When I first started teaching way back in 1989, I taught some KS3 English and was asked to use a dog-eared set of books with the title, The Island, printed in white against a gaudy, bold cartoon like illustration. Inside were all sorts of activities encouraging pupils to think, plan and problem solve about their survival after ending up on this barren landscape with many activities that were cross-curricular in nature. 

Publishing has moved on and now things are more ambitious and sophisticated. Uncharted Territories - adventures in learning by Hywel Roberts and Debra Kidd is a beautifully produced book and clearly a labour oflove. Its foreword (written by David Cameron - not that one surely??) makes it clear that it aspires to be 'more than a handbook ... more than a toolkit.' Indeed, to this reviewer it is clearly a manifesto for cross-curricular learning bridging the KS2/KS3 divide and in Drama terms is heavily influenced by the work of Dorothy Heathcote and her acolyte, Luke Abbott, not just in its 'children as experts' writing reports but also in its appeal to the essentials of children's play to encourage 'the best kinds of thinking'. It begins with a short, 'Statement of Intent' to place use of the 'imagination' as the key to learning. Indeed, in the age of Greta Thunberg its words are resonant: 'Our planet is facing challenges .... we need to look to the future ... empowering children with the belief that they can be agents for change .. .' 

As for the, book itself its lofty aims are not schemes of work but, 'prompts, provocations and possibilities ... to get you excited about learning'. The layout of the book goes some way to achieve this aim. The dustcover is dual purpose and opens out to be a chart to display some of the lovely illustrations inside. 

Each chapter takes not so much a theme but a specific location to fire the imagination and uses eye catching woodcut type illustrations for children to immediately begin asking questions. Hence, the first location is The Forest, with an implied narrative and mystery set up by a series of suggested questions children could ask before thinking of their own. I liked the approach of asking children to pose questions which immediately puts the onus on them as learners. The only question I get asked in the classroom is 'Can I go to the toilet?' The chapters are then sub-divided into suggestions for activities in the primary and secondary settings;'stopover'- more detailed road-tested lesson suggestions with the given age range and somewhat fascinatingly, the 'bedrock' section which gives a theoretical underpinning to the whole process. Indeed, the authors go to some trouble to explain research on brain function in relation to the acquisition of knowledge along with movement and free play. The forest chapter aptly teems with ideas and it would be easy to pie and mix what would work for a particular class. In terms of suggested Drama activities they are highlighted in bold print and link to a section at the back titled, Useful Drama Techniques. 

Initially they seem quite limited: freeze-framing; still image; teacher in role; thought tracking but the whole thing is imbued with a Heathcote feel and enthusiasm. 

Other chapters cover different locations, such as, The Graveyard, The Ship, The Universe, The Zoo, The Wasteland, and are structured in the same way with dozens of suggestions for work and enquiry. The authors make it clear that suggested activities should see children, 'wading knee deep in experiences that demand more than just memorisation'. It is no surprise that this book is, in part an antidote to testing, rigid curriculum models and all the other complexities of a top down curriculum. Instead it seeks to promote the importance of empathy, oracy, emotion and the purpose of narrative as a way to drive the imagination. 

Pupil well-being is also at the top of its agenda. The cynic in me thought for a moment that it was making an argument for creativity that has already been lost. However, the theoretical sections (which are far from dry academic stuff) save the thesis of the book and make it a useful book for Drama teachers in need of thematic ideas, Heathcote fans or teachers at KS2 who want new ways to unlock the imagination of all children. As a book, its ambition is to be applauded and it is a thing of beauty in itself. Take a look yourself! 

I have purchased 35 copies of this book to date, which are being used across two schools. The thing with this book is that it makes entirely possible what many schools consider impossible in the current educational landscape: it presents schools with solutions to providing the -˜broad and balanced curriculum' which, as an education system, we never should have abandoned. Some school leaders, in this culture of fear, have been fooled into thinking that the purpose of education is simply to pass SATs tests, when this is only a fraction of what we should be aiming for. The resulting tendency in schools has been to focus on filling children's heads with knowledge to regurgitate in a test at the expense of their imagination, critical thinking skills and love of learning. Leaders and teachers have felt that they -˜can't' teach in innovative, creative ways any longer whilst ensuring children acquire the knowledge they need. This book unashamedly says that they can and presents many accessible and brilliant learning opportunities. Furthermore, it is accessible to NQTs, experienced teachers and those least confident in their own ability to plan and teach creatively.

A further way in which this book is innovative is the ease in which it shows how values can be threaded throughout a school's curriculum. Often values are taught as an -˜add-on' through assemblies or PSHE lessons. This book teaches us to look for opportunities to teach values through every possible curriculum area - it will train teachers to think in this way and to not miss obvious opportunities to build teaching and learning on values such as responsibility and compassion.

Finally, reading Twitter could lead you to believe that knowledge can only be acquired through traditional -˜chalk and talk' teaching methods and that anything else is progressive and therefore woolly. I can safely say the results I have seen in the classroom from using this book firmly prove that so-called -˜progressive' approaches result in children developing a thirst for knowledge which might otherwise have been crushed out of them.

In primary schools, we perhaps shy away from more difficult topics such as bereavement. Uncharted Territories is peppered with ways in which to have these discussions with young children - for example, the chapter on -˜The Graveyard' offers several ways in which teachers can consider this topic within the realms of children's imaginations. The book takes the fear out of how to get children thinking deeply about global issues and therefore quickly takes them to a place of immersion where writing and finding out more becomes irresistible. A recent example of the use of this chapter at our school was in the teaching of World War One. Teachers of children across the school were able to take the ideas from this chapter and adapt them to plan lessons which resulted in some of the most empathetic writing (from the trenches to their -˜families') I have ever seen. The writing reflected not only the children's knowledge of this period of history but also a depth of compassion for the soldiers and their families that might not otherwise have emerged from a different approach.

At our school, we aim to educate wise, skilled, compassionate citizens. Uncharted Territories contains so many gems to help us do this and is written in such a way that once you have used it, it fundamentally changes the way you think as a teacher and a school. Contained within its pages is the power to move away from believing that planning is about filling in boxes and towards being able to plan lessons that children will be absorbed by. It saves teachers' time not because it contains all the answers, but because it opens up our imaginations and makes us braver; it brings us to planning -˜flow', rather than Sunday afternoon frustration over how to make our lessons interesting and engaging. This book contains what we need to ensure that our educational aims are met. It gives us so many starting points into otherwise  -˜dry' national curriculum objectives that we can't fail to deliver magical, memorable and engaging lessons. It just sparks teachers' imaginations and opens up possibilities for planning which don't exist in regular schemes of work or in internet searches.



Uncharted Territories has the power to change the way people think and to open up long-forgotten possibilities in education. It is a book that will reset us all and get us back to thinking about how we can lead schools that fulfil their true purpose.

Uncharted Territories has been an incredible resource for us at St Bernard's and across our Teaching School Alliance. The ideas that are shared across each chapter have been invaluable and have helped develop practice across so many of our classrooms. In our recent work with 53 schools to develop a curriculum around conservation, this book has been a central resource in each of them. Colleagues have been inspired by the ideas and examples within the book, which have really helped them to change what they do in order to invest pupils and deepen their learning. 

Uncharted Territories is different to so many other books and in many ways has become a handbook for our staff. Through its clear examples, links to curriculum areas and a wide range of prompts to support teachers, it's an ideal tool to deliver awesome learning experiences through the whole curriculum. With this book in hand, teachers have become more confident in delivering lessons and it's clear to see how the children have responded across each school. The impact has been fantastic!

The book has also supported us as we have redefined our curriculum. Through the examples in each chapter, we see how the curriculum experience we provide our children can be so much richer. This has led to groups of colleagues working together across the region to shape their own curriculum plans, incorporating the ideas developed within the book. The power of such a collaboration from one resource is a really exciting prospect.

For staff development too, the links to cognitive science and the -˜bedrock' of practice from which we work have been really useful. In a time in which evidence-based practice is key, staff are really empowered to see how such an approach makes a real impact on learning.

After developing the ideas shared within Uncharted Territories, several colleagues told us they were reminded of why they came into teaching in the first place. They have been reinvigorated and have developed their curriculum in ways they would never have previously thought. Equally powerful impact has been how, as a result of their teachers' practice developed from the book, children have grown in empathy and as agents of change. This has led to pupils taking action around areas of conservation and social justice. Many colleagues have quoted the first few pages of the book to me when they have discussed their revised curriculum and the impact this has made: -˜What are we if we are not architects of hope?'



This is how the book has made colleagues across our alliance feel. This is how I want all teachers to feel. If you're not currently excited by teaching, or haven't got this book in your school yet, you really need to buy it!

“My reading viewpoint

After attending Northern Rocks 2018 and hearing both Hywel and Debra speak I knew I would be interested in anything they had to say. A friend had a copy of their book and was kind enough to lend it me. I read as a curious practitioner, always keen to develop ideas to share or use if I return to the classroom.

Summary

This was a really unexpected read. Not to say I didn't enjoy it; it was simply unlike any edu-book I have read so far. Uncharted Territories is best described (I think) as a collection of ideas to inspire and ignite learning opportunities in the classroom, both primary and secondary. While research is mentioned, and these sections were most interesting to me personally, the focus is much more on ways in which one theme can be used to teach the breadth of the curriculum without pigeonholing learning into discrete subject lessons.

The book is divided into chapters which each begin with a different learning hook from theme parks to caves. Each chapter is then segmented into the same parts designed to get all teachers thinking about how one learning hook can be used to teach a wide range of topics, immersing pupils into their learning. If you are aware of Tim Taylor's -˜Mantle of the Expert' work (and other such approaches that I am unfortunately ignorant of) then you may recognise the approach the book takes.

Overall, while the book can be read cover to cover I believe it would be best used as a reference guide, read and put into practice one chapter at a time. It is chock full of ideas which could simply be used as is or used as a springboard to fire the imagination of a single teacher, year group or department. The options are limitless.

My key takeaways

1. An immersive environment provides context and a clear purpose. Each theme of the book provides a wealth of experiences for pupils which creates meaningful connections to different areas of learning within the curriculum. Kidd and Roberts cite cognitive theories including Willingham's work which notes the importance of stories to develop learning. Developing a longer term narrative for learning based on one hook could be a fantastic way of providing purpose for learning. They also note that stepping in and out of the created narrative in order to teach key skills is fine, but the focus should be on the theme and the story developed.

2. What do we want for the future? Kidd and Roberts pose this very question and it has made me think a lot about the pupils we teach. The themes and ideas suggested go beyond the concepts of the curriculum and expose pupils to thinking about wider aspects - the environment, humanity, emotions. While I know these are taught in schools across the land, it does make me questions how much responsibility teachers have to develop these aspects in pupils in our care and how this immersive approach could be a -˜safe' way in which to tackle bigger issues. Perhaps we shouldn't have to teach people skills and agency but if it's a by-product of an approach then perhaps that's OK.

I think you should read this book if-¦

- You are aware of immersive, hook or story-based teaching and would like practical, inspirational ideas and resources.
- You teach thematically and want practical suggestions to develop your practice.”

Click here to read the review on Lisa's blog.

I know when I open the annual envelope from Crown House Publishing containing their catalogue that something thought-provoking will emerge. At its best, Crown House takes us into a world of creative approaches to curriculum and pedagogy, designed to nurture children's imagination, responses and knowledge in powerful ways that seek to release us from, or help us see beyond, some of the mundane routines of everyday education. This could not be more true of one of their most recent books, Uncharted Territories.

Debra Kidd and Hywel Roberts, authors of the book, are well-known for their deeply humane, child-centred, imagination-centred, response-centred pedagogies, a reaction against the rigidities of current curricular and institutional tendencies. Inspired by their training in drama under Dorothy Heathcote and their many years of experience in education, and profoundly critical of the ways in which teachers and students have been disempowered in the status quo, they seek to activate the creativity of both, and to cast them as independent and powerful agents in the world of knowledge. (And, by the way, if you haven't encountered Debra Kidd's wonderful blog -˜Love Learning', or her fantastic book Teaching: Notes from the Frontline (also published by Crown House), then do investigate them straight away.)

Designed for both primary and secondary teachers, Uncharted Territories is both an enjoyable read and a stimulating one. In the form of a metaphorical journey around an imaginary world, it sets out a model for learning across the curriculum based on narrative exploration. Each of the ten chapters guides us - accompanied by a delightful fold-out map and illustrations - through a different location in this world: a forest, a castle, a graveyard, a mountain, a ship, the universe, a wasteland, a zoo, a cave, and a theme park. Along the way, each chapter points out -˜landmarks', -˜stopovers' and -˜stepping stones' - a range of ways in which these landscapes might stimulate learning in different subject areas. Each chapter concludes by taking us to the -˜bedrock' of each location - a short -˜debrief' on the -˜theoretical and academic underpinning' of the learning described in the chapter.

Uncharted Territories can be read as a series of units of work, as a stimulus for creative classroom practice, as a blueprint for curricular and cross-curricular innovation, or as a philosophical journey into the heart of learning - or all four. Whichever of these we take from it, It is valuable for the ways in which it inspires us to think differently about and imagine more richly the world of the classroom. Cynics may find some of its language and ideas naïve, but its passion, intelligence and creative spirit shine through and illuminate some of the darker alleyways of our school system as well as some of the exciting alternative paths that we might take. At the very least, it would be a wonderful stimulus for a department discussion. Highly recommended.

To spark writing, you need to ignite the imagination. To be imaginative, you need experiences, creativity, and skills to be able to articulate and engage. Faced with a classroom full of pupils at different stages of their development and in terms of their expanding abilities, being able to excite pupils about their learning can sometimes seem like an uphill struggle. If only you could provide that hook to get them to analytically, imaginatively and deeply think to offer a sense of purpose to the set task.

In their new book, Debra Kidd and Hywel Roberts firmly place teachers, and ultimately their students, in a range of different locations, where the learning inhabits, offering a fantastically imagined context with prompts, ideas and illustrations helping exploration and discovery. In a fascinating resource book, which can be used in many subject areas, across most stages in schools, the authors break down each chapter destination (including a forest, castle, graveyard, ship, zoo, cave, theme park) into a story starter - introducing the location and providing provocative initial questions; key landmarks (either for primary or secondary aged students), a stopover - providing a more in-depth account of their learning journey; stepping stones - context based tasks provided to also prod your imagination, and; the bedrock - offering a debrief of the processes, helping teachers understand the justification of the processes undertaken.

Accompanied by beautiful illustrations from Debra's son Gabriel - offering a visual hook into the locations - each chapter is scattered with key questions to spark imaginations, accompanied by concepts and lines of inquiry, all justified by a list of curriculum areas where each idea can be applied. The -˜stopovers' offer a real contextual example of how the ideas can be put into classroom learning experiences, incorporating drama, imagination and key discussion activities to help build a powerful narrative for students to then work towards the task-in-hand.

But what about assessment (I hear you ask)? Debra and Hywel have that covered, and this is given due consideration towards the end of the book - essentially no mark schemes are provided; you won't find any success criteria, but an acknowledgement that the ideas are underpinned by opportunities for pupils to access and create texts, sparking a desire to write adding value in their learning providing a real purpose to the work being undertaken. Additionally, the book also provides a selection of useful drama techniques, but the front cover - when unfolded - also offers an additional resource which could be used throughout the learning adventures which are provided.



This is a great book for teachers who still think teaching creatively has an important part to play in their classroom. With the narrow curriculum being advocated by many education systems, the opportunities to still make your teaching creative are still there, with Debra and Hywel demonstrating how this is possible through any subject and at any educational stage. It only takes a bit of creative imagination, courage and belief in your pupils to help them develop into learners who think deeply, analytically and imaginatively.

Click here to read the full review online.

School leaders all know that a really good teacher is the greatest asset a school can have - they change lives for the better. Top-quality, career-long professional learning supports the nurture and development of such teachers, and there are many handbooks on the market that can help this process - yet it is not always easy to know which ones are worth the investment.

But what if you could find a book that contains a rich mine of professional learning, one that is full of rich contexts and inspiring ideas with which to support young people in exploring moral dilemmas and engage them in creative problem solving in a collaborative, inter-disciplinary manner? A book that offers teachers, both primary and secondary, countless possibilities within ten specific contexts that immediately grab learners' imaginations, with formative assessment suggestions included as well? As a teacher or a school leader you would want to read it. Uncharted Territories is such a book.

The ideas in Uncharted Territories work. I have seen them come to life in a classroom setting - they hook the learners in, ensure they become invested in the subject in hand and lead to very high-quality work. The benefit of experiencing learning in this way is considerable, and the impact on both achievement and behaviour is marked.



As Roberts and Kidd suggest in the book's introduction, teachers must become -˜Sherpas of the curriculum': I will make sure all of our teachers have a copy of Uncharted Territories to enable them to move, with their learners, upwards to the pinnacles of learning and towards greater successes.

Uncharted Territories sweeps education away from a narrow vision of learning just to pass tests. Encouraging both imagination and analytical skills, its aim is to make learning a 360-degree joy. I wish my teachers had read this.

For teachers looking for more innovative and creative ways to fire children's imaginations, Uncharted Territories is exceptionally useful.



Taking cues from figures as diverse as Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Carl Sagan, the authors take the reader through ten unique worlds using a range of different approaches to confront real-world problems linked to the curriculum. Each chapter is structured around a set of provocations, including a central image and a set of key conceptual questions, and offers highly practical strategies that will appeal to busy teachers on the go and school leaders alike.

Reading Uncharted Territories before starting my career as a teacher has not only made me rethink the purpose of education, but it has also inspired my own personal approach to teaching. Hywel and Debra provide viable, sustainable and fun practical approaches that will influence my various future educational experiences.

This book is absolutely inspired - and inspirational! I poured voraciously through the entire thing, desperate to see what each image was, and where one could go with it. And where I could go! I want to write a persuasive text in the form of a poster encouraging tourists to come and visit the castle because visitor numbers are down ... I want to paint a picture of a little cottage in the woods ... I want to compose a sea shanty that the pirates can sing as they board my ship ... And I want to design a modernist building to put up in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.



The possibilities are endless - and that really, really excites me.

A fantastic resource for teachers across the curriculum, Uncharted Territories places creativity at the centre of pedagogy to inspire innovative and challenging practice.

I love the style of Uncharted Territories. It feels personal but also practical, with authentic ideas for activities and plans to be used in the classroom - a revelation for a teacher who is tired of just reading pedagogical theories with no practical information or activities to back them up! I'm excited to use some of the images and ideas for questioning in my whole-class reading.



The hooks are fantastic, enabling children to imagine, question and create by drawing from images and various reading strategies/materials. The bedrock sections also really help me to understand why and how we teach the way we do - it's good to be reminded and it makes me want to desperately fight against the system! 

Teaching is hard. It's even harder if you have either been trained to deliver, not create, a curriculum, or have become deskilled by so many years of being told what to do and how to do it. Which is why Uncharted Territories is so important, and why employing the many ideas and suggestions Hywel and Debra share with you is more important still.

You're not there to “deliver” - you are neither a midwife nor a petrol pump. Nor are you there to read a script, hand out worksheets or be the one who simply hits play on a YouTube video. Your job is to breathe life into the process of learning by helping it become a joyful, wondrous and exciting experience.



Uncharted Territories will help you do just that. Enjoy.

This forest is an exciting forest, a creative forest, a forest built of language and stories and the feeling that you - yes, you - can help to build the forest.

In a world of “No, but ...”, this forest is a splendid “What if ...”



Enter and enjoy!

An extraordinary book for teachers of any age group and of any subject, Uncharted Territories is filled with passion and is written entirely from the heart. It will leave you with a long list of starting points with which to ignite students' imaginations and feed your own thinking in the classroom.

The joyous style of writing makes it eminently readable and its voice will be familiar to anyone who has been to either of the authors' workshops or has heard them speak. Hywel and Debra are doing so much to shape the future of our young people and this comes across strongly in this book.



An absolute must-read for all educators.

If only Hywel and Debra had written Uncharted Territories back when I was working in the classroom every day. How it would have helped me to encourage my students to think, to question and to be more creative!



What a joy to delve into this amazing book as an aid to the planning of engaging and exciting lessons - I will make sure that all of the teachers and leaders I work with know about this excellent resource. And as I'm still aiming to be a unicorn when I grow up, there are loads of brilliant and practical ideas for me to use on my journey through leadership development too. Thank you, both. I love it.

Uncharted Territories is an absorbing, thought-provoking book full of practical suggestions, organised to be accessible and yet rooted in a strong theoretical foundation. Throughout, Hywel and Debra talk to teachers in a way that will build confidence, reap benefits and improve their learners' life chances.

Whether you are a novice or someone who has been this way before, Uncharted Territories is a book that will help you tread a pathway into the imaginations of young people. A pathway that will wend its way through worlds of thinking, wondering, deciding and acting -¦ and will help children to grow into the kinds of people who will make a difference in their own world of tomorrow.



Have a read and give it a go -¦ the territory is your own to explore and to chart.

Uncharted Territories is an excellent resource for supporting a rigorous inquiry-led approach to classroom practice. At its heart is an understanding of the natural link between play, curiosity and creativity, and it features some innovative ideas for making connections across disciplines.



The starting points, or “the keys” as they are termed in the book, for each section are designed to stimulate a child's imagination by focusing on areas such as forests, castles and space. The questions and strategies have a freshness in their approach, and the authors offer plenty of suggestions to take topics in exciting new directions. 

Uncharted Territories will ignite your ability to plan creatively as a busy teacher. It is a massive collection of brilliant ideas that are straightforward to implement and adapt as you please.



An absolute must-read for all teachers, Uncharted Territories will take your lessons and your learners' engagement to another level.