Powering Up Students : The Learning Power Approach to High School Teaching

by Guy Claxton, Graham Powell, John Hattie

Overview

In Powering Up Students: The Learning Power Approach to high school teaching, Guy Claxton and Graham Powell detail the small tweaks to daily practice that will help high school teachers boost their students' learning dispositions and attitudes.

Foreword by John Hattie.

The Learning Power Approach (LPA) is a way of teaching which aims to develop all students as confident and capable learners ready, willing, and able to choose, design, research, pursue, troubleshoot, and evaluate learning for themselves, alone and with others, in school and out. This approach therefore empowers teachers to complement their delivery of content, knowledge, and skills with the nurturing of positive habits of mind that will better prepare students to flourish in later life.

Building upon the foundations carefully laid in The Learning Power Approach (ISBN 9781785832451), the first book in the Learning Power series, Guy Claxton and Graham Powell's Powering Up Students embeds the ideas of this influential method in the context of the high school.

It offers a thorough explanation of how the LPA's design principles apply to this level of education and, by presenting a wide range of practical strategies and classroom examples, illustrates how they can be put into action with different age groups and in different curricular areas especially relating to literacy and numeracy, but also in specific subjects such as science, history, geography, and design technology.

All teachers can foster the capacity of students to be, for example, curious, attentive, imaginative, rational, and reflective and Guy and Graham provide clear guidance on how this can be achieved. Step by step, they explore all aspects of teaching: from how to make learning compelling and challenging, to how best to make use of the environment for learning; from how to coach students so that they become more independent and responsible directors of their own learning, to subtle shifts in teacher language and behaviour that change the climate for learning.

Rooted in the authors' knowledge of international research about how students can and should learn in schools, this practical guide is suitable for both newly qualified and experienced teachers of students aged 11 to 18. It will also appeal to those school principals, educationalists, and administrators who are committed to improving both students' achievement and their preparedness for the world of learning beyond school.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781785833380
Publisher:	Crown House Publishing, Limited
Publication date:	07/31/2019
Series:	The Learning Power
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 8.70(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Guy Claxton is Emeritus Professor at Winchester University and Visiting Professor of Education at King's College London. He has previously taught and researched at Oxford University, Bristol University, and the University of London Institute of Education, and is an internationally renowned cognitive scientist. Guy's books include Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind; Wise Up: The Challenge of Lifelong Learning; The Wayward Mind; and Intelligence in the Flesh. Recent books on education include What's the Point of School?; Building Learning Power; and, with Bill Lucas and others, New Kinds of Smart; The Learning Powered School; and Educating Ruby. Guy's Building Learning Power approach to teaching is widely used in all kinds of schools across the UK, as well as in Poland, Dubai, Indonesia, India, China, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Brazil, and Argentina.

Graham has over 40 years' experience working in education - holding various posts including head teacher, Ofsted inspector and local authority adviser - and has throughout his career maintained a passionate concern for the ways in which young people learn. He currently works with numerous schools, across the UK and overseas, that have chosen to place the Learning Power Approach - which he developed alongside Professor Guy Claxton - at the heart of their vision for 21st century learning.

Table of Contents

Foreword i

Acknowledgements vii

Introduction 1

About the Book 6

Chapter 1 An Overview of the Learning Power Approach 9

What Is the LPA? 9

The Goal of the LPA 10

How Does the LPA Work? 12

The Strands of the LPA 13

The LPA Psychology of Learning 15

What Does the LPA Ask of Teachers? 17

Where Does the LPA Come From? 19

What Does the LPA Offer? 21

Why Does the LPA Matter? 28

Chapter 2 Learning Power Teaching in Action: Some Examples 31

Exploring a Contentious Issue in Geography 32

Thinking Like a Scientist 42

Delving into a Poem 47

Problem-Solving in Mathematics 53

Summary 66

Chapter 3 Safety and Engagement! Setting the Scene for Learning Power Teaching 67

Make Expectations Clear and Understandable 70

Maximise Learning Power Time in Lessons 73

Make All Students Feel Safe Enough to Learn 77

Distinguish Between Learning, Performance, and Defence Mode 85

Start Lessons with Learning Power in Mind 89

Summary 93

Chapter 4 The Environment of Learning Power 97

Adapt the Layout and Use of Furniture 100

Consider the Provision of Resources for Learning 102

Use Display Material as a Learning Prompt 105

Bumps Along the Way 110

Summary 113

Chapter 5 Collaboration and Communication 115

Why Bother with Socialising? 115

The Basics of Social Learning: Speaking and Listening 117

Help Students Become Effective and Supportive Team Members 122

Encourage Students to Be Open to Ideas and Feedback 131

Learn from the Good Habits of Others 133

Consider Multiple Perspectives 136

Take Effective Leading Roles in Groups and Teams 138

Bumps Along the Way 140

Summary 143

Chapter 6 The Languages of Learning Power 145

Modify Your Language and Behaviour 145

Pay Attention to Key Words 148

Draw Attention to Specific Elements of Learning Power 162

Become Your Students' Learning Coach 168

Model Powerful Learning Habits 170

Bumps Along the Way 175

Summary 178

Chapter 7 Building Responsible and Independent Learners 181

Why Build Independence? 182

Identify and Cultivate the Characteristics of Independent Learners 185

Use Thinking and Learning Routines 192

Give Students More Responsibility 202

Bumps Along the Way 210

Summary 213

Chapter 8 Challenge 215

Why Bother with Challenge? 217

Use the Language of Challenge 220

Introduce Grapple Problems Regularly 222

Use Questioning to Open Up Learning 233

Provide Choice Over Degrees of Difficulty 236

Encourage Students to Set Their Own Challenges 238

Insist They Practise the Hard Parts 238

Bumps Along the Way 242

Summary 244

Chapter 9 Thinking Real Hard 247

The Lifelong Value of Good Thinking 247

What Good Thinking Is Made of 254

Focus on the Clarity of Thought 255

Think Carefully 257

Think Critically 258

Think Creatively 259

Grapple with Complex Thinking 261

Engage in Collaborative Thinking 262

Learn by Example 264

Summary 278

Chapter 10 Reflection, Improvement, and Craftsmanship 281

Why Value Craftsmanship? 282

Reflect Using the Language of Learning 290

Develop Reflective Thinking Routines 299

Build the Habit of Self- and Peer-Evaluation 301

Adapt Your Verbal and Written Feedback 306

Assure Progressive Development of Learning Habits 316

Introducing Progression to Your Students 323

Summary 324

Chapter 11 Coherence: Across Lessons and Throughout the School 325

Ensure Coherence in Your Own Teaching 327

Build Coherence Between Teachers 328

Plan for Coherence Across the Curriculum 332

Aim for Coherence Across the School 336

Focus on Coherence in Communication 338

Build Coherence Between Schools 341

Conclusion 345

Further Reading 347

Resources 353

About the Authors 355