Trivium 21c

From Ancient Greece to the present day, Trivium 21c explores whether a contemporary trivium (Grammar, Dialectic, and Rhetoric) can unite progressive and traditionalist institutions, teachers, politicians and parents in the common pursuit of providing a great education for our children in the 21st century. Education policy and practice is a battleground. Traditionalists argue for the teaching of a privileged type of hard knowledge and deride soft skills. Progressives deride learning about great works of the past preferring '21c skills' (21st century skills) such as creativity and critical thinking. Whilst looking for a school for his daughter, the author became frustrated by schools' inability to value knowledge, as well as creativity, foster discipline alongside free-thinking, and value citizenship alongside independent learning. Drawing from his work as a creative teacher, Robinson finds inspiration in the Arts and the need to nurture learners with the ability to deal with the uncertainties of our age. Named one of Book Authority's best education books of all time.

Trivium in Practice brings together a series of case studies written by educators who were inspired by Martin Robinson's first book, Trivium 21c. Taken together, these case studies reveal how, regardless of setting or sector, the trivium can deliver a truly great education for our children. Great teaching has the three elements of the trivium at its centre. Grammar: foundational knowledge and skills. Dialectic: questioning, thinking and practising. Rhetoric: the ability to express oneself beautifully, persuasively and articulately in any form. The trivium is a helpful way for a teacher to think about the art of teaching. Through the model of the trivium traditional values and progressive ideals can coexist; both knowledge and cultural capital matter and skills are interwoven with content. The trivium isn't a gimmick to be imposed on to a curriculum; it is a tried and tested approach to education. It is the key to great teaching and learning, as this group of educators discovered. The case studies are from Tom Sherrington, Sam Gorse, Nick, David Hall, Nigel Matthias, Nick Barnsley, Mike Grenier, Nick Rose and Carl Hendrick. These educators have found that trivium education has brought a range of tangible benefits for their students. These include: greater confidence, enhanced development of rigorous analytical skills, improved oracy and confidence in speaking in front of audiences, an appreciation of the value of acquiring and applying knowledge, refined skills in questioning and debating, developed creativity, independence and critical thinking, the ability to form and express considered opinions and, importantly, the enjoyment of learning. Fundamentally, these educators have found that the trivium has helped them to define and deliver their ideas about the education they want for their students, helping them to become engaged, lifelong learners in the process. There is no one 'right' way to 'do' the trivium: it is a tradition that can be adapted. It is the art of education and engages teachers in the art of being educators. Just as each great artist learns from a tradition and refashions it, adds to it, disrupts it, so do the teachers who have contributed to this book. On their canvas, in their school, each contributor is creating and re-creating trivium education in their own way. Discover the potential of the trivium and be inspired to do the same in your own classroom. Suitable for teachers and leaders in any educational setting.

In Why Knowledge Matters, influential scholar E. D. Hirsch, Jr., addresses critical issues in contemporary education reform and shows how cherished truisms about education and child development have led to unintended and negative consequences. Hirsch, author of The Knowledge Deficit, draws on recent findings in neuroscience and data from France to provide new evidence for the argument that a carefully planned, knowledge-based elementary curriculum is essential to providing the foundations for children’s life success and ensuring equal opportunity for students of all backgrounds. In the absence of a clear, common curriculum, Hirsch contends that tests are reduced to measuring skills rather than content, and that students from disadvantaged backgrounds cannot develop the knowledge base to support high achievement. Hirsch advocates for updated policies based on a set of ideas that are consistent with current cognitive science, developmental psychology, and social science. The book focuses on six persistent problems of recent US education: the over-testing of students; the scapegoating of teachers; the fadeout of preschool gains; the narrowing of the curriculum; the continued achievement gap between demographic groups; and the reliance on standards that are not linked to a rigorous curriculum. Hirsch examines evidence from the United States and other nations that a coherent, knowledge-based approach to schooling has improved both achievement and equity wherever it has been instituted, supporting the argument that the most significant education reform and force for equality of opportunity and greater social cohesion is the reform of fundamental educational ideas. Why Knowledge Matters introduces a new generation of American educators to Hirsch’s astute and passionate analysis.

In this controversial new book, Daisy Christodoulou offers a thought-provoking critique of educational orthodoxy. Drawing on her recent experience of teaching in challenging schools, she shows through a wide range of examples and case studies just how much classroom practice contradicts basic scientific principles. She examines seven widely-held beliefs which are holding back pupils and teachers: Facts prevent understanding Teacher-led instruction is passive The 21st century fundamentally changes everything You can always just look it up We should teach transferable skills Projects and activities are the best way to learn Teaching knowledge is indoctrination In each accessible and engaging chapter, Christodoulou sets out the theory of each myth, considers its practical implications and shows the worrying prevalence of such practice. Then, she explains exactly why it is a myth, with reference to the principles of modern cognitive science. She builds a powerful case explaining how governments and educational organisations around the world have let down teachers and pupils by promoting and even mandating evidence-less theory and bad practice. This blisteringly incisive and urgent text is essential reading for all teachers, teacher training students, policy makers, head teachers, researchers and academics around the world.

The landscape of international education has changed significantly in the last ten years and our understanding of concepts such as ‘international’, ′global′ and ‘multicultural’ are being re-evaluated. Fully updated and revised, and now including new contributions from research in South East Asia, the Middle East, China, Japan, Australasia, and North America, the new edition of this handbook analyses the origins, interpretations and contributions of international education and explores key contemporary developments, including: internationalism in the context of teaching and learning leadership, standards and quality in institutions and systems of education the promotion of internationalism in national systems This important collection of research is an essential resource for anyone involved in the practice and academic study of international education, including researchers and teachers in universities, governmental and private curriculum development agencies, examination authorities, administrators and teachers in schools.

Discover why and how schools must become places where thinking is valued, visible, and actively promoted As educators, parents, and citizens, we must settle for nothing less than environments that bring out the best in people, take learning to the next level, allow for great discoveries, and propel both the individual and the group forward into a lifetime of learning. This is something all teachers want and all students deserve. In Creating Cultures of Thinking: The 8 Forces We Must Master to Truly Transform Our Schools, Ron Ritchhart, author of Making Thinking Visible, explains how creating a culture of thinking is more important to learning than any particular curriculum and he outlines how any school or teacher can accomplish this by leveraging 8 cultural forces: expectations, language, time, modeling, opportunities, routines, interactions, and environment. With the techniques and rich classroom vignettes throughout this book, Ritchhart shows that creating a culture of thinking is not about just adhering to a particular set of practices or a general expectation that people should be involved in thinking. A culture of thinking produces the feelings, energy, and even joy that can propel learning forward and motivate us to do what at times can be hard and challenging mental work.

Has our system of accountability and quick fixes meant we've lost perspective of what can really improve the quality of education? With a multitude of issues at the heart of some of our more toxic schools, including micro-management, over-complicated policy and the intricate measurement of the wrong foci, it appears that teachers are experiencing a disconnect from the very reason they joined teaching in the first place. With little autonomy over what's important, fewer teachers enter the profession than the monumental amount of teachers that are leaving, and those that do, do so with reluctance and regret. With an astute examination of practice in schools, Claire Hill and Kat Howard take a thoughtful and strategic view of how to ensure a sense of connection and cohesion within schools, to ensure that all feel part of the collective curricular journey towards a gold standard. With a consideration of research-informed practice, this book will provide a series of strategies for curriculum designers at every level, keeping the high quality teachers that we very much need in schools, and providing a better palette to students in the process. At a time where teaching is somewhat politicised, monetised and overcomplicated, Symbiosis: Curriculum and the Classroom sets about the task of refining the way in which we run our schools to improve the quality of our everyday lives in schools.

What will it take to create truly contemporary learning environments that meet the demands of 21st-century society, engage learners, and produce graduates who are prepared to succeed in the world? What skills and capacities do teachers and leaders need to create and sustain such schools? What actions are necessary? Bold Moves for Schools offers a compelling vision that answers these questions—and action steps to make the vision a reality. Looking through the lenses of three pedagogies—antiquated, classical, and contemporary—authors Heidi Hayes Jacobs and Marie Hubley Alcock examine every aspect of K–12 education, including curriculum, instruction, assessment, and the program structures of space—both physical and virtual—time, and grouping of learners and professionals. In a new job description for teachers, Jacobs and Alcock highlight and expound on the following roles: self-navigating professional learner, social contractor, media critic and media maker, innovative designer, globally connected citizen, and advocate for learners and learning. With thought-provoking proposals and practical strategies for change, Bold Moves for Schools sets educators on the path to redefining their profession and creating exciting new learning environments. The challenge is unprecedented. The possibilities are unlimited.

This book involves understanding the nature and function or language.

The start point is your end-point: the learner. What kind of learner do you want to develop? What are the characteristics of an effective learner and how can we teach to support the development of these characteristics? If future employers are looking for people who can solve problems, think creatively and be innovative, what can we do, as part of our current curriculum provision to enable students to 'deliberately' practise this skill? If being intelligent is not, in fact, measured by your IQ score, and has far more to do with the ability to apply higher order thinking to unfamiliar contexts and create new solutions to existing problems, then what learning challenges can we design for Year 9 on a sunny Wednesday afternoon that will allow them to develop the emotional and intellectual resilience required to be able to do this? Full On Learning offers a range of tried & tested practical suggestions and ideas to construct the ideal conditions for the characteristics of effective learners to flourish. Shortlisted for the Education Resources Awards 2013, Secondary Resource - non ICT category and Educational Book Award category.