Teaching As Decision Making Successful Practices for the Secondary Teacher

THEORETICAL/CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK Teaching as Decision Making: Successful Practices for the Secondary Teacheris the work of teacher educators with deep roots in schools. The book attempts to bridge the theoretical with the practical, recognizing the import of theory and skill development, carefully planned lessons and teachable moments, and the intangible but all important magic of the teacher/student relationship. Careful decision making, which is necessary to plan lessons that address the needs of specific students, is stressed along with understanding the broader issues and context at hand. The text encourages readers to reflect upon five key factors involved in making and implementing ethical and effective decisions about teaching and learning: Students (culture, styles, needs, interests, development) Content (key concepts, outcomes and standards, required thinking) Pedagogy (methods, approaches, strategies, assessments) Philosophy (moral aspects, beliefs, aims, values) Context (physical environment, political conditions, social aspects) A sample middle-level interdisciplinary unit on Zimbabwe is included in the appendix and referenced throughout the text to develop future teachers' skills in unit and lesson planning within the context of local and state standards. Additional examples are drawn from high schools and a multitude of individual lessons. With every strategy learned, students are invited to critique: its strengths and weaknesses where, when, and with whom it might be most effective how it might need to be modified for special student needs what values or social relationships it might promote Thus the reader learnstechnical reflection(e.g., How do I use this technique and improve upon it?) as well ascritical reflection(e.g., What long-range values are being promoted?). Teachers need to ask themselves both kinds of questions, and new teachers need information on the technical aspects of the job. Therefore, practical, concrete skill development and models for instruction are provided, and deep reflection on their use is prompted through reflection journals, Reflecting on the Ideas activities, and Practice Activities. The teaching approaches and strategies presented in this text are grounded in contemporary learning theory andconstructivist practice.The authors' view of constructivism centers on students actively engaged in building understanding, whatever the strategy or lesson design. Engaged learners construct meaning across a range of strategies such as direct and inductive approaches, cooperative learning and independent learning, learning centers, and role-play. Any approach that purports to be constructivist must start with students first. This edition ofTeaching as Decision Makingmakes that process explicit by rearranging chapters so that information on learning, student characteristics, cultural differences, and authentic learning appears before information on learning outcomes, assessments, or lesson plans. The text emphasizes understanding the students as well as the results of teaching--the students' learning. Future teachers learn to continuously inquire into the meaning students are making of the ideas, skills, and dispositions being taught through both formal and informalassessment(e.g., preassessment). Finally, the text uses a bridge metaphor to describe the process of building connections between students and content. One of the key aspects of the metaphor is that students must trust teachers enough to come across the bridge with them. The process of relationship building, both with individual students and across a learning community, is a thread through our discussion of instruction and the approaches to classroom management presented at the end of the book. ORGANIZATION OF TOPICS Chapter 1 provides aSparks-Langer, Georgea M. is the author of 'Teaching As Decision Making Successful Practices for the Secondary Teacher', published 2003 under ISBN 9780130474780 and ISBN 0130474789.