Understanding Learning: Influences and Outcomes(Developing Practice in Primary Education series)

Understanding Learning contains specially chosen material which brings together issues of theory and practice. It invites teachers to examine, review and research their own practice in their own personal context. The book′s significant contribution is that it re-emphasizes the multifaceted nature of education and deliberately takes a multidisciplinary approach. It does this through a consideration of cultural, political and theoretical perspectives in Education. Section one shows something of the dilemmas, tension and duality of thinking which is inherent in a concept of education for democracy. Section two considers what it means to be a learner and how this knowledge forces us to re-examine and extend our conceptualizations of learning. Section three considers the importance of achievement, how this might be measured and the possible outcomes of assessment. Section four illustrates how children′s self identity is affected by their experiences in school. It also draws attention to the powerful issues of race, social class and parental power in terms of ′cultural capital′.

Table of Contents:
PART ONE: INFLUENCES ON EDUCATION The Politics of Educational Ideas - Wilfred Carr and Anthony Harnett A Redefinition of Liberal and Humanistic Education - Nimrod Aloni New Progressivism - Peter Silcock PART TWO: VIEWS OF LEARNING Minds at Work - Mara Krechevsky and Steve Seidel Applying Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom The Acquisition of a Child by a Learning Disability - R P McDermott Situated Cognition and How to Overcome It - Carl Bereiter Children Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow - Mary Jane Drummond PART THREE: OUTCOMES OF ASSESSMENT Liberating the Learner through Assessment - Patricia Broadfoot Gendered Learning and Achievement - Patricia Murphy Raising Standards - Judith Ireson and Susan Hallam Is Ability Grouping the Answer? Wide Eyes and Open Minds - Cathy Nutbrown Observing, Assessing and Respecting Children′s Early Achievements PART FOUR: CULTURAL CAPITAL AND LEARNING ′I′ll Be a Nothing′ - Diane Reay and Dylan Wiliam Structure, Agency and the Construction of Identity through Assessment Learning and Pupil Career in a Primary School - Andrew Pollard and Ann Filer The Case of William Home-School Links - Sally Tomlinson Researching Home-School Relations - Carol Vincent A Critical Approach