A Critique of Pure Teaching Methods and the Case of Synthetic Phonics examines how research into the effectiveness of teaching methods can and should relate to what takes place in the classroom. The discussion brings to light some important features of the way we classify teaching activities. The classifications are unlike those we use in natural science – for instance, how we classify drug dosages. This point has very important implications for what should be considered the appropriate relationships between educational research and classroom practice. Andrew Davis applies the results of this discussion to the teaching of early reading, focussing in particular on the approach known as synthetic phonics. He provides a philosophical investigation into the nature of reading, and into the concepts that feature in approaches to teaching it, such as the idea of building words from letter sounds, the nature of words themselves and reading for meaning. He concludes with a discussion of why this matters so much, reflecting on how stories and books can be part of a child's emerging identity within the family. He explores how values of family life should be weighed against the importance of achievements in school, and argues for the claim that school reading policies of certain kinds may have a destructive impact if they are felt to trump the private interests of children and their families.

A Critique of Pure Teaching Methods and the Case of Synthetic Phonics examines how research into the effectiveness of teaching methods can and should relate to what takes place in the classroom. The discussion brings to light some important features of the way we classify teaching activities. The classifications are unlike those we use in natural science – for instance, how we classify drug dosages. This point has very important implications for what should be considered the appropriate relationships between educational research and classroom practice. Andrew Davis applies the results of this discussion to the teaching of early reading, focussing in particular on the approach known as synthetic phonics. He provides a philosophical investigation into the nature of reading, and into the concepts that feature in approaches to teaching it, such as the idea of building words from letter sounds, the nature of words themselves and reading for meaning. He concludes with a discussion of why this matters so much, reflecting on how stories and books can be part of a child's emerging identity within the family. He explores how values of family life should be weighed against the importance of achievements in school, and argues for the claim that school reading policies of certain kinds may have a destructive impact if they are felt to trump the private interests of children and their families.

Dominic Wyse and Charlotte Hacking present a ground-breaking account of teaching phonics, reading, and writing. Created from a landmark study, new research, new theory, and cutting-edge teacher professional development, this balanced approach to teaching seeks to improve all children’s learning, and therefore life chances. The book dismantles polarised debates about the teaching of phonics and analyses the latest scientific evidence of what really works. It shows, in vivid detail, how phonics, reading, and writing should be taught through the creativity of some of the best authors of books for children. By describing lessons inspired by ‘real books’, it showcases why the new approach is more effective than narrow phonics approaches. The authors call for a paradigm shift in literacy education. The chapters show how and why education policies should be improved on the basis of unique analyses of research evidence from experimental trials and the new theory and model the Double Helix of Reading and Writing. It is a book of hope for the future in the context of powerful elites influencing narrow curricula, narrow pedagogy, and high stakes assessments. The Balancing Act will be of interest to anyone who is invested in young children’s development. It is essential reading for teachers, trainee teachers, lecturers, researchers, and policy makers world-wide who want to improve the teaching of reading and writing in the English language.

Are you looking for one book that gives a comprehensive account of primary/elementary and early years English, language and literacy teaching? Based on robust research evidence and practical examples of effective teaching, this essential textbook critically evaluates curriculum policies and provides guidance for teachers on implementation of evidence-based teaching in classrooms. This fully revised fifth edition has a brand new chapter on Reading for Pleasure, and has substantially rewritten chapters to reflect recent developments in research, evaluations of new policy directions, and new practical examples of teaching and learning. The authors draw on their research, scholarship and practice to offer advice on: inclusion and equality, including working effectively with multilingual pupils the importance of talk and interaction developing reading, including motivating children to read and phonics teaching improving writing, including grammar and punctuation planning and assessing the latest educational policy and practice This authoritative book is an essential introduction for anyone who teaches English, language and literacy from the early years to primary school level, and seeks to improve their professional practice. Designed to help inform trainee teachers and tutors, but also of great use to those teachers wanting to keep pace with the latest developments in their specialist subject, this is an indispensable guide to the theory and practice of teaching English, language and literacy.

Through a spiralling series of arguments, Sheila Webb dismantles the sclerotic dualisms of fact and value, subject and object, and body and mind that have done so much to hamper appreciation of Immanuel Kant and to harm education. A ground-breaking work in the philosophy of education that allows a reappraisal of Kant - it plays its part in the reengagement with Kant in the wider analytic tradition and provides a secure footing for better research and practice in education Demonstrates how no thinker in the modern world has laid the way for the development of philosophy so influentially as Immanuel Kant, and it is hard to think of the philosophy of education without some sense of Kant in the background Explores how simplified exegeses and synoptic accounts have made a ‘Kantian’ picture that readily succumbs to caricature - and how Interpreting Kant for Education exposes the errors in this picture An original theoretical engagement with Kant, providing new ways to understand his insights and offering a secure theoretical footing for better educational research

This volume introduces philosophy as a foundational discipline of education. Taking a broadly inclusive approach to the branches of philosophy, it offers an accessible yet duly rigorous orientation to the field. Revealing the values, premises, arguments, and conclusions that inform contemporary philosophical discussions of education, this book equips its readers with the conceptual and analytical resources necessary to engage with and make meaningful contributions to that grand discourse for years to come. About the Educational Foundations series: Education, as an academic field taught at universities around the world, emerged from a range of older foundational disciplines. The Educational Foundations series comprises six volumes, each covering one of the foundational disciplines of philosophy, history, sociology, policy studies, economics and law. This is the first reference work to provide an authoritative and up-to-date account of all six disciplines, showing how each field's ideas, methods, theories and approaches can contribute to research and practice in education today. The six volumes cover the same set of key topics within education, which also form the chapter titles: - Mapping the Field - Purposes of Education - Curriculum - Schools and Education Systems - Learning and Human Development - Teaching and Teacher Education - Assessment and Evaluation This structure allows readers to study the volumes in isolation, by discipline, or laterally, by topic, and facilitates a comparative, thematic reading of chapters across the volumes. Throughout the series, attention is paid to how the disciplines comprising the educational foundations speak to social justice concerns such as gender and racial equality.

Many people, whether educators or not, will agree that an education that does not inspire wonder is barren. Wonder is commonly perceived as akin to curiosity, as stimulating inquiry, and as something that enhances pleasure in learning, but there are many experiences of wonder that do not have an obvious place in education. In Wonder and Education, Anders Schinkel theorises a kind of wonder with less obvious yet fundamental educational importance which he calls 'contemplative wonder'. Contemplative wonder disrupts frameworks of understanding that are taken for granted and perceived as natural and draws our attention to the world behind our constructions, sparking our interest in the world as something worth attending to for its own sake rather than for our purposes. It opens up space for the consideration of (radical) alternatives wherever it occurs, and in many cases is linked with deep experiences of value; therefore, it is not just important for education in general, but also, more specifically, for moral and political education.