Learning in the 21st Century; 1. Curriculum Planning; 2. Teacher Practices – the nuts and bolts; 3. Every Teacher is a Teacher of Language; 4. Assessment Models – what do we value and are we assessing it?; 5. Leadership – the framework for creating the culture
Oliver Knight is Director of Teaching and Learning for Bright Tribe Trust and was formerly Vice Principal with responsibility for Teaching and Learning at Ark Academy in Brent and a member of the Future Leaders programme.
David Benson is Principal of Kensington Aldridge Academy in North Kensington, and former Vice Principal at Ark Academy in Brent, with responsibility for Teaching and Learning, Assessment and Curriculum.
'It does not take long to realise that Creating Outstanding
Classrooms is based on a long and rich history of running schools,
on two authors who know how to turn theory into practice, to learn
from research and from others, and to focus on the important. With
so many demands made of schools it is refreshing to see learning,
knowing one’s impact, and a sense of fun in creating outstanding
classrooms. The many ideas and activities can be readily adopted
but there is an underlying strength in their arguments while at the
same time they confront some of most difficult problems.' John
Hattie, Director, Melbourne Education Research Institute,
University of Melbourne "Drawing upon wide experience of teaching,
senior leadership and curriculum development, Oliver Knight and
David Benson have attempted the most comprehensive and practically
grounded account yet of a disciplinary curriculum in action. With a
winning and unusual integration of pedagogic, curricular and
professional development concerns, they build their case that deep
professional reflection on subject structure and subject knowledge
leads to vibrant learning and shared, valid measures of the quality
of that learning. Benson and Knight are trenchant in their critique
of generic "thinking skills" approaches, arguing that different
disciplines foster different ways of thinking and different forms
of knowledge and that these distinctions enable rather than
constrain, liberating both staff and students. They place these at
the centre of whole-school professional development and
professional debate, showing ways forward for the whole-school
management of subject-driven learning that is knowledge-rich,
demanding and lively." Christine Counsell, Senior Lecturer
University of Cambridge Faculty of Education'Oli and David have
proven they know how to run outstanding schools; this powerful
manual captures how. It should be essential reading for every
school leader and governor in the country. It is a practical and
powerful end-to-end blueprint of how to run an outstanding
secondary school.' Tom Shinner, Lead Proponent and Vice Chair of
Governors, Greenwich Free School'Creating Outstanding Classrooms
appears to be the ‘missing link’ in that it brings the best of
practice in each discipline together and underpins them with good
research and well thought out case studies… We will be purchasing
copies for all our staff and using it to radically alter our
approach to delivering the curriculum by adopting the concept of
‘fertile questions’ across all school subjects.' Sir Iain Hall,
CEO, Great Schools for All Children'We know that effective schools
are schools in which there are effective classrooms and this book
provides a valuable set of resources to improve the quality of
teaching in classrooms, with a clear focus on teaching for
understanding…it is stimulating, thought-provoking, and eminently
usable.' Professor Chris Husbands, Director, Institute of
Education'Creating Outstanding Classrooms is a book that you need
to read at least once. At times provocative and challenging it is
always a practical handbook for those of us who are compelled to
make our schools better.' Mark Keary, Principal, Bethnal Green
Academy (Most Improved School in London 2011)'One of the greatest
challenges facing school leaders is in-school variation. You just
seem to solve a problem in one area when another one ‘pops up’
somewhere else. This book is a great resource for school leaders
and teachers providing case studies and tools to crack
inconsistency. It is a handbook that can be used every day to
create outstanding practice.' John Baumber, CEO and Director of
Education, The Learning Schools Trust'Creating Outstanding
Classrooms provides an ambitious framework for teaching & learning,
assessment, leadership and school culture; a framework that places
classroom teaching at the heart of the system.... there is much
that other schools can learn from this book.' Brett Wigdortz,
Founder and CEO, TeachFirst'The quality of teaching and the
vibrancy of learning is at the heart of school improvement. Sadly
in all the discourse around structural change, curriculum and
accountability such critical discussions are often lost.
Fortunately, in their excellent new book, Creating Outstanding
Classrooms: A Whole-School Approach, Oli Knight and David Benson
have given us an insightful and strategic approach to enhancing
teaching and learning.' David Hopkins. Professor Emeritus,
Institute of Education, London and Director of Education Bright
Tribe Trust'This is a fascinating and important book, underpinned
by deep, systematic thinking about the curriculum and pedagogy, and
yet written with a light and wholly readable style that makes it
practical, compelling and uplifting. All teachers will find ideas
here to challenge as well as to reaffirm aspects of what they teach
and how they teach it. Recommended.' Geoff Barton, Headteacher,
King Edward VI School, Suffolk
'It does not take long to realise that Creating Outstanding
Classrooms is based on a long and rich history of running schools,
on two authors who know how to turn theory into practice, to learn
from research and from others, and to focus on the important. With
so many demands made of schools it is refreshing to see learning,
knowing one’s impact, and a sense of fun in creating outstanding
classrooms. The many ideas and activities can be readily adopted
but there is an underlying strength in their arguments while at the
same time they confront some of most difficult problems.' John
Hattie, Director, Melbourne Education Research Institute,
University of Melbourne 'Drawing upon wide experience of teaching,
senior leadership and curriculum development, Oliver Knight and
David Benson have attempted the most comprehensive and practically
grounded account yet of a disciplinary curriculum in action. With a
winning and unusual integration of pedagogic, curricular and
professional development concerns, they build their case that deep
professional reflection on subject structure and subject knowledge
leads to vibrant learning and shared, valid measures of the quality
of that learning. Benson and Knight are trenchant in their critique
of generic "thinking skills" approaches, arguing that different
disciplines foster different ways of thinking and different forms
of knowledge and that these distinctions enable rather than
constrain, liberating both staff and students. They place these at
the centre of whole-school professional development and
professional debate, showing ways forward for the whole-school
management of subject-driven learning that is knowledge-rich,
demanding and lively.' Christine Counsell, Senior Lecturer,
University of Cambridge Faculty of Education'Oli and David have
proven they know how to run outstanding schools; this powerful
manual captures how. It should be essential reading for every
school leader and governor in the country. It is a practical and
powerful end-to-end blueprint of how to run an outstanding
secondary school.' Tom Shinner, Lead Proponent and Vice Chair of
Governors, Greenwich Free School'Creating Outstanding Classrooms
appears to be the ‘missing link’ in that it brings the best of
practice in each discipline together and underpins them with good
research and well thought out case studies… We will be purchasing
copies for all our staff and using it to radically alter our
approach to delivering the curriculum by adopting the concept of
‘fertile questions’ across all school subjects.' Sir Iain Hall,
CEO, Great Schools for All Children'We know that effective schools
are schools in which there are effective classrooms and this book
provides a valuable set of resources to improve the quality of
teaching in classrooms, with a clear focus on teaching for
understanding…it is stimulating, thought-provoking, and eminently
usable.' Professor Chris Husbands, Director, Institute of
Education'Creating Outstanding Classrooms is a book that you need
to read at least once. At times provocative and challenging it is
always a practical handbook for those of us who are compelled to
make our schools better.' Mark Keary, Principal, Bethnal Green
Academy (Most Improved School in London 2011)'One of the greatest
challenges facing school leaders is in-school variation. You just
seem to solve a problem in one area when another one ‘pops up’
somewhere else. This book is a great resource for school leaders
and teachers providing case studies and tools to crack
inconsistency. It is a handbook that can be used every day to
create outstanding practice.' John Baumber, CEO and Director of
Education, The Learning Schools Trust'Creating Outstanding
Classrooms provides an ambitious framework for teaching & learning,
assessment, leadership and school culture; a framework that places
classroom teaching at the heart of the system.... there is much
that other schools can learn from this book.' Brett Wigdortz,
Founder and CEO, TeachFirst'The quality of teaching and the
vibrancy of learning is at the heart of school improvement. Sadly
in all the discourse around structural change, curriculum and
accountability such critical discussions are often lost.
Fortunately, in their excellent new book, Creating Outstanding
Classrooms: A Whole-School Approach, Oli Knight and David Benson
have given us an insightful and strategic approach to enhancing
teaching and learning.' David Hopkins. Professor Emeritus,
Institute of Education, London and Director of Education Bright
Tribe Trust'This is a fascinating and important book, underpinned
by deep, systematic thinking about the curriculum and pedagogy, and
yet written with a light and wholly readable style that makes it
practical, compelling and uplifting. All teachers will find ideas
here to challenge as well as to reaffirm aspects of what they teach
and how they teach it. Recommended.' Geoff Barton, Headteacher,
King Edward VI School, Suffolk
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