This book has managed to be both accessible and very relevant without being patronising, which is always a difficult balance. It is packed with tips and anecdotes and what makes it especially good, is the fact that, as a busy teacher, you can simply dip in to a relevant chapter. It is a great guide book, but I also liked the way that it is laid out instructions, suggestions and ideas for teachers, whilst allowing us the freedom to adapt the programme for ourselves.
It is a huge resource with cross references to other publications and practices. I loved the brief synopsis at the start of each chapter with the teaching tips, leadership tips and the unusual addition of the unexpected findings box, which was particularly interesting. A shame the political parties have not read the findings on how smaller classes are only more effective if the class size is below 20 and focused itself on more useful suggestions that they might put into place.
The book is full of common sense suggestions, reminders and solutions such as ‘technology is there to support, not replace’ and the importance of feedback not marking which can simply be a way of demonstrating a teacher’s performance or to satisfy the requirements of others, mainly adults. It was reassuring to see in print, so much of what so many of us think.
The advice in the book is incredibly helpful. It is not trying to reinvent the wheel, but giving teachers reminders about how to apply best practice. It is very easy to stop learning yourself in the efforts to educate others. The book summarises very succinctly what we all aspire to be. It is not what you do, but the way that you do it, that is important.
This book would be brilliant for CPD or an inset training in any school and a valuable asset to any staffroom book shelf.
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Strongly recommended for all those involved in both the strategic and the frontline aspects of teaching and learning in the current educational landscape. Fabulous format for easy dipping in and out.
Fabulous format for easy dipping in and out. The book provides detailed analysis of a variety of educational/classroom practices in an easy to digest manner. Each chapter takes a common approach or practice and through a consistent structure provides the reader with the evidence from research as to whether the approach works, when/how it works and any specific benefits or limitations. Teaching tips and leadership tips are included to support the approach in practice. The book is a great resource for teachers looking to base their teaching on research evidence.
Strongly recommended for all those involved in both the strategic and the frontline aspects of teaching and learning in the current educational landscape, where it can be easy to adopt a new strategy with the promise of it solving a myriad of issues without true consideration of the evidence base behind it.... Read Full Review
Evaluations of 21 different teaching strategies: an up-to-date, wide-ranging and well-researched guide to improving classroom practice.
What Works? Research and Evidence for Successful Teaching provides overviews of various teaching strategies and evaluates them for their effectiveness in terms of pupil progress. Attainment gain is measured in the number of months’ extra progress over a year that pupils are likely to make.
21 different approaches are reviewed in short, readable chapters. Each chapter contains an explanation of the approach, summaries of the learning benefits, teaching and leadership tips, and suggestions for further reading. Some of the strategies that are examined include: mastery learning, individualised learning, one-to-one tuition, collaborative learning, and self-regulation and metacognition.
The book does not go into great detail about how to implement each strategy. It’s more a case of presenting each one and the benefits of each. Teachers can then decide which approaches might best be suited to their classroom and research them further.... Read Full Review
Very easy-to-access book with research-based ideas which I was able to quickly and effectively implement in my classroom.
As a busy teacher and Assistant Head, I found this book really easy to use and therefore an enjoyable and useful read. The clear layout of the 21 approaches, each neatly summarised for a quick overview means I am able to jump in and read sections when appropriate.... Read Full Review
