Overview

This book summarises the theoretical principles behind talk in school and briefly maps the research tradition in this field. It examines the evidence relating to a variety of forms of classroom talk, including whole school culture and oracy; classroom environments conducive to talk; whole class teacher-pupil talk and pupil-pupil peer talk. The final chapter explores up-to-date issues and influences relating to talk, such as mastery learning, informed by international comparisons. Firmly grounded in evidence and the latest thinking, the book also offers practical advice for everyday implementation and evaluation of these principles. Evidence-based teaching is fast becoming a new orthodoxy. There are many strong voices, including policy voices, advocating its adoption. Understanding the underlying principles allows you to better evaluate the benefits of different approaches to evidence-based teaching and how they relate to your own school context.

Full Product Details

9781912508853

Table of Contents

Reviews

At its heart, this book presents a resolute and modelled commitment to criticality as being central to any professional development and progress in practice. The depth and breadth of discussion is impressive, if possibly over-focused on finding an ideology at the expense of linking consistently with the ways in which teachers might create their own evidence-based interactions with the ideas discussed. The discussion of the tensions between what teachers construct as `right' and the frameworks which they are given to work within is woven throughout this concisely comprehensive discussion, with suggested approaches to negotiating this through reading-informed reflection. The exploration of the `what' and `how' of key issues in the assessment field are handled with deft referencing and commentary, though there could be more of a focus on why these ideas are postulated and the impact that is intended for learners. That said, the book works hard to bridge the gap between teachers as practitioners and teachers as researchers, making a considered case that excellent practice requires teachers to be both. The strongest and potentially most provocative moments in this book come when the relationship between theory, practice and (vitally) impact on pupils is made direct: the summaries of and signposts to further reading would support any teacher to take their thinking in this direction. -- Alys Finch

Author Information

Val Poultney is an experienced teacher educator who has worked in partnership with a number of schools, specialising in evidence-based teaching. She is particularly interested in school leadership and school governance, with a focus on how to develop leadership to support teachers as researchers. Currently a senior lecturer at the University of Derby, she teaches on both initial teacher education and postgraduate programmes. Rupert Knight was a primary school teacher in London and Nottingham before moving into higher education. He is now Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham, working with student teachers and practicing teachers in England and overseas. His research interests include the relationship between theory and practice in learning to teach.

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