- Table View
- List View
Commentary on John: Volume 1 (Ancient Christian Texts #Volume 1)
by Cyril of AlexandriaCyril of Alexandria (ca. 378-444), one of the most brilliant representatives of the Alexandrian theological tradition, is best known for championing the term Theotokos (mother of God) in opposition to Nestorius of Constantinople. Cyril's great Commentary on John, offered here in the Ancient Christian Text series in two volumes, predates the Nestorian controversy, however, and focuses its theological fire power against Arianism. The commentary, which is addressed to catechists, displays Cyril's breath-taking mastery of the full content of the Bible and his painstaking attention to detail as he seeks to offer practical teaching on the cosmic story of God's salvation. David Maxwell provides readers with the first complete English translation of the text since the nineteenth century. It rests on Pusey's critical edition of the Greek text and puts on display Cyril's theological interpretation of Scripture and his appeal to the patristic tradition that preceded him. Today's readers will find the commentary an indispensable tool for understanding Cyril's approach to Scripture.
Rustic Modern Crochet: 18 Designs Inspired by Nature
by Yumiko AlexanderA collection of unique and sophisticated crochet designs!Enjoy Yumiko Alexander's showcase of eighteen clean, sophisticated crochet designs. Her garments feature eye-catching construction based on very simple lines that come together in unexpected ways. Stitch patterns have central focus here, as the silhouettes or shapes are kept simple to emphasize the crocheted fabric. Yumiko's pieces are versatile enough that they can be dressed up or down according to your fancy.Yumiko takes her inspiration from the natural worldâ€"tide-swept sand, shells, coral, shale rock formations, the colors of sunset. Her nature-inspired palette is brought to life using luscious yarns that are as pleasing to the hand as they are to the eye. These designs will appeal to crocheters seeking a more upscale look in their garments. Rustic Modern Crochet features designs in subtle earth tones and warm sunset hues that hold a cross-generational appeal.
CliffsNotes TExES PPR EC-12 (160)
by Vi Alexander Sandra McCuneBecoming a certified teacher in Texas means first passing the TExES Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities Texas teacher certification test, TExES PPR 160 for short. This professional teacher certification test is required for all teachers who want to teach in a Texas school. Covering all four PPR test domains and individual competencies with in-depth subject reviews, this test-prep book also includes two model practice tests with answers and explanations, detailing why correct answers are correct, as well as what makes incorrect answer choices incorrect. If you want to pass the TExES PPR 160 test, this is the study guide for you!
CliffsNotes FTCE Professional Education Test 3rd Edition
by Vi Cain Alexander Sandra Luna MccuneThe revised FTCE Professional Education Test is already being administered, and the changes are major. Competencies on the test have been reduced from 14 to just 8. The exam is also now offered year round by appointment. This CliffsNotes test-prep book provides in-depth coverage of the changes, including the structure and format of the test, and an explanation of the scoring structure of the test. It also features frequently asked questions, competency reviews, and sample questions and answers, throughout. Included in the package are two, model full-length practice tests to ensure success on test-taking day.
Education for a Change: Transforming the Way We Teach our Children
by Titus Alexander John PotterThis challenging, hard-hitting book is about making schooling relevant to modern society. It starts from the premise that our present education system is ill equipped to serve students and society in the twenty-first century. In a series of positive yet powerful and provocative chapters, the authors look at critical issues shaping schools today, with a view to: * set out the critical issues behind the headlines* show evidence from research and examples of good practice* stimulate public debate and rigorous thinking about how we educate children for life in the twenty-first century* provide practical examples of learning for the future* present a vision for school transformation. With contributions from a range of leading commentators including Tim Brighouse, Jonathan Poritt, Anita Roddick, Charles Handy and Jonathan Sacks, this is a must-read for school leaders, teachers, policy-makers, parents and all education professionals.
The Essential Dewey, Volume 2: Ethics, Logic, Psychology (The Essential Dewey #2)
by Thomas M. Alexander Larry A. HickmanIn addition to being one of the greatest technical philosophers of the twentieth century, John Dewey (1859-1952) was an educational innovator, a Progressive Era reformer, and one of America's last great public intellectuals. Dewey's insights into the problems of public education, immigration, the prospects for democratic government, and the relation of religious faith to science are as fresh today as when they were first published. His penetrating treatments of the nature and function of philosophy, the ethical and aesthetic dimensions of life, and the role of inquiry in human experience are of increasing relevance at the turn of the 21st century.Based on the award-winning 37-volume critical edition of Dewey's work, The Essential Dewey presents for the first time a collection of Dewey's writings that is both manageable and comprehensive. The volume includes essays and book chapters that exhibit Dewey's intellectual development over time; the selection represents his mature thinking on every major issue to which he turned his attention. Eleven part divisions cover: Dewey in Context; Reconstructing Philosophy; Evolutionary Naturalism; Pragmatic Metaphysics; Habit, Conduct, and Language; Meaning, Truth, and Inquiry; Valuation and Ethics; The Aims of Education; The Individual, the Community, and Democracy; Pragmatism and Culture: Science and Technology, Art and Religion; and Interpretations and Critiques. Taken as a whole, this collection provides unique access to Dewey's understanding of the problems and prospects of human existence and of the philosophical enterprise.
Dictionary of the Old Testament: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship (The IVP Bible Dictionary Series)
by T. Desmond AlexanderA 2003 LOGOS Book Award WinnerAn ECPA 2003 Gold Medallion Finalist The first five books of the Old Testament lay the foundation on which the rest of Scripture stands. Its great themes, epochal events and towering figures set down vectors on which the biblical story is played out. The very shape of the rest of the Old Testament would collapse were the Penteteuch to be removed. The structure of New Testament thought would be barely intelligible without it. Here we meet the great ancestral figures of Israel--Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--and the towering figure of Moses, whose presence dominates four of these five books. The creative act of God, the paradisal garden, the exile of Adam and Eve, the judgment of the great flood, the call of Abraham from among the nations, the covenant of Abraham, the exodus from Egypt, the giving of the law at Sinai, the plan of the tabernacle, the varied experiences of Israel in the wilderness, and the announcement of the covenant blessings and curses--all of these and more contribute to a work of world-formative power. This dictionary explores the major themes and contours of the Pentateuch. Behind and beneath the grandeur of the Pentateuch, issues of historicity have both puzzled and beckoned. But whereas in the mid-twentieth century many English-speaking scholars were confident of archaeological support for the patriarchal accounts, the climate has now changed. In the most extreme cases, some contemporary scholars have radically challenged the antiquity of the ancestral stories, arguing for their final composition even as late as the Hellenistic era. This dictionary examines and weighs the historical issues and poses possible solutions. The documentary hypothesis, the former reigning critical consensus, is now widely rumored to be on life support with no heir apparent. Meanwhile, conservative scholars reconsider what indeed a claim to Mosaic authorship should entail. This dictionary offers an assessment of the array of questions surrounding these issues and considers some possible ways forward for evangelical scholarship. At the same time, there has been a fruitful turning to the nature, message and art of the received text of the Pentateuch. Literary studies of brief episodes, sprawling sagas, complex narrative and even the fivefold composition of the Pentateuch itself have delivered promising and exciting results. This dictionary offers both appreciative panoramas and close-up assessments of these developments and their methods. The Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch is the first in a four-volume series covering the text of the Old Testament. Following in the tradition of the four award-winning IVP dictionaries focused on the New Testament and its background, this encyclopedic work is characterized by close attention to the text of the Old Testament and the ongoing conversation of contemporary scholarship. In exploring the major themes and issues of the Pentateuch, editors T. Desmond Alexander and David W.Baker, with an international and expert group of scholars, inform and challenge through authoritative overviews, detailed examinations and new insights from the world of the ancient Near East. The Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch is designed to be your first stop in the study and research of the Pentateuch, on which the rest of the Bible is built. Note: Because this ebook is large, please allow a little extra time to download after purchase.
Exodus (Apollos Old Testament Commentary Series)
by T. Desmond AlexanderRecounting the greatest event of divine salvation in the Old Testament, the book of Exodus is not merely a story about the Lord God rescuing enslaved Israelites from the power of a despotic and xenophobic dictator. More importantly, it highlights how a compassionate and justice-seeking God transforms the lives of victimized people so that they may experience life in all its fullness in his holy presence. This transformation involves a unique process that includes redemption, ransoming, cleansing, and consecration. The story of Exodus illustrates an all-important paradigm for understanding the nature and goal of divine salvation, anticipating an even greater exodus that will come through Jesus Christ. In this Apollos Old Testament Commentary volume, Desmond Alexander grapples with the many and varied complexities of the carefully constructed literary collage of Exodus. As an integral part of the longer narrative that runs from Genesis to 2 Kings, Exodus recounts a dramatic and unified story of how the Israelites come to a deep and close relationship with the Lord God. Narrating past events, Exodus speaks to contemporary society, revealing a God who passionately desires to draw people into an intimate and exclusive relationship with himself. This detailed commentary sheds fresh light on one of the most influential books ever written.
From Eden to the New Jerusalem
by T. Desmond AlexanderUsing the theory to start from the denouement, or resolution, in Revelation's last verses and work backward, Alexander pieces together the Bible's overarching plot.
Effective Learning and Teaching in Computing (Effective Learning and Teaching in Higher Education)
by Sylvia Alexander Alastair IronsWritten to meet the needs of teachers, lecturers and tutors, this is a comprehensive guide to understanding the key issues, best practices and new developments in learning and teaching in information and computer sciences in higher education.It covers a range of issues relating to teaching within the broad discipline of computing at under- and post-graduate level, including:* curriculum* assessment* links with industry* international perspectives* innovative techniques for teaching* effective use of ICT in teaching.Effective Learning and Teaching in Computing will be essential reading for less experienced teachers seeking authoritative guidance as well as experienced teachers seeking material for reflection and advice.
Play, Physical Activity and Public Health: The Reframing of Children's Leisure Lives (Routledge Studies in Physical Education and Youth Sport)
by Stephanie A. Alexander Katherine L. Frohlich Caroline FuscoAre children playing less than they used to? Are rising obesity rates linked to a decline in children’s time to play freely? These and other related questions have filled the pages of newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals for the past decade. Researchers and journalists have attributed these issues to societal changes around children’s lives and leisure, the growth of structured and organised activities and increasing perceptions of risk in children’s play. Play, Physical Activity and Public Health presents a discussion of the way modern notions of play are rendering children’s leisure activities less free and less engaged in simply for fun. Based on original qualitative research, and analysis of contemporary media from Canada and elsewhere, this book argues that the growing health concerns around childhood play entail a paradox: by advocating, promoting, discussing, and re-directing children’s play, a new form of children’s leisure is emerging - one that is purpose-driven, instrumentalised for health, and ultimately, less free. We explore how play has become goal-oriented, a means to health ends, and how the management of pleasure in play as well as diverse risk discourses around play continue to limit and constrain possibilities for children and families to play and engage in leisure freely. Incorporating past critiques of this trend in play, we argue for research and practice to create new possibilities and ways of thinking about children's play, leisure, fun and childhood, that are less constrained and managed, and importantly less geared towards health goals. This is a valuable resource for students of the sociology of sport, kinesiology, sports and health psychology, education, public health, and childhood studies. It is also an important read for school teachers, public health practitioners, psychologists, physical education teachers, academics and parents interested in how children’s leisure lives are being shaped by the growing and diverse discussions around play.
Mathematics Year 5
by Serena Alexander David HillardA stimulating and rigorous approach to Mathematics that goes beyond the requirements of the National Curriculum for Year 5 pupils (aged 9 and above) and lays the foundation for success at Common Entrance and other independent entrance exams at 11+. - Plenty of worked examples to demonstrate method- Develops key skills with clear explanations and diagrams- Challenges pupils with exercises at various levels- Tests understanding with end-of-chapter activities Galore Park Mathematics Year 5 Answers is available to purchase, which includes photocopiable worksheets for selected exercises and activities.Also available from Galore Park www.galorepark.co.uk:- Mathematics Year 6- 11+ Maths Practice Exercises- 11+ Maths Revision Guide- 10-Minute Maths Tests Workbook Age 8-10- 10-Minute Maths Tests Workbook Age 9-11- Mental Arithmetic Workbook Age 8-10- Mental Arithmetic Workbook Age 9-11
Mathematics Year 5
by Serena Alexander David HillardA stimulating and rigorous approach to Mathematics that goes beyond the requirements of the National Curriculum for Year 5 pupils (aged 9 and above) and lays the foundation for success at Common Entrance and other independent entrance exams at 11+. - Plenty of worked examples to demonstrate method- Develops key skills with clear explanations and diagrams- Challenges pupils with exercises at various levels- Tests understanding with end-of-chapter activities Galore Park Mathematics Year 5 Answers is available to purchase, which includes photocopiable worksheets for selected exercises and activities.Also available from Galore Park www.galorepark.co.uk:- Mathematics Year 6- 11+ Maths Practice Exercises- 11+ Maths Revision Guide- 10-Minute Maths Tests Workbook Age 8-10- 10-Minute Maths Tests Workbook Age 9-11- Mental Arithmetic Workbook Age 8-10- Mental Arithmetic Workbook Age 9-11
Mathematics Year 5 Answers
by Serena Alexander David HillardFeatures the complete set of answers to the exercises in Mathematics Year 5, as well as a selection of photocopiable worksheets to save you time and enable you to identify areas requiring further attention.The book includes diagrams and workings where necessary, to ensure pupils understand how to present their answers, as well as photocopiable worksheets at the back of the book.Also available from Galore Park www.galorepark.co.uk:- Mathematics Year 5- Mathematics Year 6- Mathematics Year 6 Answers- 11+ Maths Practice Exercises- 11+ Maths Revision Guide- 10-Minute Maths Tests Workbook Age 8-10- 10-Minute Maths Tests Workbook Age 9-11- Mental Arithmetic Workbook Age 8-10- Mental Arithmetic Workbook Age 9-11
Common Entrance 13+ Additional Mathematics for ISEB CE and KS3
by Serena AlexanderExam board: ISEB Level: 13+ CE and KS3 Subject: Mathematics First teaching: September 2021 First exams: November 2022Serena Alexander brings her renowned passion and love of Mathematics to help you stretch and challenge pupils aiming for the Additional Mathematics paper or the Common Academic Scholarship Exam (CASE). The resource is packed with activities, examples and exercises to help pupils develop a comprehensive knowledge of Mathematics.· Push your pupils to achieve high scores: Covers all content for the Core Mathematics paper, with new material for the Additional Mathematics paper and the Common Academic Scholarship Exam (CASE).· Ensure an in-depth knowledge of Mathematics: Chapters include Fractions and Decimals, Geometry (with more of a focus on angle calculations using algebra), and Trigonometry.· Develop a wider understanding with projects: End-of-chapter projects and investigations cover current affairs, mathematical proof and mathematical paradox, and using probability to model real-life scenarios.· Support your pupils in developing their analytical and research skills: Investigations include Mersenne primes, perfect numbers and Goldbach's conjecture.· Encourage your pupils to think beyond Mathematics: Cross-curricular boxes inform pupils where mathematical skills may be required in other subjects (including other examination subjects, PSHEE and ICT) with suggestions of cross-curricular activities.· Guide your pupils to develop an understanding of the role of Mathematics in the world: SCEE (Social, Cultural, Empathy and Environmental) boxes encourage pupils to learn the mathematical relevance in society, links to different cultures including their role in the history of Mathematics, and the use of Mathematics in exploring environmental issues.Accompanying answers available in a paid-for PDF download at galorepark.co.uk (ISBN: 9781398321403).
Common Entrance 13+ Additional Mathematics for ISEB CE and KS3 Textbook Answers
by Serena AlexanderThis resource contains full answers to Common Entrance 13+ Additional Mathematics for ISEB CE and KS3 (ISBN: 9781398321281).· Additional comments that follow the cross-curricular, SCEE (Social, Cultural, Empathy and Environmental) feature boxes for further activities.· Extra advice on investigations and projects.· A sample Scheme of Work presents the CE content which must be covered in preparation for CE 13+. It is possible to deliver the content in a number of different ways and we present an option that can be followed or adapted.Please note this resource is non-refundable.
Common Entrance 13+ Core Mathematics for ISEB CE and KS3
by Serena AlexanderExam board: ISEB Level: 13+ CE and KS3 Subject: Mathematics First teaching: September 2021 First exams: November 2022With more than 30 years' experience teaching Mathematics, Serena Alexander guides you through the ISEB 13+ CE specification for Mathematics, enabling you to support your pupils on their journey to becoming proficient and confident in Mathematics.· Cover all the content for the Core paper: Chapters include Powers and Roots, Metric and Other Units (with a new section on Money), and Geometry.· Bring out the best in every pupil: Challenging tasks and extension exercises in every chapter.· Guide pupils' development of investigative thinking, problem solving and reasoning skills: New investigations and puzzles include matchstick puzzles, Countdown and other number card investigations, and how to solve number puzzles found in newspapers.· Develop knowledge and analytical research with in-depth projects: New projects include current affairs and using a spreadsheet to solve mathematical problems and to support charitable fundraising.· Encourage your pupils to think beyond Mathematics: Cross-curricular boxes inform pupils where mathematical skills may be required in other subjects, with suggestions of activities.· Develop your pupils' understanding of their place in the world: Assist pupils in demonstrating cultural and environmental awareness and empathy with SCEE (Social, Cultural, Empathy and Environmental) boxes throughout.Accompanying answers available in a paid-for PDF download at galorepark.co.uk (ISBN: 9781398321489).
Common Entrance 13+ Core Mathematics for ISEB CE and KS3 Textbook Answers
by Serena AlexanderThis resource contains full answers to all exercises in Common Entrance 13+ Core Mathematics for ISEB CE and KS3 (ISBN: 9781398321458).· In addition to the answers, there are extra comments that follow the cross-curricular and SCEE (Social, Cultural, Empathy and Environmental) feature boxes for further activities.· Additional advice on investigations and projects.· A sample Scheme of Work presents the CE content which must be covered in preparation for CE 13+. It is possible to deliver the content in a number of different ways and we present an option that can be followed or adapted.Please note this resource is non-refundable.
Mathematics Year 6
by Serena AlexanderA stimulating and rigorous approach to Mathematics that goes beyond the requirements of the National Curriculum for Year 6 pupils (aged 10 and above) and lays the foundation for success at Common Entrance and other independent entrance exams at 11+.- Plenty of worked examples to demonstrate method- Develops key skills with clear explanations and diagrams- Challenges pupils with exercises at various levels- Tests understanding with end-of-chapter activities Galore Park Mathematics Year 6 Answers is available to purchase, which includes photocopiable worksheets for selected exercises and activities.Also available from Galore Park www.galorepark.co.uk:- Mathematics Year 5- 11+ Maths Practice Exercises- 11+ Maths Revision Guide- 10-Minute Maths Tests Workbook Age 8-10- 10-Minute Maths Tests Workbook Age 9-11- Mental Arithmetic Workbook Age 8-10- Mental Arithmetic Workbook Age 9-11
Mathematics Year 6 Answers
by Serena AlexanderFeatures the complete set of answers to the exercises in Mathematics Year 6, as well as a selection of photocopiable worksheets to save you time and enable you to identify areas requiring further attention.The book includes diagrams and workings where necessary, to ensure pupils understand how to present their answers, as well as photocopiable worksheets at the back of the book.Also available from Galore Park www.galorepark.co.uk:- Mathematics Year 6- Mathematics Year 5- Mathematics Year 5 Answers- 11+ Maths Practice Exercises- 11+ Maths Revision Guide- 10-Minute Maths Tests Workbook Age 8-10- 10-Minute Maths Tests Workbook Age 9-11- Mental Arithmetic Workbook Age 8-10- Mental Arithmetic Workbook Age 9-11
Real-World Time Management (WorkSmart)
by Roy Alexander Michael S. DobsonIn this instructive guide to time management, author Michael Dobson provides tips, techniques, and commonsense advice that will give anyone better agency over his or her time and significantly increase productivity. Real-World Time Management does this by offering readers valuable tips on how to: set priorities; stay on track; keep a closed-door policy; avoid interrupters; and reduce stress. You’ll also learn how to handle distractions, stop procrastinating, delegate tasks, deal with meetings, and manage time effectively while traveling.Most of us dream about having a few extra hours in our day for taking care of business, relaxing, or engaging in the activities we most enjoy. But how can we make the most of our time when it seems as though there aren’t enough hours in the day? Now newly updated, this enlightening and essential guide will help leaders and frontline employees alike wrangle and order their time--no matter how hectic their lives may seem.
The Cambridge Primary Review Research Surveys
by Robin Alexander Christine Doddington John Gray Linda Hargreaves Ruth KershnerThe Cambridge Primary Review Research Surveys is the outcome of the Cambridge Primary Review – England’s biggest enquiry into primary education for over forty years. Fully independent of government, it was launched in 2006 to investigate the condition and future of primary education at a time of change and uncertainty and after two decades of almost uninterrupted reform. Ranging over ten broad themes and drawing on a vast array of evidence, the Review published thiry-one interim reports, including twenty-eight surveys of published research, provoking media headlines and public debate, before presenting its final report and recommendations. This book brings together the twenty-eight research surveys, specially commissioned from sixty-five leading academics in the areas under scrutiny and now revised and updated, to create what is probably the most comprehensive overview and evaluation of research in primary education yet published. A particular feature is the prominence given to international and comparative perspectives. With an introduction from Robin Alexander, the Review’s director, the book is divided into eight sections, covering: children’s lives and voices: school, home and community children’s development, learning, diversity and needs aims, values and contexts for primary education the structure and content of primary education outcomes, standards and assessment in primary education teaching in primary schools: structures and processes teaching in primary schools: training, development and workforce reform policy frameworks: governance, funding, reform and quality assurance. The Cambridge Primary Review Research Surveys is an essential reference tool for professionals, researchers, students and policy-makers working in the fields of early years, primary and secondary education.
A Dialogic Teaching Companion
by Robin AlexanderBuilding on Robin Alexander’s landmark Towards Dialogic Teaching, this book shows how and why the dialogic approach has a positive impact on student engagement and learning. It sets out the evidence, examines the underpinning ideas and issues, and offers guidance and resources for the planning, implementation and review of effective dialogic teaching in a wide range of educational settings. Dialogic teaching harnesses the power of talk to engage students’ interest, stimulate their thinking, advance their understanding, expand their ideas and build and evaluate argument, empowering them for lifelong learning and for social and democratic engagement. Drawing on extensive published research as well as the high-profile, 5000-student trial and independent evaluation of Alexander’s distinctive approach to dialogic teaching in action, this book: Presents the case for treating talk as not merely incidental to teaching and learning but as an essential tool of education whose exploitation and development require understanding and skill; Explores questions of definition and conceptualisation in the realms of dialogue, argumentation and dialogic teaching, revealing the similarities and differences between the main approaches; Discusses evidence that has enriched the debate about classroom talk in relation to oracy, argumentation, student voice and philosophy for children as well as dialogic teaching itself; Identifies what it is about dialogic teaching that makes a difference to students’ thinking, learning and understanding; Presents the author’s rationale and framework for dialogic teaching, now completely revised and much expanded; Proposes a professional development strategy for making dialogic teaching happen which, like the framework, has been successfully trialled in schools; Lists resources from others working in the field to support further study and development; Includes an extensive bibliography. Robin Alexander’s A Dialogic Teaching Companion, like its popular predecessor Towards Dialogic Teaching, aims to support the work of all those who are interested in the quality of teaching and learning, but especially trainee and serving teachers, teacher educators, school leaders and researchers.
Education in Spite of Policy
by Robin AlexanderA national system of education cannot function without policy. But the path to practice is seldom smooth, especially when ideology overrules evidence or when ministers seek to micromanage what is best left to teachers. And once the media join the fray the mixture becomes downright combustible. Drawing on his long experience as teacher, researcher, government adviser, campaigner and international consultant, and on over 600 published sources, Robin Alexander expertly illustrates and illuminates these processes. This selection from his recent writing, some hitherto unpublished, opens windows onto cases and issues that concern every teacher. Part 1 tackles system-level reform. It revisits the Cambridge Primary Review, an evidence-rich enquiry into the condition and future of primary education in England, which challenged the UK government’s policies on curriculum, testing, standards and more besides. Here the reform narratives and strategies of successive governments are confronted and dissected. Part 2 follows the development of England’s current National Curriculum, exposing its narrow vision and questionable use of evidence and offering a more generous aims-driven alternative. This section also investigates the expertise and leadership needed if children are to experience a curriculum of the highest quality in all its aspects. Part 3 reaches the heart of the matter: securing the place in effective pedagogy of well-founded classroom talk, a mission repeatedly frustrated by political intervention. The centrepiece is dialogic teaching, a proven tool for advancing students’ speaking, thinking, learning and arguing, and an essential response to the corrosion of democracy and the nihilism of ‘post-truth’. Part 4 goes global. It investigates governments’ PISA-fuelled flirtations with what they think can be adapted or copied from education elsewhere, examines the benefits and pitfalls of international comparison, and ends with the ultimate policy initiative: the United Nations mission to ensure ‘inclusive and equitable quality education’ for all the world’s children. Education in Spite of Policy is for all those teachers, students, school leaders and researchers who value the conversation of policy, evidence and practice, and who wish to explore the parts of education that policy cannot reach.
Essays on Pedagogy
by Robin AlexanderSeven authoritative contributions to the emerging field of pedagogy and to comparative, cultural and policy studies in education. A must for those who want to do more than merely comply with received versions of ‘best practice’. Pedagogy is at last gaining the attention in English-speaking countries which it has long enjoyed elsewhere. But is it the right kind of attention? Do we still tend to equate pedagogy with teaching technique and little more? Now that governments, too, have become interested in it, is pedagogy a proper matter for public policy and official prescription? In Essays on Pedagogy, Robin Alexander brings together some of his most powerful recent writing, drawing on research undertaken in Britain and other countries, to illustrate his view that to engage properly with pedagogy we need to apply cultural, historical and international perspectives, as well as evidence on how children most effectively learn and teachers most productively teach. The book includes chapters on a number of themes, expertly woven together: the politicisation of school and classroom life and the trend towards a pedagogy of compliance; the benefits and hazards of international comparison; pedagogical dichotomies old and new, and how to avoid them; how education and pedagogy might respond to a world in peril; the rare and special chemistry of the personal and the professional which produces outstanding teaching; the scope and character of pedagogy itself, as a field of enquiry and action. For those who see teachers as thinking professionals, rather than as technicians who merely comply with received views of ‘best practice’, this book will open minds while maintaining a practical focus. For student teachers it will provide a framework for their development. Its strong and consistent international perspective will be of interest to educational comparativists, but is also an essential response to globalisation and the predicaments now facing humanity as a whole.