LoveReading4Kids Says
LoveReading4Kids Says
This book, written by an experienced secondary teacher, discusses the importance of a subject based curriculum, but also focuses on the approach and the delivery of individual subjects. Whilst there appears to be total agreement on the importance of subject based learning, as ever, there is the ongoing debate as to how. How much emphasis on each subject? How should the subject be delivered, and how does the delivery effect the overall outcome? How important is it to have subject specialists and how best to deliver the curriculum.
Richard Bustin questions these statements in detail, bringing together his own personal expertise as a geography teacher and his own curriculum research, but also by engaging with other teachers and leaders. He uses the research of such educationalists as Eleanor Rawlings and the political influences of ministers such as Michael Gove. He discusses how a curriculum can be overcrowded – what emphasis should be on traditional versus STEM subjects? How much emphasis should be placed on imparting knowledge and how much on exam performance and success? How do we find the balance between imparting powerful knowledge versus teaching the children valuable skills?
He also touches upon the added difficulties teachers have as their own subject knowledge is constantly challenged by social media, Wikipedia, influencers and AI. As he says, ‘education should not be part of fashion, Carol Ann Duffy versus Milton!’ With an everchanging government led approach, educators are at the mercy of politics as well as fashion. Currently the emphasis is less on university-based training and more on the practical in school approach, but how does this impact on expert knowledge?
Richard Bustin manages to ask all these questions and give interesting and informative information and facts without being judgemental or dictatorial. He gives his opinions as a balanced, advisory debate, inviting the reader to question their own and the country’s approach. The questions are powerful and important and will have a long-lasting effect on the next generation, not a topic that is easy to write about, yet Bustin has managed to offer a fresh perspective on education and its delivery of the curriculum. It is a very interesting, topical and thought provoking read.
Rosie Watch
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What are we Teaching Synopsis
This book is available directly from the Crown House Publishing website here
Written by Richard Bustin, What are we Teaching? discusses the importance of having a subject-based curriculum in schools and explores the responsibility that teachers, through their subject specialisms, have to help ensure this is achieved.
Richard Bustin is a teacher, researcher and teacher trainer. His new book What are we Teaching?: Powerful knowledge and a capabilities curriculum is born out of Richard’s conviction that each and every subject can be empowering and inspiring and can contribute distinctively to a young person’s education. He believes that every student is entitled to a powerful knowledge-led, subject-based curriculum. The ambitious view of education presented in his book is less about making alterations to the way in which schools operate and more about changing our understanding of what we teach and why. The book presents a fresh perspective on curriculum design, arguing that subjects are key to enabling young people to develop the powerful knowledge needed to flourish in our complex modern world.
Moving ideas beyond the ‘traditional vs progressive’ debates that have dominated education discourse, Richard challenges the overarching emphasis on exam performance at the expense of the broader benefits of subject knowledge and capabilities such as critical and creative thinking. Ultimately, this book invites teachers to consider why their subject specialisms are important as part of a whole school curriculum vision and throughout, Richard prompts teachers to evaluate their responsibilities as ‘curriculum makers’.
What are we Teaching? is research-based, using voices of real teachers who engaged with the question ‘what makes your subject powerful knowledge for young people’. Richard then examines these testimonies focusing on different subject areas, before offering advice on building a powerful knowledge and capabilities rich curriculum in schools. Each chapter also offers a set of reflective questions which can be used as part of ITE training or staff CPD.
This thought provoking yet accessible book firmly gives teachers the confidence to forge their own path as curriculum makers. It is an important contribution to the professional conversations about what counts as a thoughtful, enriching and fair curriculum and will certainly prove an invaluable resource for those refining and upgrading it.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781785837180 |
| Publication date: |
2nd October 2024 |
| Author: |
Richard Bustin |
| Publisher: |
Crown House Publishing |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
224 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Books for Teachers
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| Other Genres: |
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Author
About Richard Bustin
Dr Richard Bustin teaches Geography and leads the department at Lancing College, where he is responsible for staff development and teacher training. Richard’s research on curriculum has resulted in multiple publications, invitations to speak at education conferences and work with trainee teachers around the world.
More About Richard Bustin
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