Learning to be a Teacher

In an educational landscape of increasing accountability and reduced professional development, it has never been more important for teachers to self-regulate their learning. Lange and Burroughs-Lange clearly set out a process for taking control of your classroom practice and professional learning which facilitates the sustainable progress required to excel in the teaching profession.

When writing a programme of Initial Teacher Training one of the most difficult aspects is getting the trainee to take control of their own learning. The school based route allows trainees to investigate approaches and strategies to teaching which work. We often expect trainees to understand how to make insightful and meaningful observations without any guidance or training. This book will be helpful for trainees, new teachers and indeed their mentors/teacher educators to generate cognitive change through enquiry based methods. The book is also a reminder of how ‘one size’ in teaching does not fit all and that sometimes we can get so bogged down in the national and local agendas that we forget what actually works in the classroom and how we need more faith in our abilities to influence learner progress. I particularly like the REACT mode; and the PLA approach to professional growth – the examples at the end of this section are clear and concise. I would recommend this as pre course reading for trainees and mentors/tutors. 

This book captures the concept of the teacher as a professional learner and identifies how practice and research-based knowledge are reciprocal in developing an understanding of the complex classroom.  Teachers are encouraged to be critical inquirers within self-generating frameworks and while there are many different approaches to transformational learning, for this to be effective and meaningful they need to be underpinned by both an understanding of research and experiential learning.  Working with both trainee and experienced teachers on a daily basis, I stress the need for them to recognise themselves as evolving learners and that reflective practice, self- evaluation and a culture of enquiry and participation is central to the cognitive change that all teachers undergo through their professional career.  This book encourages teachers to make sense of the classroom by asking them to question what is happening, why it is happening and how do I become a better teacher based on this evolving understanding.