Harnessing the Science of Learning: Success Stories to Help Kickstart Your School Improvement

Drawing together the worlds of classroom practice, school leadership and cognitive science, this is an essential how-to guide for initiating and maintaining a school improvement journey based on the science of how we learn.

What we now know about learning and teaching is vast; But even the most seasoned educator can be overwhelmed when wading through the thousands of articles and books that could improve their practice. This guide instead offers a distillation of key understandings―for teaching, literacy, mathematics, curriculum and implementation―to launch your school improvement work. Harnessing the Science of Learning also features contributions from thought leaders across the fields of learning sciences and educational practice, including: Pamela Snow, Tanya Serry, Zach Groshell, Reid Smith, Toni Hatten-Roberts, Simon Breakspear, Katie Roberts-Hull, David Morkunas, Steven Capp, Shane Pearson, and Eamon Charles.

Providing accessible introductions to the most useful insights from the science of learning, the book shows how you could best use this often-neglected body of knowledge. With a series of exemplary school case studies, where leaders and teachers have embraced principles from the science of learning, you will encounter practical descriptions for how you can harness the research to revolutionise your teaching.

Insightful narratives of school transformation are interwoven with summaries of powerful teaching practices. Together this forms a roadmap to drive positive change wherever you work. Here you will learn how even discrete changes in a school can have marked impacts. This book is written both for those already versed in such principles, as well as anyone curious to plunge into what the science of learning has to offer.

Table of Contents

Author Biography

Nathaniel Swain, PhD is a teacher, instructional coach, and teacher educator. He is a Senior Lecturer in Learning Sciences at La Trobe University School of Education, Australia. Dr Swain has taught a range of learners in schools, and founded a community of teachers committed to educational excellence and equity: Think Forward Educators.

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