A John Catt Publication (ISBN 978-1-911382-37-9)
Research is for academics. Research provides lots of theories to explain what is happening. Research does not have any impact on me. I just get on with my job.
I would suggest that there are many teachers who would share this view and feel that their jobs are time consuming enough without needing to read thick, wordy documents. This is where this book steps in and brings up to date research into the classroom with real, practical suggestions from a wide range of academics. It is not a thick, wordy document; it is a thoroughly readable discussion about our work.
Carl Hendrick and Robin Macpherson have brought together experts from across the field of educational research and given them the questions that teachers ask. For example, the teacher asks ”Some pupils dominate group talk whilst others do not contribute at all. What can I do to address this?” Doug Lemov responds with 5 suggested practical ways to address the problem. He makes no reference to research, he just makes suggestions.
Ten chapters on subjects ranging from Memory and Recall to Behaviour. Eighteen educational thinking heavyweights including Dylan Williams, Daisy Christodoulou, Alex Quigley, Doug Lemov and Tom Bennett. All put together in an easy to read question and answer style text which is easy to dip into when a spare 10 minutes is created.
It is perfectly rounded off with a conclusion from Carla and Robin which reflects on each chapter and ends with the question, “What can you do to unbolt things to allow your staff to excel at what they do?” The suggested answer is that schools become research informed and I would suggest that this book is the perfect first step in this process.
Dave Baker
