Successful Children, Successful Teaching

For many years, there has been a gap between the work of psychologists carrying out studies in the laboratory, and teachers working in classrooms. More recently, as the public demands on teachers have increased, psychologists are becoming more interested in learning in real settings, and are recognizing the importance of classroom situations and children's attitudes. Each chapter in this book encourages teachers to reflect on their own thinking as well as on children's learning, and offers ways in which some recent ideas from psychology can realistically be taken up by busy teachers. The first chapter discusses the limitations of behavioral competencies, and the following two chapters look at children's thinking, learning, and development. Chapters four and five consider the importance of attitudes and the social context of the classroom while the final chapter offers and overall view of successful teaching and learning in successful contexts.