How Real Teachers Learn to Engage All Learners

The first few years of teaching represent an intense period of experimentation and learning, leading to the adoption of learner-centered practices to help students achieve. A critical incident or nagging problem triggers critical reflection on practice, experimentation, the adoption of new approaches, and permanent changes in practice. When teachers improve their practice through action research and collaboration with colleagues, students predictably learn more. Inspecting the “core” areas of teaching and learning helps teachers critically reflect on practice to improve and innovate. Drawing on research and best practices from education and psychology, readers learn how four “motivational pathways” attract even the most reluctant and resistant learners to learning. While many recognize the importance of well prepared and accomplished teachers in helping students learn, too few recognize the need for continuous learning as the surest route to gaining expertise in teaching and increasing student achievement. Practical models and strategies presented in this book will help teachers address the important challenges facing schools today, including supporting disadvantaged learners, raising student achievement, and challenging all students to achieve their potential.

Table of Contents:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS FOREWORD PREFACE INTRODUCTION CHAPTER ONE: ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERIES AND TEACHER LEARNING CHAPTER TWO: HOW REAL TEACHERS LEARN CHAPTER THREE: THRESHOLD CROSSINGS AND CONCEPTS IN LEARNING CHAPTER FOUR: TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS AND LEARNER-CENTERED PRACTICE CHAPTER FIVE: CORE KNOWLEDGE OF TEACHING CHAPTER SIX: MOTIVATING PATHWAYS FOR LEARNING CHAPTER SEVEN: ENGAGING LEARNERS AND PEDAGOGY CHAPTER EIGHT: CHALLENGING AND SUPPORTING ALL STUDENTS CHAPTER NINE: PARADOXES IN TEACHING AND CRITICALLY REFLECTIVE PRACTICE REFERENCES

About the Author :
Dr. Sarah J. Noonan, is associate professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she teaches graduate courses in leadership, professional development and supervision, research, and communication. Dr. Noonan previously served as a superintendent and assistant superintendent of schools, director of teaching and learning, state director of gifted education, and K-12 teacher before receiving her faculty appointment at the University of St. Thomas in 2000.

Review :
A compelling and unvarnished look at the art and science of teaching, Noonan eloquently captures the essence of education in the new millennium. A masterful storyteller, Noonan creates authentic characters, vignettes, and dilemmas, which transforms the reader to a sacred place to rediscover the challenges and opportunities for students and teachers of the twenty-first century. Practitioners at all stages of their careers will readily identify with the complex nature of teaching. Noonan skillfully builds a bridge for the reader to reflect and use relevant data and scenarios to capture the nuances of our profession. Each chapter offers mentor teachers, teacher leaders, and principals a rare opportunity to examine teaching and leaning at its subliminal core. Use this text as a perfect companion for your professional learning community. Find a comfortable space in your professional practice, open your eyes, and allow yourself to discover the REAL opportunities to harness the potential of all learners and teachers! How Real Teachers Learn to Engage All Learners stresses the importance of meeting the human needs of students in the school environment. Combining findings from psychology and education, Noonan describes four 'motivational pathways' to attract even the most troubled and reluctant students to learning. Noonan shows how to win the hearts and minds of students by first seeing them as worthy and capable human beings, then stimulating their interest through active learning, and finally, ensuring students receive the support needed to learn and achieve in school. Fascinating, wise and elegant, this book illustrates how teachers with 'innovative expertise' challenge their students to reach their full potential. My research on the early childhood and adolescent education of Nobel laureates in science revealed how all recipients benefited from the support of at least one teacher with expertise in motivating students, helping them become some of the most entrepreneurial, innovative, and creative people in the world. Noonan shows how teaching using learner-centered practice and 'engaging pedagogy' will help future innovators realize their dreams. This book will be a defining work for decades, and a “must read” for every teacher and parent. Wise, compelling, and authentic. Dr. Noonan has accomplished the near impossible with this text—writing an engaging, practical, and inspiring textbook about improving classroom practice, regardless if the reader is an undergraduate or a graduate student, an aspiring or an experienced teacher, or a supervisor or supervisee. She accomplishes this feat by citing well-researched theoretical and empirical literature as well as providing several actual stories to help readers understand how to implement successful teaching and learning practices. The REAL model captures the essence of what needs to be done to improve learning in the 21st century. After finishing the textbook, readers will be eager to apply the material as soon as possible.