Search results for ""Author Bill Lucas""

Research shows just how critically important parents are to schools. In this practical, introductory guide, Bill Lucas explores the issues surrounding parental involvement, looking at how it can be successfully achieved with outstanding results.

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Teaching Creative Thinking: Developing Learners Who Generate Ideas and Can Think Critically defines and demystifies the essence of creative thinking, and offers action-oriented and research-informed suggestions as to how it can best be developed in learners. Where once it was enough to know and do things, young people now need more than subject knowledge in order to thrive: they need capabilities. Teaching Creative Thinking is the first title in the three-part Pedagogy for a Changing World series, founded upon Lucas and Spencer's philosophy of dispositional teaching - a pedagogical approach which aims to cultivate in learners certain dispositions that evidence suggests are going to be valuable to them both at school and in later life. A key capability is creative thinking, and, in 2021, one of the guardians of global comparative standards, PISA, is recognising its importance by making creative thinking the `innovative assessment domain' to supplement their testing of 15-year-olds' core capabilities in English, maths and science. Creative thinkers are inquisitive, collaborative, imaginative, persistent and disciplined - and schools which foster these habits of mind in learners need to be creative in engaging children and young people by embedding creativity into their everyday educational experiences. In this extensive enquiry into the nature and nurture of creative thinking, the authors explore the effectiveness of various pedagogical approaches - including problem-based learning, growth mindset, playful experimentation and the classroom as a learning community - and provide a wealth of tried-and-tested classroom strategies that will boost learners' critical and creative thinking skills. The book is structured in an easy-to-access format, combining a comprehensive listing of practical ideas to stimulate lesson planning with expert guidance on integrating them into your practice, followed by plenty of inventive suggestions as to how learners' progress can be assessed and tracked along the way - by both the pupil and the teacher. The authors then go further to offer exemplars of success by presenting case studies of schools' innovations in adopting these approaches, and dedicate a chapter to dispelling any pressing doubts that teachers may have by exposing the potential pitfalls and offering advice on how to avoid them. Venturing beyond the classroom setting, Teaching Creative Thinking also delves into the ways in which a school can work towards the provision of co-curricular experiences - such as partnering with a range of external community groups - and better engage its leadership team and pupils' parents with the idea of creative thinking in order to support learners with opportunities to grow. The authors offer many examples which will inspire schools to do just this, and collate these ideas into building a framework for learning that equips young people in schools today with the twenty-first century skills and capabilities that will enable them to thrive in the workforce of tomorrow. Replete with research-led insight and ready-to-use strategies, Teaching Creative Thinking is a powerful call to action and a practical handbook for all teachers and leaders, in both primary and secondary settings, who want to embed a capabilities approach in their schools.

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It is for everyone who cares about education in an uncertain world and explains how teachers, parents and grandparents can cultivate confidence, curiosity, collaboration, communication, creativity, commitment and craftsmanship in children, at the same time as helping them to do well in public examinations. Educating Ruby: what our children really need to learn shows, unequivocally, that schools can get the right results in the right way, so that the Rubys of tomorrow will emerge from their time at school able to talk with honest pleasure and reflective optimism about their schooling. Featuring the views of schoolchildren, parents, educators and employers and drawing on Guy Claxton and Bill Lucas' years of experience in education, including their work with Building Learning Power and the Expansive Education Network, this powerful new book is sure to provoke thinking and debate. Just as Willy Russell's Educating Rita helped us rethink university, the authors of Educating Ruby invite fresh scrutiny of our schools.

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Explores the ways in which teachers can fuel their pupils’ curiosity and help them find their passions, develop independence and challenge themselves to become more expansive learners. The third book in the Pedagogy for a Changing World series, Zest for Learning examines how schools can enrich their pupils’ learning both within and beyond school. This could be encouraged through, for example, greater engagement with sports and the arts, or by collaborating with external bodies – such as the Scouts and Guides, or the Duke of Edinburgh scheme – and with libraries, museums, faith groups and environmental associations. Zest for Learning connects the co-curriculum with the formal curriculum, building both theoretical and practical confidence in the kinds of pedagogies which work well. Bill and Ellen have also infused the book with a range of ideas for getting pupils to love learning so much that they will be able to learn whatever they want to throughout their lives.

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"New Kinds of Smart is an intelligent book about intelligence, the many things that go into it, and how educators can help students to get more of the cornucopia."Professor David Perkins, Harvard University, USA"This is an important and welcome book. It cuts through the hype about what the latest findings from cognitive neuroscience can, and more important, cannot tell us, and provides a comprehensive overview of what we know about learning."Professor Dylan Wiliam, Institute of Education, University of London"This immensely readable book explains the developments of learning theory and then applies those developments to classroom practice and takes that next vital step of explaining what that means for a learner."Professor Mick Waters, Chairman of The Curriculum Foundation20th Century schools presumed that students' intelligence was largely fixed. 21st century science says that intelligence is expandable - and in a variety of ways. New Kinds of Smart argues that this shift in the way we think about young minds opens up hitherto unexplored possibilities for education. For the first time ever, New Kinds of Smart brings together all the main strands of research about intelligence in one book and explains these new ideas to practising teachers and educators. Each chapter presents practical examples, tools and templates so that each new strand of thinking can be woven into their work as teachers and into their lives as learners. Topics covered include: Composite intelligence Distributed intelligence Expandable intelligence Social intelligence Practical intelligence Strategic intelligence Intuitive intelligence Ethical intelligence

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This publication combines the research findings from the first year of the Campaign for Learning co-ordinated Learning to Learn in Schools action research project with: practical case studies of how some of the schools implemented Learning to Learn; a summary of how the thinking behind the project evolved; and innovative "discussion mats" for use by teachers wanting to introduce this thinking into their schools. The project has involved 24 schools, ranging from the early years to Key Stage 4, exploring the impact of using Learning to Learn approaches and teaching pupils how to learn on standards and motivation. In the event, one of the most significant findings has been the impact on teacher morale of re-focusing on learning, making the publication a must for its "discussion mats" alone for any school worried about teacher retention.

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Teachers from schools across the world believe that there is more to education than success in examinations. Many practitioners are becoming increasingly familiar with expansive education concepts such as learning dispositions, habits of mind, and expandable intelligence, and are striving to instill these valuable mind-sets into their pupils. In this groundbreaking and visionary book, acclaimed authors Lucas, Claxton and Spencer define, consolidate and reinforce this revolutionary shift.Expansive Education: Teaching learners for the real world showcases a growing number of schools that are developing methods of teaching and learning that deliberately cultivate powerful learners. Drawing on established theory as well as current research and practice, this essential resource encapsulates the best of these approaches, and demonstrates discernible links to achievement gains and learner engagement. Expansive Education offers: Radical thinking about the purpose of schools, underpinned by latest literature from the learning sciences A critical exploration of what works in practice and an analysis of pioneering concepts that support dispositional approaches to learning A scaffolding framework that assists teachers in consistently choosing those methods most likely to create expansive learning environments A powerful manifesto for individual schools, clusters of schools, districts and national systems to articulate a different vision of education and a means of tracking real progress.

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Forewords by Professor Dame Alison Peacock andAndreas Schleicher.Written by an internationally renowned team of thought-leaders, researchers and facilitators,Creative Thinking in Schools: A Leadership Playbookis a practical guide that draws together understanding about school leadership with a deep experience

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