Improving Teaching and Learning in Schools
This is the second commentary by the Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) which describes what their researchers have found out about improving education in UK schools. The work has concentrated on issues such as solving classrooms problems; the best ways of using new technology in schools; involving pupils more successfully and the links between home and school.
The resource includes evidence informed principles for teaching and learning developed as collaborative projects between s
Modality Matching and other Myths: Learning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning
This influential report by the Learning and Skills Research Centre undertaken in 2005 critically reviews the literature on learning styles and examines in detail 13 of the most influential models. The report concludes that it matters fundamentally which instrument is chosen. The implications for teaching and learning in post-16 learning were reported as being serious and of concern to learners, teachers and trainers, managers, researchers and inspectors. The report was aimed at post 16 education
GTIP: Extending Writing Skills
Extracts from a Theory into Practice Publication of the Geographical Association, Extending Writing Skills is concerned with written communication and the ways in which writing activities in the geography classroom can assist the learning process
UCET annual conference 2007
This event is always a very valuable opportunity for teacher educators from across the UK and beyond to network and update themselves on a variety of issues.
The UCET site is worth visiting as a resource that covers many varied issues in relation to teacher development and professional learning.
The proceedings of this conference will be avialable on their website in due course.
TeacherNet website
This is a brief guide to using TeacherNet, a DCSF website offering access to teaching and learning resources, educational guidance and professional development. It considers the following questions: What is it? Why is it useful? How can you use it?
NALDIC ITTSEAL: KS3/4 English Teaching Talking 1
This resource from the National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum (NALDIC) ITTSEAL features session notes for ITE educators to accompany the Teachers TV programme KS3/4 English Teaching Talking 1. The programme shows Year 7 EAL pupils practicing informal and formal types of English as they move from discussion and drafting to writing and performing. It can support secondary trainees to understand that pupils learning EAL will need specific development of their spoken languag
CPD for Teachers – Mentoring and Coaching
This Teachers TV video is concerned with mentoring and coaching with a particular focus on peer-to-peer learning to be employed as an effective tool for staff development. Located within the wider context of continuing professional development, this resource provides examples of how teachers can learn from and with one another in the early and more advanced stages of their career.
NALDIC ITTSEAL: Managing EAL Primary - Assessing Writing
This National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum (NALDIC) ITTSEAL resource features session notes for ITE educators to accompany the Teachers TV programme Managing EAL Primary -Assessing Writing. The programme looks at how Year 2 teachers in a London primary school are using a writing assessment framework, with the support of an EAL specialist. The programme looks at the practical use of this assessment framework for writing which incorporates features of assessment for lear
NALDIC ITTSEAL: Managing EAL Secondary - Strategies around the Clock
This resource from the National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum (NALDIC) ITTSEAL features session notes for ITE educators to accompany the Teachers TV programme Managing EAL Secondary - Strategies around the Clock. The programme shows a multilingual high school in Redbridge where 69% of pupils are learning EAL. The programme looks at two newly arrived pupils. Ibrahim struggles to read and write in his first language, Turkish, while Theebika has already got an A grade in GC
NALDIC ITTSEAL: KS3/4 English Teaching Talking 2
This resource from the National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum (NALDIC) ITTSEAL features session notes for ITE educators to accompany the Teachers TV programme KS3/4 English Teaching Talking 2. The programme shows an NQT working with Year 8 EAL pupils to develop paired work and group discussion. It can support secondary trainees to understand the speaking and listening demands of their subject for pupils learning EAL. Session notes include suggestions for pre-and post ses
NALDIC ITTSEAL: KS1/2 English The Multilingual School
This National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum (NALDIC) ITTSEAL resource features session notes for ITE educators to accompany the Teachers TV programme KS1/2 English The Multilingual School. It gives an overview of provision for pupils learning EAL at a multilingual primary school in Newham. It focuses on developing partnerships with parents and approaches to early reading in KS1. The resource is useful for introducing EAL issues to student teachers, particularly where st
From idea to impact : a guide to the research process. Building effective research : 1
This is one of the titles in the Learning & Skills Research Centre Series which is intended to increase the effectiveness of research on and for the Learning & Skills Sector. This title focuses on the research process as a whole.
Building thinking skills in thinking classrooms ACTS (Activating Children’s Thinking Skills) in No
This research briefing is of a project carried out as part of the Teaching and Learning Research Programme based at the Institute of Education, University of London. ACTS (Activating Children’s Thinking Skills) was used as the thinking framework. The project builds on a substantial earlier review of the research literature on developing thinking skills.
Working with 134 teachers of 8-11 year old pupils in Northern Ireland schools, lessons were designed and taught to teach thinking skills inte
2010 Game Based Learning Conference in London March 29 & 30 I would love to say I'll be there but unfortunately I won't.
Lessons from the frontline 2008 : what good teachers and leaders are doing to improve teaching and l
This special one day event took place at the DCSF on 7 March, as part of the 2008 themed series of events on tackling the ‘gender agenda'. A total of seven presentations, demonstrating successful innovations in schools, were supported by an exhibition about the schools and their work to improve the teaching and learning experience for pupils and staff.
Pedagogy and practice: teaching and learning in secondary schools unit 11: active engagement techniq
This 25 page unit includes a rationale for active engagement, the theory underpinning active engagement, and a series of practical activities to trial in any subject lesson. The unit encourages continuing professional development through reflective practice.
The central claim in the unit is that pupils do not achieve in the short and long term because they are not actively involved in learning.
Visual Impairment
Mason & McCall (1997) describe Visual Impairment (VI) as a general term that can be used to indicate the continuum of sight loss. VI is a low incidence disability that affects an estimated 2.1 per thousand of the total school population. Since it has been suggested that approximately 80% of school tasks are based on vision, sight loss of any kind can have a significant impact upon learning, and as Lomas (1997) goes on to say, the success of many children with VI in mainstream schools depends a
The Key Stage 4 curriculum. Increased flexibility and work-related learning
This is a report of the second year of the Ofsted survey on how well schools and colleges are responding to changes in the Key Stage 4 curriculum, particularly work-related learning.
ESCalate seminar - Assessment: Challenging Practice
This ESCalate seminar was held at the University of Gloucestershire on 17th April 2008, and introduced by the Dean of Teaching and Learning, Kristine Mason O'Connor, as a ‘hard look' at assessment.
Words Matter – Thinking and Talking About Writing in the Classroom
This is a reflection on a classroom-based investigation undertaken in one school as part of the Effective Learning Project, a collaborative research initiative with researchers from Homerton College, Cambridge. The investigation posed the question: “What excites primary pupils about writing in school and what switches them off?”
