Effective Learning in Classrooms

`The book is at once accessible, evidence-based, practical and eminently readable...Readers will find in this book a treasury of learners′ voices guiding us towards the goal of more effective learning in classrooms′ - International Network for School Improvement `This book promotes an ambitious and inspiring conception of meaningful pedagogy and works to applaud those teachers who are determined to reflect upon, enquire into, and then facilitate ′′effective learning′′. A coherent and structured case is made for the primacy of ′′learning′′ over ′′work′′ - Learning & Teaching Update This book addresses an important, and too seldom addressed issue: learning. Not teaching, not performance, not "work": this book really is about learning, what makes learning effective and how it may be promoted in classrooms. The authors take the context of the classroom seriously, not only because of its effects on teachers and pupils, but because classrooms are notorious as contexts which change little. Rather than providing yet more tips, they offer real thinking and evidence based on what we know about how classrooms change. Four major dimensions of promoting effective learning in classrooms are examined in depth: Active Learning; Collaborative Learning; Learner-driven Learning and Learning about Learning. Evidence from practising teachers in the form of case studies and examples, and evidence from international research in the form of useful ideas and frameworks is included.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Learning in Classrooms - What′s the Best We Know? What is Effective Learning? What Do We See in Classrooms - Ways of Seeing Voices on Learning and the Culture of Classrooms - Contemporary Myths Your Conceptions of Learning and Teaching - Teachers and the Tensions They Face Promoting Effective Learning - Active, Collaborative, Pupil Agency and Meta-Learning Talking With Colleagues - Telling Our Best Stories of Learning in Classrooms Conclusions

About the Author :
Dr Caroline Lodge Qualifications and position: BA, MA, EdD, Member of NAPCE, AUT Senior Lecturer In School Improvemt And Effectiveness Faculty: Faculty of Children and Learning Department: Department of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment Summary: A former secondary headteacher in an inner London school, Caroline has been studying school improvement, learning and teacher development for many years. Her most recent interest is in involving young people in research, including in visual research. Teaching: Leader of MA in School Effectiveness and School Improvement. Contributes to other programmes: eg Doctoral. Professional Activities: Editorial Board: Improving Schools Conferences/presentations: University of Southern Queensland Keynote on Engaging student voice to improve pedagogy and learning: An exploration of examples of innovative pedagogical approaches for school improvement (October 2007)

Review :
′This is a splendid book. [The authors] distil the results of their distinguished research and teaching to provide teachers with a new set of lenses with which to look at successful learning in classrooms. At the core of the book is a powerful critique of externally imposed frameworks for improving teaching and learning, and in their place, Watkins, Carnell and Lodge offer a powerful conception of the teacher as transformative pedogogue...This is a book which should not be on the shelf but on the desk of every professional development coordinator in schools′ - Teacher Development