Discussion as a Way of Teaching


Book Description

This book is written for all university and college teachers interested in experimenting with discussion methods in their classrooms. Discussion as a Way of Teaching is a book full of ideas, techniques, and usable suggestions on: * How to prepare students and teachers to participate in discussion * How to get discussions started * How to keep discussions going * How to ensure that teachers' and students' voices are kept in some sort of balance It considers the influence of factors of race, class and gender on discussion groups and argues that teachers need to intervene to prevent patterns of inequity present in the wider society automatically reproducing themselves inside the discussion-based classroom. It also grounds the evaluation of discussions in the multiple subjectivities of students' perceptions. An invaluable and helpful resource for university and college teachers who use, or are thinking of using, discussion approaches.




Talk for Teaching


Book Description

Paul Garvey uses his experience as a teacher, inspector and a National Strategies consultant to advise educators and schools on how his Talk For Teaching method can help them take control of their Professional Development - without it increasing costs or taking up valuable lesson time. Educators learn how 'Talk for Teaching' can be applied, by utilising experiences from all members of your teaching staff from TAs to heads. All play a vital role in the improvement of the teaching quality throughout the school, whilst improving morale as well. Full of experiences from teachers, headteachers and inspectors, as well as Garvey's own personal experiences, this is not a book to be missed for anyone looking to journey towards teaching excellence. Talk for Teaching clearly works. This is what Ofsted said about the result of putting Talk for Teaching at the heart of a school's programme for improving the quality of teaching. The quote is taken from Barnsole Primary's Ofsted report in April 2016: "Together with the deputy headteacher, the headteacher has led the 'Talk for Teaching' programme that has been an instrumental part of transforming the quality of teaching over time. The high-quality teaching in this school now leads to outstanding outcomes for pupils. The school has used this professional development programme to involve leaders, teachers, teaching assistants, governors and other members of the school staff in observing teaching together. They have detailed conversations about the effectiveness of what is seen and how it can be improved. Staff discuss the quality of teaching regularly and freely share ideas about what works well with colleagues."




Teaching Talk


Book Description

Talk is part of every classroom, regardless of grade, content area, or school location. So how can teachers harness the energy of talk to spark discussion, strengthen student dialogue, and deepen comprehension? Teaching Talk is a practical resource that will help you focus your lens on classroom talk, making the most of the student voices and ideas that are already part of your classroom, and increasing the potential for learning. Kara Pranikoff offers suggestions and strategies that can be used immediately, starting with a comprehensive list of questions to help teachers assess and reflect on student talk. Each chapter addresses an element of classroom talk along with concrete examples to help you: collect and analyze artifacts of talk provide opportunities for students to share their ideas create conversations orchestrated by students and grounded in their ideas strengthen both talking and listening in conversation reflect on progress, set goals and refine instruction. Conversation is the currency of most ideas in the world. With Teaching Talk as your guide, you'll help students develop the skills they need to be inquisitive, independent, and critical thinkers in all aspects of their lives.




Creating a Speaking and Listening Classroom


Book Description

Providing children with opportunities to talk about their learning enables teachers to hear what children are thinking. Talking with one another allows children to question, elaborate, and reflect on a range of ideas. Classroom talk can be motivating and involving, and helps children to think and learn. And yet it is difficult to organise such talk in a classroom. Children unaware of the importance of talk for learning may think of talk as ‘just chat’ – and learning falls away as they slip into social talk. This book provides teachers with strategies and resources to enable whole classes to work together through the medium of talk. Creating a Speaking and Listening Classroom provides timely professional development for teachers. Based on a theoretical approach underpinned by classroom research, this book offers classroom-tested strategies for engaging children in their own learning. Such strategies involve the direct teaching of speaking and listening. Activities in the book can ensure that children know how and why to support one another’s learning in whole-class and group work. The approach enables teachers to ensure that personalised learning programs are based on what children already think and know. The suggested strategies for teaching speaking and listening can enable children to use one another’s minds as a rich resource. This stimulating book will be of interest to professionals in primary education, literacy co-ordinators, and trainee primary teachers.




Towards Dialogic Teaching


Book Description

With dialogue and dialogic teaching as upcoming buzz-words, we face a familiar mix of danger and opportunity. The opportunity is to transform classroom talk, increase pupil engagement, and lift literacy standards from their current plateau. The danger is that a powerful idea will be jargonised before it is even understood, let alone implemented, and that practice claiming to be dialogic will be little more than re-branded chalk and talk or ill-focused discussion. Dialogic teaching is about more than applying tips such as less hands-up bidding. It demands changes - in the handling of classroom space and time; in the balance of talk, reading and writing; in the relationship between speaker and listener; and in the content and dynamics of talk itself.




Teacher Agency


Book Description

Recent worldwide education policy has reinvented teachers as agents of change and professional developers of the school curriculum. Academic literature has analyzed changes in how teacher professionalism is conceived in policy and in practice but Teacher Agency provides a fresh perspective on this issue, drawing upon an ecological theory of agency. Using this model for understanding agency, Mark Priestley, Gert Biesta and Sarah Robinson explore empirical findings from the 'Teacher Agency and Curriculum Change' project, funded by the UK-based Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Drawing together this research with the authors' international experiences and perspectives, Teacher Agency addresses theoretical and practical issues of international significance. The authors illustrate how teacher agency should be understood not only in terms of individual capacity of teachers, but also in respect of the cultures and structures of schooling.




Transform Teaching and Learning through Talk


Book Description

“Reading and writing float on a sea of talk” declared James Britton – and yet in our current education system, where the pressure is on for students to pass written exams, it is all too easily left adrift. How then, as teachers and educators, can we turn the tide and harness the power of talk in our classrooms? This is not just an educational choice but rather, given students’ vastly different experiences of language, a moral imperative. Amy Gaunt and Alice Stott’s must-read book serves as a detailed and engaging guide to get talking in class. It blends the academic research and evidence, with first-hand classroom experiences and practical strategies to enable you to unlock the power of oracy in your classroom and equip your students with the speaking skills they need to thrive in the twenty first century. Transform Teaching and Learning Through Talk describes how to: Identify and teach good talk (and listening!) Build a classroom culture which values talk Create meaningful and authentic contexts for oracy Support your quietest students to speak up too! This book is a rich resource for teachers, drawing upon key academic research and outlining what this could look like in your classroom. Throughout, the authors share personal insights, engaging anecdotes and tried-and-tested approaches drawn from their experience teaching in primary and secondary classrooms. Whether you teach college-age students or those just starting their journey through school, this book will challenge you to think deeply about what you can do integrate oracy into your practice.




Taking Control 2


Book Description

Written by Paul Garvey, Taking Control 2: How to prepare for Ofsted under the education inspection framework equips teachers, subject leaders and school leaders with the tools and know-how to enable them to prepare for their next inspection with confidence. Distilled from Paul's 11 years' experience as an Ofsted inspector, this practical handbook builds on its predecessor Taking Control to help your school ready itself for inspection under the 2019 education inspection framework (EIF). It features many first-hand experiences of inspection under the updated EIF and highlights the methodology of inspection - including 'deep dives' and the 90-minute phone call - combined with top tips to ensure you get the best out of the assessments. Paul also provides a range of effective dialogic tools to help you compile a persuasive self-evaluation form (SEF) in order to convince the inspection team of the true quality of your school's provision and ensure that you're awarded the deserved grade. The book will alleviate some of the worries surrounding inspection, helping schools to avoid piling unnecessary work onto staff, and encourages leaders to feel much more confident about the process. It also looks at inspection from an inspector's point of view - sharing their methodology pre, during and post inspection - and includes a wealth of experiences from both primary and secondary schools of actual inspections under the 2019 framework. Furthermore, Paul furnishes his guidance with highlighted references to paragraphs and pages in the section 5 and section 8 handbooks, making it easier for you investigate the detail further, should you need to do so. Suitable for head teachers, senior leadership team members, subject leaders, classroom teachers, governors and all stakeholders in mainstream schools in England.




Real Talk for Real Teachers


Book Description

The New York Times–bestselling author and world-renown teacher offers no-nonsense wisdom for teachers of all ages There’s no one teachers trust more to give them classroom advice than Rafe Esquith. After more than thirty years on the job, Esquith still puts in the countless classroom hours familiar to every dedicated educator. But where his New York Times bestseller Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire was food for a teacher’s mind, Real Talk for Real Teachers is food for a teacher’s soul. Esquith candidly tackles the three stages of life for the career teacher and offers encouragement to see them through the difficult early years, advice on mid-career classroom building, and novel ideas for longtime educators. With his trademark mix of humor, practicality, and boundless compassion, Esquith proves the perfect companion for teachers who need a quick pick-me-up, a long heart-to-heart, or just a momentary reminder that they’re not alone.




Unlocking the Power of Classroom Talk


Book Description

Shana Frazin and Katy Wischow passionately believe in the need to help students develop strong talk skills across the school day, in every subject, to prepare them for their academic lives and lives as active citizens outside of school. Using a unique "cycle" for talk that's similar to the writing process (generating, choosing, developing, acting, and reflecting), they name the predictable things we do most times we engage in a conversation, and show us how we can teach into those parts. Shana and Katy provide practical strategies for teaching four important purposes for talk that exist both in the classroom and in the real world: - talking to build relationships - talking to play with ideas - talking to clarify, analyze, and argue - talking to report. They offer a clear description of each purpose, the "when and how" to teach into those purposes, and what to do when things go awry. Classroom video brings the content to life showing what the talk looks and sounds like in action.