Big Ideas in Education: What Every Teacher Should Know by Dr Russell Grigg provides an accessible and easily understood introductory guide to the big ideas that really matter in education. The teaching profession is saturated with ideas. Unfortunately, some of these are half-baked or fundamentally flawed. Dr Russell Grigg moves beyond the unhelpful supposed dichotomies that pervade current educational thinking child-centred versus teacher-centred, traditional versus progressive. Throughout the book, readers are invited to question assumptions and popular rhetoric and reflect on their own experiences. Big Ideas in Education aims to equip teachers with a good understanding of current thinking in a diverse, fluid and dynamic field. Each of the big ideas is discussed within the framework of four questions: what is the big idea, who is behind it, why is it important and what can you do? Big ideas are important, distinctive, empowering, adaptable and simple to understand. Dr Russell Grigg provides readers with a concise and reliable introduction to twelve such ideas, which are at the core of educational practice. The ideas chosen are general rather than subject-specific in nature. In turn, they invite the reader to look at teaching in wider society, address elements of learning which teachers actively promote, raise questions about why, how and what to teach and, finally, look at ways of improving the quality of education. The twelve big ideas under discussion are: (1.) Education education goes beyond the school gates and is a lifelong experience. (2.) Childhood children need time and space to explore, enjoy learning and develop as children rather than miniature adults. (3.) Knowledge knowledge is the foundation for learning. (4.) Skills learners need to develop a broad range of skills in real-life, relevant contexts. (5.) Dispositions effective learning depends upon cultivating positive dispositions. (6.) Ethics teachers' conduct should be guided by a moral purpose. (7.) Instruction direct instruction is a tried-and-tested means of effective teaching. (8.) Curriculum the curriculum is all the learning and assessment activities in school, both planned and unintentional, that contribute to agreed educational goals. (9.) Feedback providing personalised, accurate, specific and timely feedback is one of the keys to improving learning. (10.) Reflective practice good teachers critically analyse their practice with a view to improving what they do. (11.) Research research has a central role to play in the professional development of teachers. (12.) Professional leadership effective school leadership operates at all levels and is about shared vision, support and securing improvement. An ideal book for busy teachers who need to be kept up to speed with the latest thinking in education, this comprehensive guide provides the essential knowledge to keep you fully informed, whether leading staff discussions, submitting assignments or preparing for interviews. Suitable for teachers in any setting, from trainees and NQTs to more experienced practitioners looking to reflect on their practice, the book will also appeal to school leaders and teacher training providers.

The journey towards becoming a teacher involves engaging with a range of theoretical and pedagogical knowledge, and fieldwork experiences. This edited collection is a response to recurring student feedback about the struggle to grasp the philosophical and political aspects of teaching and learning. For some, encountering broad open-ended questions about the nature and purpose of education is confronting. The chapters have been organised around three philosophical 'traditions'--progressive, liberal, and socially critical perspectives. The exploration of each philosophical tradition is complemented by personal reflections of academics for whom a particular philsophical view has influenced their development as scholars, researchers, and educators. This book is essential reading for teachers, educators, parents, and community members interested in understanding how enduring philosphical ideas can help us make sense of contemporary educational issues. The book raises questions key questions about the purpose of education, the nature of knowledge, and beliefs and values about teaching and learning. The authors present education as a site of competing and often conflicting ideas to which there may be no firm answers to these questions. In this regard, the book presents philosophical thinking as a deep, on-going exploration of the relationship between education and society. By providing further questions for discussion, the authors seek to promote further reflection and thinking about education and its role in society. The book will therefore also be of interest to policy makers, government officials and teacher educators.

This classic work first published in 1965 presents three explosive ideas' that should be at the centre of the school curriculum: culture, class and evolution. Brameld, a pioneer of the idea that education can be used to transform society, with schools helping individuals to develop socially and learn responsible citizenship, is still relevant in today's dicussions of bilingual education in the US, the lack of resources in poor school districts and the teaching of evolution. A timely exploration into how to foster democratic principles through education.'

Drawing on the work of Eleanor Duckworth, this volume examines Critical Exploration in the Classroom (CEC)—a learning-teaching research practice that positions teachers as researchers of their students’ sense-making and learners as theorizers and investigators. By integrating CEC into their teacher education classrooms, chapter authors have found that they can reliably unsettle their teacher candidates’ understandings about the nature of teaching and learning and recenter their attention on the intellectual originality and creativity of all young people. In this way, CEC provides valuable tools in the work of creating more equitable and democratic classrooms. Such tools are needed in a broader environment that overvalues instrumental approaches to achieving specified learning outcomes. Readers will find practices that empower and sustain the deep intellectual engagement of all learners. Integrating classroom narratives and other forms of documentation, this resource illustrates the kinds of profound changes in understanding that have occurred for teacher candidates as a result of working with CEC. Book Features: Opens both the teacher educator and teacher candidates to new ways of teaching, learning, and being in classrooms.Demonstrates how the practice works to counter deficit thinking by revealing students’ brilliance.Uses narratives and other forms of documentation to characterize the potential of CEC within a diverse array of teacher education classrooms.Portrays the many ways in which CEC has been integrated into different disciplinary and institutional settings, illustrating the common intellectual and interpersonal dynamics at work.Chapter authors all studied Critical Exploration in the Classroom (CEC) with its originator, Eleanor Duckworth. Contributors: Elizabeth Cavicchi, Eleanor Duckworth, Fiona Hughes-McDonnell, Keri Gelenian, Houman Harouni, Yeh Hsueh, Susan Rauchwerk, Lisa Schneier, William Shorr, Bonnie Hao-Kuo Tai

. Renewal of Life by Transmission. The most notable distinction between living and inanimate things is that the former maintain themselves by renewal. A stone when struck resists. If its resistance is greater than the force of the blow struck, it remains outwardly unchanged. Otherwise, it is shattered into smaller bits. Never does the stone attempt to react in such a way that it may maintain itself against the blow, much less so as to render the blow a contributing factor to its own continued action. While the living thing may easily be crushed by superior force, it none the less tries to turn the energies which act upon it into means of its own further existence. If it cannot do so, it does not just split into smaller pieces (at least in the higher forms of life), but loses its identity as a living thing. As long as it endures, it struggles to use surrounding energies in its own behalf. It uses light, air, moisture, and the material of soil. To say that it uses them is to say that it turns them into means of its own conservation. As long as it is growing, the energy it expends in thus turning the environment to account is more than compensated for by the return it gets: it grows. Understanding the word "control" in this sense, it may be said that a living being is one that subjugates and controls for its own continued activity the energies that would otherwise use it up. Life is a self-renewing process through action upon the environment.

By allowing key scientists, researchers, professors, and classroom teachers of science to speak for themselves through their published writings about what is best and needed for the field, Dr. DeBoer presents a fascinating account of the history of science education in the United States from the middle of the 19th century to the present. The book relates how science first struggled to find a place in the school curriculum and recounts the many debates over the years about what that curriculum should be. In fact, many of what we consider modern ideas in science education are not new at all but can be traced to writings on education of one hundred years ago. The book is aimed at all those interested in science education: classroom teachers and science education leaders concerned about the historical justification of the goals and strategies proposed for the field. The book should be enjoyed not only by the researcher but also by anyone curious about just how curriculum is decided upon and implemented on a national scale. “This is without question the finest book of its kind on the market. It deserves to be widely read by current and future science teachers, supervisors, science education faculty in colleges and universities, curriculum developers, and program officers in funding agencies.” —The Science Teacher “Adds a significant dimension to the history of American schooling and curriculum.” —History of Education Quarterly

Exemplary stories of innovation from around the world In an age of rising inequality, getting a good education increasingly separates the haves from the have nots. In countries like the United States, getting a good education is one of the most promising routes to upper-middle-class status, even more so than family wealth. Experts predict that by 2030, 825 million children will reach adulthood without basic secondary-level skills, and it will take a century for the most marginalized youth to achieve the educational levels that the wealthiest enjoy today. But these figures do not even account for the range of skills and competencies needed to thrive today in work, citizenship, and life. In a world where the ability to manipulate knowledge and information, think critically, and collaboratively solve problems are essential to thrive, access to a quality education is crucial for all young people. In Leapfrogging Inequality, researchers chart a new path for global education by examining the possibility of leapfrogging—harnessing innovation to rapidly accelerate educational progress—to ensure that all young people develop the skills they need for a fast-changing world. Analyzing a catalog of nearly 3,000 global education innovations, the largest such collection to date, researchers explore the potential of current practices to enable such a leap. As part of this analysis, the book presents an evidence-based framework for getting ahead in education, which it grounds in the here-and-now by narrating exemplary stories of innovation from around the world. Together, these stories and resources will inspire educators, investors, leaders of nongovernmental organizations, and policymakers alike to rally around a new vision of educational progress—one that ensures we do not leave yet another generation of young people behind.