went away to college completely unaware of Shawna's feelings.Twenty-three years after Patty's potion was brewed, Ashton returns to her hometow...

Jodi Grant had plans—a job interview that held promise and a date with a real woman who didn't only exist in her mind. What she had not planned on was a trip . . . at gunpoint when her father dropped a bombshell in her lap . . . at his own funeral.Dr. Blair Whittington went to Peru in search of ancient artifacts. What she discovered was the illegal antiquities trade in which she had unwittingly become embroiled. Betrayed by Nicolas Grant, Blair must rely on his estranged daughter, ...

Idyllic, quaint, and straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting is St. Claire, Louisiana—at least on the outside. Beneath the veneer, it's anything but. That's the secret of St. Claire.Born and raised in St. Claire, Lindsay Juneau's life was seemingly full raising a six-year-old daughter and caring for her widowed mother. Of course, things aren't always what they seem, and the newest resident of St. Claire isn't buying the ruse.Veterinarian Nicole Allen is looking for somet...

Kellen McLin has been waiting for her moment for a long time. She says when two people who are meant to be together find each other, they know it instantly. Kellen believes her moment girl has finally arrived, but there's one big problem—she's a Sealy. The McLins and the Sealys are south Louisiana's version of the Hatfields and the McCoys.Stevie Sealy left Louisiana for college and didn't return except for holiday visits with her family. After a breakup with her boyfriend, she deci...