The Truth about Teaching
An evidence-informed guide for new teachers
- Greg Ashman - Teacher and education blogger, Australia
Career & Vocational Education | Continuing Professional Development | Teacher Training
As a teacher, you are a magician. You conjure understanding where there was none.
Drawing on years of experience teaching in a diverse range of schools and powered by a nuanced understanding of educational research, Greg Ashman presents the most vital ideas that you need to know in order to succeed in teaching. Find out how to avoid common mistakes and challenge some of the myths about what good teaching really is.
Evidence-informed, the book explores major issues you will encounter in schools, including the science of learning, classroom management, explicit forms of teaching, why the use of phonics has been such a controversial issue and smart ways to evaluate the potential of technology in the classroom.
If you are training to teach in primary or secondary education, or in the early stages of your teacher career, this book is for you.
The book starts conversations about evidence informed practice within education. Taking a positivist stance the book explores debates around trends and policy shifts in education. This would be a good starting point for education students engaged in knowledge contests around scientific versus philosophical arguments for pedagogical approaches.
Greg Ashman has written a superb book which is accessible to trainee teachers and thought provoking for experienced teachers. It is refreshing to read a book written by a practicing teacher. After 23 years of teaching, I realise that I have spent too much of my time investigating my energy into the latest fads in education, often as a result from a diktat from someone who have never taught in a classroom. This book cuts right to the core of what is important, how to teach effectively and efficiently. Greg manages to show the importance of linking many key aspects of teaching such as behaviour management and motivating learners with lesson planning and assessment whilst demonstrating through evidence and clear examples, which methods bring about the best outcomes for the students in our care. As the lead teacher for teaching and learning in my school and a key partner in a local initial teacher training provider, I will certainly be adding Greg’s book to my list of recommended reading.
Dr. Jo Rowley (Deputy Head, Walton High School, Stafford and Chair of the OAKS secondary teacher training programme)
