Product reviews for Clean Language in the Classroom

Ever wondered if teaching could feel less constrained and more natural, with the majority of the thinking and effort coming more directly from the learner not the teacher? Imagine feeling freed from the effort of finding the right question to ask a learner to support their thinking at that crucial moment. Clean Language in the Classroom can support teachers in the often complex process of learning how the learner learns. Practicing Clean Language can develop the practitioner's listening skills to a degree that can enhance that sensitive attunement teachers have to the learners' words, thoughts and unique personalities. Julie McCracken describes the remarkably simple and effective structures of Clean Language and its application to learning in the classroom based on genuine experiences and classroom practice. The week-by-week guide enables the reflective practitioner to come to feel at ease in using these language scripts: with questions that reflect the exact words spoken by the child and therefore make complete sense to the listener. With engaging illustrations and transcripts of teacher-learner conversations and narratives, Julie McCracken shares her experience of using Clean Language in practical terms in everyday teaching and learning situations and across the curriculum in a primary setting. With this insight and the guiding principles of Clean Language, teachers the world over could enhance the capacity of young learners to think creatively and reflectively, enabling greater self-efficacy, independence and interdependence. Julie brings the reader to a greater understanding of the significance of trust in the teacher-learner and learner-learner relationship and such trust should be an aspiration of schools today. Reading this book with a receptive mind can enliven those core feelings and values that bring teachers into education and even the most long in the tooth educator may be surprised with the ease at which Clean Language can be applied within the learning environment. With widespread use we could see its true potential to make explicit the innermost thoughts our children have about themselves and their learning.