Primary education is one of the most important phases of learning but there remains a scarcity of in-depth research on this vital topic. However, as the focus on improving outcomes increases there is a growing interest internationally in research that helps us to understand the best ways to help young children engage with the curriculum in order that they may have the best possible life chances. This text helps to address these issues and consists of seminal articles derived from the forty...

Many useful things that progressivism has to offer (child-centred approaches, flexibility of response, negotiated and democratic classroom organisation) have been swept aside in the march of traditionalist policy. Taking robust theories of developmental psychology derived from the work of Swiss psychologist Piaget and Russian developmentalist Vygotsky, Silcock reasserts the need to explore the positive potential of new progressivism, and looks at how progressivist approaches can help teach...

Measuring the ability to teach is central to government policies to raise standards in schools. 'Successful teaching' is now measured through basic technical and personal skills in the context of the National Curriculum. Teachers are labelled successes or failures based on graded OFSTED inspections. This thought-provoking book explains how different levels or qualities of teaching can be identified and achieved. It outlines the criteria for competent, successful and excellent educational p...

Learning is among the most basic of human activities. The study of learning, and research into learning is becoming a central part of educational studies. This is a comprehensive introduction to contemporary theories and modern practices of learning. Updated and expanded, this second edition should be of interest to teachers, facilitators, human resource developers and students of education. The contents cover: lifelong learning; the social background to learning; cognitivist theory; types...

This fourth edition is inspiring reading for prospective, trainee and new teachers, tutors and mentors, working with young people.

Introduction to Education Studies has proven itself to be the key text for students of Education Studies for over a decade, leading readers through the field′s key ideas, concepts and debates.Drawing from the main educational themes of sociology, philosophy, history, psychology and policy, Bartlett and Burton introduce you to different ways of looking at education and the ideologies that shape educational systems. Tightly supported by accessible links to research literatur...

Reflective practice has moved from the margins to the mainstream of professional education. However, in this process, its radical potential has been subsumed by individualistic, rather than situated, understandings of practice. Presenting critical perspectives that challenge the current paradigm, this book aims to move beyond reflective practice. It proposes new conceptualisations and offers fresh approaches relevant across professions. Contributors include both academics and practitioners...

This book challenges the concept of wellbeing as applied to children, particularly in a school-based context. Taking a post-structural approach, it suggests that wellbeing should be understood, and experiences revealed, at the level of the subjective child. This runs counter to contemporary accounts that reduce children's wellbeing to objective lists of things that are needed in order to live well. This book will be useful for academics and practitioners working directly with children, and...

How is adult learning used to produce personal, organisational and social change? This interesting examination of adult learning for change illustrates through diverse case studies and theoretical perspectives that personal change is inextricably linked to broader organisational and social change. The authors explore how theorising education as a vehicle for self-change is relevant to the practices of educators, learning specialists and others concerned with promoting learning for change. ...

Following the publication of the House of Commons Education Select Committee Report in 1999, the Department of Education and Employment has set up a number of initiatives, including Excellence in Cities, to address the problematic issues relating to provision for gifted and talented pupils in primary and secondary schools.This book rehearses and develops further the central idea put forward by the authors in the first edition titled Educating Able Children that teachers remain the ...

What is educational research? What are its current approaches, methods and methodologies? How should existing literature be reviewed and evaluated critically? What are the key philosophical debates in and on educational research? How should research in education be conducted and how should it be presented? And what is the value of such research?With this extensively revised edition of a much-admired and engaging guide, Jerry Wellington provides clear and constructive answers to the...

Engaging the Disengaged addresses strategies and models of immersive teaching and learning that lead to successful schooling outcomes. The new Australian Curriculum emphasises the importance of improved educational participation. This book will equip pre-service teachers with the tools and strategies they need to successfully implement these priorities. Drawing together a diverse range of experts, this book offers innovative ways of thinking about student engagement. Addressing education a...