Teacher in the Cupboard : Self-Reflective, Solution-Focused Teaching and Learning

by Lisa Jane Ashes

Overview

In Teacher in the Cupboard: Self-reflective, solution-focused teaching and learning, Lisa Jane Ashes takes educators on a self-reflective journey that will inspire them to challenge the ‘how to’, tick-box approach to teaching.

Even if all the problems in your classroom have been solved by the time you read this, plenty more would surface to take their place … And while each problem has multiple solutions, you’ll need your creativity in order to find them.

In this book, Lisa explores how spending time ‘in the cupboard’ – a metaphor for removing yourself from a situation and seeing it through a more objective lens – can help teachers come up with creative solutions to everyday challenges and positively transform their classroom practice and human interactions.

Teacher in the Cupboard encompasses Lisa’s many and varied observations in education – and each chapter includes real-life experiences to make you think, as well as practical techniques to help educators avoid retreating into self-blindness: a common affliction that robs them of their perception of their own contribution as part of the teaching and learning process.

Brimming with fresh perspectives, the book presents a wide range of innovative ideas to enable educators to harness the power of self-reflection and create a stimulating learning environment that produces excellent results for them, their students and their colleagues. It also talks teachers through a number of methods, approaches and resources that will enable them to instill in their learners a sense of satisfaction derived from the learning skills and behaviors being developed in the classroom. These materials are collated in the ‘Resource Cupboard’ section at the back of the book, offering adaptable – and downloadable – resources that Lisa has used to successfully enhance learning in the classroom.

Suitable for teachers, school leaders and home schoolers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781781352960
Publisher:	Crown House Publishing, Limited
Publication date:	01/31/2019
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 8.70(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Lisa Jane Ashes is an experienced professional development provider for all things teaching and learning. Lisa has worked in many school-based roles, ranging from classroom support to leadership, and her ability to create collaborative curriculums that allow all learning to be taken forward, used and improved comes from her many and varied experiences in schools.

Table of Contents

Foreword i

Acknowledgements v

Introduction 1

A reflection on the origins of this book

Part I The View from the Cupboard: Students 9

1 Get Some Perspective! 11

When difficult conversations and interactions occur, through whose eyes are you looking?

2 It's All Their Fault! 21

Who do you blame when lessons go wrong? What do you do about it?

3 They'll Never Learn! 43

Do you write students off?

4 No Need to Worry About Them - They're Clever! 53

Is a top set an easy set because of their good behaviour?

5 They'll Never Make It Through! 67

Do you write off students before they have even begun?

Part II The View from the Cupboard: Teachers 81

6 Do You Realise How Hard I Work? 83

Is there a culture of exhaustion in your school?

7 She's Just a Supply 99

Do you let who you are take over your relationships with students?

8 I'll Have to Work Late Tonight - We've Had'the Call' 107

Do you only teach properly when an outside observer is watching?

9 What's the Point? 115

Do you let the exam dictate the purpose of your lessons?

10 I Can't Help Them All 129

Is differentiation a worksheet split three ways?

11 Just Another Rubbish Teacher 137

Do you write off teachers before getting to know their needs?

12 Continuous Professional Development 147

Do you see professional development as pointless?

The Resource Cupboard 169

Bibliography 193