The Learning Rainforest: Great Teaching in Real Classrooms
Great Teaching in Real Classrooms
Published on 23. October 2017
288 pages
978-1-912906-47-5 (ISBN)
Description
The Learning Rainforest is an attempt to capture various different elements of our understanding and experience of teaching. It is a celebration of great teaching - the joy of it and the intellectual and personal rewards that teaching brings. It is aimed at teachers of all kinds; busy people working in complex environments with little time to spare. The core of the book is a guide to making teaching both effective and manageable; it provides an accessible summary of key contemporary evidence-based ideas about teaching and learning and the debates that all teachers should be engaging in. It's a book packed with strategies for making great teaching attainable in the context of real schools. The Learning Rainforest metaphor is an attempt to capture various different elements of our understanding and experience of teaching. Tom's ideas about what constitutes great teaching are drawn from his experiences as a teacher and a school leader over the last 30 years, alongside everything he has read and all the debates he's engaged with during that time. An underlying theme of this book is that a career in teaching is a process of continual personal development and professional learning as is engaging in fundamental debates rage on about the kind of education we value. As you meet each new class and move from school to school, your perspectives shift; your sense of what seems to work adjusts to each new context. In writing this book, Tom is trying to capture some of the journey he's been on. He has learned that it is ok to change your mind. More than that - sometimes it is simply necessary to get your head out of the sand, to change direction; to admit your mistakes.
Reviews / Votes
'I found Tom's book wise, balanced, practical, and grounded in research. I'm confident it will help teachers not only to choose the best guidance but to implement it and what's more to coordinate it with other sounds ideas. It's a compelling road map to building a successful school.' Doug Lemov, author Teach Like A Champion and Reading Reconsidered 'Tom Sherrington is a rare thing - a head teacher who can write, not just elegantly, but intelligently. One would be valuable enough. Being capable of both make him and his work essential reading for school leaders everywhere. He also has the gift of not only a career full of experience, but the capacity to unpack his experience in such a way as to make it not just intelligible, but relevant. One of the reasons for this is that he embraces the complexity of the school leader's role without losing sight of the overarching moral purposes to leadership. Rather than writing a book - as so many books on leadership are - of 'here's what I did and you should do it too, ' he assists the reader in developing their own journey through what may or may not work - and in what contexts. Accessible without being reductivist, intelligent without being opaque, this should be on the bookshelves of any school leader interested in reflecting on what they do.' Tom Bennett, Director of ResearchEd 'What is truly astonishing about this book is the amount of distilled wisdom packed into it. It combines a huge amount of significant research with decades of Tom's own invaluable experience of working at the chalk-face to form a coherent, practical and thought provoking book that will be an indispensable guide for years to come. Simply put, this is the book I wish I had read when I started teaching.' Carl Hendrick, head of research, Wellington CollegeMore details
Edition
Digital original
Language
English
Place of publication
Saxmundham, Suffolk
United Kingdom
Target group
Primary & secondary/elementary & high school
College/higher education
Interest Age: From 18 to 99 years
File size
20,72 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-912906-47-5 (9781912906475)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Tom Sherrington
The Learning Rainforest: Great Teaching in Real Classrooms
Great Teaching In Real Classroom
Book
10/2017
John Catt Educational Ltd
€29.00
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Persons
Tom Sherrington started teaching in 1987 and has had a 35-year career in education. He's now in demand as a consultant and conference speaker, working with schools and colleges to improve teaching, curriculum and assessment. He is the author of The Learning Rainforest: Great Teaching in Real Classrooms, described as 'one of the best teaching books of all time' by Book Authority, the best-selling Rosenshine's Principles in Action, and the Teaching WalkThrus series. Tom has developed the digital WalkThrus programme of CPD resources in collaboration with Oliver Caviglioli. Oliver Caviglioli is uniquely placed to bridge the gap between education and graphic design. A former special school headteacher, Oliver learned design principles from an early age from his architect and typographer father. Four decades of reading educational research found its visual expression in his spectacular, image-rich book Dual Coding With Teachers. He has also co-authored Organise Ideas and the Teaching WalkThrus series of books and CPD resources.
Content
Part 1: Developing the Learning Rainforest Concept. Introducing The Learning Tree Set it out Roots; Trunk; Vegetation The inputs 1 My career experience Reference to the tree. 2The Trad-Prog Debate: SKR, Guy Claxton Blogging: KEGS vs HGS School visits 3. The Curriculum Debate Enacted Curriculum The Trivium Bacc-Thinking Arts? Knowledge-led curriculum; Powerful knowledge National Curriculum 4.What does the research say? Reading research: caveats. I learned to look behind the headlines. Eg Hattie Cognitive Psychology Hattie, Willingham, Nuthall, Berger Wiliam, Dweck; Motivation - examples eg maths mindsets 5 Assessment Thinking Bell curve and standards; the data delusion Daisy C --> technical, links to memory AfL: REsponsive teaching --> relationships Recap: . Teaching to the Top: Philosophy; personal experience; kids; The Model Reprise: The tree is growing... all elements grow together... The Rainforest - individual students... Rainforest vs Plantation --> Managed Rainforest Gardening. = differentiation Balanced diet Part 2: The Learning Tree in Practice Homage to Bill Rogers, TLAC and MELC 1. Attitudes and habits for excellence Awe and Wonder; Joy Rigour - the venn pitch it up; challenge; not accepting mediocrity Teacher expectations - Pygmalion... Relationships 2. Behaviour: Routines, bill rogers, assertiveness, Signal pause insist --> attention, silence, time/not drifting, 3. Curriculum Planning Big picture, small picture; Objectives vs tasks; small steps; scaffolds and stabilisers Skills and drills. Knowledge elements Reading, words Teaching Reading; 4. Mode A 4.1 Explaining and Modelling 4.2 Questioning What, how, how to react Dialogic, probing TPS Whole class response - eg whiteboards MCQs Routine expectations oracy 4.3 Feedback Verbal; positive, specific - Dylan Wiliam Responsive Marking - selective, etc, lean, whole class Close the gap 4.4 Assessment: Daily, weekly, review Teaching for memory Teaching for Memory and Exam Success FACE IT 4.5 Practice learning by heart, guided practice Independent learning; guided study; Homework 5. Mode B 5.1 Hands on; Dialectic - logos; experience Playing detective 5.2 Projects Group Work Projects; lessons from art lessons; Open ended task; creativity 5.3 Student-led learning Online class forum; Edmodo, Google classroom Reciprocal teaching Flipped Learning Independent learning: Co-construction 5.4 Oracy Structured speech events - debate Writing frames; talk for writing 5.5 Off-Piste
