Developing Teacher Expertise: Exploring Key Issues in Primary Practice

✍ Scribed by Margaret Sangster (editor)

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2013
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 163
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

What are the issues that education raises for you?
Beyond the technical skills and knowledge aspects of education, teachers and student teachers face questions which challenge their beliefs and approaches to their teaching and learning. This book contains a series of short articles each of which encourage you to reflect on your own practice and challenge your beliefs about how and what you teach.
Questions explored include:
When does inclusion become exclusion for the rest of the class?
Do interactive whiteboards support or reduce creativity in the classroom?
Is drama a luxury in the primary classroom?
Should we be teaching other languages to children under seven?
Learning outside the classroom, is it worth it?
What makes a reflective practitioner?
Essential reading for those training to teach children aged between 3 and 11, as well as practicing teachers looking to develop their practice.

✦ Table of Contents

FC
Half title
Also available from Bloomsbury
Title
Copyright
Contents
List of contributors
Preface
Introduction
Part I The Learning Environment
1 Do schools work – a challenge to the institutionalization of learning?
Rebecca Austin
2 When does inclusion become exclusion for the rest of the class?
Maggie Evans
3 Does differentiation make it easier for children to learn?
Jill Matthews
4 Why aim to create independent learners?
Margaret Sangster
5 Why and how can we engage children with their learning?
Claire Hewlett
6 Can we use the built environment to support children’s learning?
Jonathan Barnes
7 What do we understand from using images in the classroom?
Peter Dorman
8 Do displays contribute to children’s learning?
Bridie Price
9 Do interactive whiteboards support or reduce creativity in the classroom?
Karl Bentley
10 Is learning outside the classroom worth it?
Michael Green
11 What is the value of encouraging talk in your classroom?
Jill Matthews
12 Does rewarding children lead to independent learners?
Margaret Sangster
Part II The Curriculum
13 Should we be teaching a second language to children under seven?
Vikki Schulze and Anthony Clarke
14 Is drama a luxury in the primary classroom?
Tracy Parvin
15 Is there a place for picture fiction with children over seven?
Susan Barrett
16 Does correct spelling really matter?
Caroline Tancock
17 Is it possible to make mathematics real and meaningful in the classroom?
Jon Wild
18 How can questioning create thoughtful reflection and learning in mathematics?
Paula Stone
19 Is physical education more than just being physically active?
Kristy Howells
20 Should ICT be taught as a subject, used as a learning tool or is there a need for both?
Nyree Scott
21 Should children be learning to make art or learning through art?
Peter Gregory
Part III The Wider World
22 Why do children and teachers need to develop a multicultural and global perspective?
Tony Mahon
23 What makes stereotypes pernicious?
Stephen Scoffham
24 Should we teach children about current affairs?
Stephen Scoffham
25 Maps are increasingly being used by children but do these maps tell the truth?
Terry Whyte
Part IV Teachers’ Professional Status
26 What are some philosophical, sociological and psychological perspectives on education?
Rosemary Walters
27 What is meant by professional identity?
Vanessa Young
28 What does professionalism mean for a teacher?
Peter Dorman
29 Why should teachers be researchers?
Viv Wilson
30 How do we improve our own practice?
Viv Wilson
31 How can mentors and mentees make the most of the mentoring process?
Donna Birrell
Endnote
Index