Product reviews for The Teacher's Toolkit

If you are involved with learners of any age, this is a resource that will be relevant and applicable to you.

If you are just beginning your career or you are an old hand interested in why some kids don't ever seem to get the message while others very quickly get on your wavelength, then there is challenge and help here. If you are grappling with -˜Learning to Learn', -˜Citizenship' and -˜Inclusion' then The Teacher's Toolkit will be a rewarding read.

Paul Ginnis begins by looking at how an why we learn, by addressing information processing, personality, sensory modalities environment, social interaction, intelligence and cerebral geography. As I read this section I realised that the extent to which you rely on your preferred teaching style can exclude a significant percentage of learners. The author also indicates that the way some schools and classrooms are organised can alienate pupils by failing to build their self-esteem.

However, Paul Ginnis doesn't cut the wheels from under you without giving you the tools to repair the damage. For each piece of theory about learning he includes a numerical reference to a teaching strategy outlined in Section 2, -˜Tools for teaching and learning'. There are 50 tools -˜designed to do the best for all students irrespective of learning style, background and previous attainment, to support them in becoming socially skilled, independent thinkers with a strong sense of personal and collective responsibility'.



These tools are meant as examples which you can adapt and develop to turn the principles of learning theory into effective classroom practice. Beware, though, you may have to step out of your preferred teaching style and surrender some of the responsibility for learning to your students.