The Learning Rainforest: Great Teaching in Real Classrooms
£14.20£15.20 (-7%)
The Learning Rainforest captures different elements of our understanding and experience of the art and science of teaching. It is a celebration of great teaching and the intellectual and personal rewards that it brings. It’s aimed at all teachers; busy people working in complex environments with little time to spare. The core of the book is a guide to making teaching both effective and manageable using a three-part structure: establishing conditions; building knowledge; exploring possibilities. It provides an accessible summary of key contemporary evidence-based ideas about teaching, curriculum and assessment and the debates that all teachers should be engaging in. It’s packed with strategies for making great teaching attainable in the context of real schools. The author’s ideas about what constitutes great teaching are drawn from his experiences as a teacher and a school leader over 30 years, alongside everything he has read and the debates he’s engaged with during that time.
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Additional information
| Publisher | John Catt Educational Ltd (23 Oct. 2017) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 302 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1911382357 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1911382355 |
| Reading age | 18 years and up |
| Dimensions | 14.8 x 1.4 x 21 cm |
by KatieSorrel
Teachers
The Learning Rainforest is essential reading for anyone wanting to inform their practice with reference to the latest thinking and research, communicated by a consummate teacher who has a breadth of teaching and leadership experience within the English education system and beyond.
If you want to cut to the chase, start with Chapter 6, which includes a brilliant summary of what constitutes great teaching, and then delve into the practical, “I can use in my teaching tomorrow” guidance in Chapters 7-9. Be warned though, you might be required to rethink some of your most beloved teaching habits. And that, of course, is the true value of the book. Once you have got your quick fix of ideas for your classes tomorrow, you will then want to go back to Chapter One to see where all this brilliant advice is coming from…
Leaders and education professionals
The Learning Rainforest is essential reading if you want to be part of the “education conversation” today. I love the way in which Tom is able to describe so well, and in such an informed way, the path through the contemporary education maze, so that I found myself constantly nodding and making positive approval noises as I was reading. (Much to the annoyance of my family…)
Chapter One describes the experiences and influences that have informed Tom Sherrington’s thinking and led to the school / classroom as rainforest metaphor.
Chapter Two makes practical school based sense of the Traditional V Progressive debate, arguing and exemplifying how “they both have a vital role to play in a child’s education”.
Chapter 3 provides thought provoking challenges as to what students should learn in order to empower them in the “conversation” of humankind.
Chapter 4 is a great summary of the latest thinking in educational research, with rich references, grouped around Classroom Climate, Principles of Instruction and Memory, concluding with implications for teaching.
Chapter 5 lays down the assessment challenge: minimise the time spent on “macro summative data tracking” for accountability purposes, and focus instead on developing authentic formative assessment to transform student progress and teacher workload.
Chapter 6 onwards, see above…
To conclude, this is a book to keep in your bag and refer to constantly.
by Rajdeep
This book is a must read for any teacher but will be of special interest to anyone involved in school leadership, of any level. The sections on curriculum design will certainly be influencing my work as a Head of Department. There is a wealth of personal experience from the author and this experience comes from years of working in schools in very different situations. This wide range of contexts makes the advice contained much more valuable.
The is a strong current of educational research running through the entire book but this research is shown to be very applicable to the day to day business of teaching and leading a school and this research is backed up with case studies and examples of excellent practice.
The chapters an effective assessment and creating the conditions are worth the cover price alone with practical guidance on two very tricky areas that are immediately applicable in any school.
One thing that stands out is amount of valuable information packed into this book. It feels as though an experienced teacher and leader has thought hard about the legacy they wish to pass on and poured it into this volume. This is a comprehensive guide to school improvement that somehow also manages to be extremely readable.
by KatieSorrel
Really wish this book had existed when I did my PGCE. It’s split into 2 sections. Part A focuses on educational research in a very accessible and succinct way, summarising research and debates on how and what students should learn (such as the curriculum debate, traditional/progressive paradigm, and more cognitive science and psychology based studies) I must stress how much I loved Chapter 5 on assessment. Tom tackles and simplifies the whole minefield- from basic in class assessment that teachers do without realising all the way to whole school tracking. One line that really resonated with me and will stick with me is for feedback to be effective “primarily there needs to be trust and good student-teacher relationships”.
I’ve been a teacher since 2005 and stopped teaching in 2014, but am returning next month. Part B has been a brilliant crash course in really simple yet timeless tips on creating a positive classroom ethos, establishing knowledge and then providing opportunities for a motivating, multi-faceted learning experience. The establishing knowledge section has so many techniques that I’m really looking forward to trying, such as the tips on promoting dialogic teaching (K5) and Say it Better (K10). These aspects of building knowledge structures in classrooms are often overlooked in teacher training courses therefore this section is essential for those who are in the early stages of their careers and are passionate about really getting subject knowledge through to students.
Tom’s passion for teaching really comes through and I wish he’d been my Physics teacher (was my worst subject!) I love the way he describes the importance of inspiring joy and wonder, and celebrate achievement as it’s own reward. If like me, you are someone who just loves their subjects and wants your students to both love it and succeed in it, this is the book for you.