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Product reviews for The Big Book of Independent Thinking
Pete Henshaw
This book is a compilation from expert educationalists looking at many different aspects of education and proffering advice, theories and practical tips.
At the outset, you are warned that this is no "how to" guide, but rather a book which aims to challenge you, make you think for yourself, and indeed, you may get feelings of discomfort as well-trodden paths of practice are dismissed within the book's pages.
David Keeling starts us off with his essay On Love, Laughter and Learning in which he talks about improving self-esteem, self-expectation and motivation. Most of Keeling's work in the past 10 years has been with disaffected children.
Matt Gray's chapter on changing your ways and the energy and commitment needed to do this is brilliant, not to mention funny. His essay surrounds motivation to learn and the importance of visualising goals and raising expectations. Guy Shearer's chapter on the creative use of ICT is excellent (for more see SecEd's Managing ICT section next week).
In other chapters, Nina Jackson talks about the use of music in the classroom to improve study skills. Also covered is discipline (Jim Roberson); how the brain recalls and learns (Andrew Curran); living a creative life (Roy Leighton); and building an emotionally-intelligent school (Michael Brearley).
I imagine a number of people may well find the book interesting but then put it down and not change much about the way they do things. That would be shame, as there are some good ideas in there.
The Big Day of Independent Thinking on October 6 in Nottinghamshire sees the book launched alongside a new set of training courses. A number of the authors will be speaking and a range of workshops and Q&A sessions will take place.
At the outset, you are warned that this is no "how to" guide, but rather a book which aims to challenge you, make you think for yourself, and indeed, you may get feelings of discomfort as well-trodden paths of practice are dismissed within the book's pages.
David Keeling starts us off with his essay On Love, Laughter and Learning in which he talks about improving self-esteem, self-expectation and motivation. Most of Keeling's work in the past 10 years has been with disaffected children.
Matt Gray's chapter on changing your ways and the energy and commitment needed to do this is brilliant, not to mention funny. His essay surrounds motivation to learn and the importance of visualising goals and raising expectations. Guy Shearer's chapter on the creative use of ICT is excellent (for more see SecEd's Managing ICT section next week).
In other chapters, Nina Jackson talks about the use of music in the classroom to improve study skills. Also covered is discipline (Jim Roberson); how the brain recalls and learns (Andrew Curran); living a creative life (Roy Leighton); and building an emotionally-intelligent school (Michael Brearley).
I imagine a number of people may well find the book interesting but then put it down and not change much about the way they do things. That would be shame, as there are some good ideas in there.
The Big Day of Independent Thinking on October 6 in Nottinghamshire sees the book launched alongside a new set of training courses. A number of the authors will be speaking and a range of workshops and Q&A sessions will take place.
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16/11/2006 00:00
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