professional development today

PDT 19.2 Contents and Editors

The contents and editorial for Professional Development Today 19.2!

PDT 19.2 Teacher research engagement: what do we know and what can we learn?

Jonathan Sharples and Julie Nelson describe their investigation into teachers’ research engagement. They reveal that, whilst teachers are positively disposed to research, a great deal remains to be done to establish a genuinely evidenced informed culture in schools.

PDT 19.2 Inquiry with a creative edge!

Lesley Saunders describes how she worked with Year 11 students using the creative technique of “found poetry” to express professional development discussions that took place in a one-day conference on teachers’ inquiry projects.

New in the Professional development today Zone

Leading Learning in a World of ‘Whitewater’

Jane Reed believes we are living in unprecedented turbulent times and doubts whether we are equipping current and forthcoming generations of children to meet the big challenges sufficiently. She describes a project which sought to restore the primary focus on learning, provides a set of core practices, and explores the professional development implications.

Growing a culture of inclusion: understandings from the research

Schools operate within a cauldron of continuous change. Alison Ekins describes a two year research project which indicates that if teachers are to cope successfully with all the changing demands made of them they needed to be supported through professional development opportunities and also through a deep understanding of professional identity.

Achieving evidence-informed school improvement: a check list for school leaders

Chris Brown provides guidance on how leaders can embody research engagement in their own practice and in the way they empower others.

essential reading

Applying Emotional Intelligence: A Practitioner’s Guide

The explosion of research on Emotional Intelligence (EI) in the last decade has provided increasing evidence that EI can be measured reliably and can be useful in predicting important outcomes, such as managerial effectiveness and relationship quality.

Assessing the Whole Child

This book demonstrates how portfolios and student led conferences support the authentic assessment of the ‘whole child’.An accompanying CDRom contains a template that has been designed to enable teachers and students to develop their own portfolio.

Asking Better Questions

Learn a host of inventive new ways to encourage students to become more effective learners by posing more thoughtful questions.

Coaching Educational Leadership

Coaching Educational Leadership is about building leadershipcapacity in individuals, and in institutions, through enhancing professional relationships.

Assessment for Learning

This book offers valuable insights into assessment for learning as teachers describe in their own words how they turned the ideas into practical action in their schools.

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Pedagogy of Confidence – applying Feuerstein’s Theory to dispel the colour achievement gap myth

Yvette Jackson confronts the low expectations of students of colour which she sees as endemic in the United States. She shows how Feuerstein’s Thinking can inspire high intellectual performances and transform learning.

Learning how to learn

Anne-Theresa Lawrie describes how Feuerstein’s programmes have been explored by schools in the Scottish Borders and in particular examines the teacher training dimension.

Dynamic assessment!

How do we identify gifted children and what factors contribute to our understanding of giftedness Maria Dolores Calero explains through her review of developments of Feuerstein Theory.

Making a difference in education: what the evidence says.

Chris Brown explores a book of valuable narratives about what makes a difference in education and the often shaky evidence underpinning this. Whilst offering no quick fixes, he applauds the book’s invitation for readers to focus, engage in context and to learn.