The books listed on this guide represent only a sample of the titles available in the library's collection. To find more titles of interest to you, search the library catalog.
Contemporary Uses of Technology in K-12 Physical Education Policy, Practice, and Advocacy by 
Educating the Student Body by 
Excellence in Scholarship by
Teachers empower both the next generation of learners and educators. Communities value the intricate roles and responsibilities of teachers: many of whom who go beyond the tangibles to cater to the learning needs of their students. The multidimensional and multifaceted relationship between teacher-education providers and teachers is a complex one. At one end of the spectrum sits the scholarship of teaching while at the enacted zone sits standards-based praxis. Teacher education and scholarship of teaching provides the avenue to demonstrate this interaction of knowledge, pedagogy, research and broadly, scholarship. Unfortunately, there is no strong consensus about the value of pedagogical preparation for teachers. This monograph highlights the broad focus on how education draws its knowledge base from various disciplines; advancing that education itself can become a plethora for shared discourse and reflection. The chapters provide fresh demonstrated understanding into practice-enabled research directions and emphasise the position of research-based praxis in both schools and in institutions entrusted with teacher education. Importantly, the monograph demonstrates the two-way communication between the community and teacher educators about knowledge, experiences, values and diversity and to add value with the sole aim to enhance learning. It highlights education is a collective endeavour in that education and teacher education are subsets of the community, and deliberations in communities add important synergy to education's evolution and revolution. Thus, the process of inquiry is fundamental in education, and implies transcending traditional discipline-bound knowledge and processes. This monograph provides the challenge to educators that no single or specific discipline directs educational development and enrichment, nor does the latter exclude any.
Handbook of Physical Education Research by 
Health Education by 
Health Education in Context by
This book presents an international perspective on health education and specifically the influence that context has on this aspect of education. The focus includes both formal and non-formal health education and the factors that impact upon its effectiveness, particularly in non-Western and non-English-speaking contexts (i.e., outside the UK, USA, Australia, NZ, etc.). An important feature of the book is that it draws upon the experiences and research of local experts, representing the perspectives of an extremely diverse cohort across the world (22 countries and 2 regions in total). The book addresses topics such as: the development and implementation of health education in different countries; the influence of political, cultural, societal or religious mores; governmental or ministerial drives; economic or other pressures driving curriculum reform; and the influence of external assessment regimes on health education. By embedding discussions of health education in local contexts and representing a diversity of perspectives on this important topic this book highlights both barriers and enablers to improving health education across the globe.
How Very Effective Primary Schools Work by
a comprehensive analysis of the very effective primary school. Although the research for the book draws on the authors'experiences in Welsh Primary Schools, the range of literature cited and the analytical frameworks employed ensure that their findings have a much broader relevance. They define'a very effective'school as one that provides high levels of attainment and rich educational experiences despite being located in extremely challenging circumstances. A key insight of the book is that although these schools are consequently'extraordinary'their practice was in many ways quite'ordinary'. This is because these schools worked in much the same way as the very best of schools have always done. In many ways, this as the authors note, is an optimistic message – that all children deserve to be educated in such very effective schools.
Middle Grades Research Exemplary Studies by
Middle Grades Research: Exemplary Studies Linking Theory to Practice is the first and only book to present what is perhaps the most thoroughly scrutinized group of studies focusing on middle grades education issues ever assembled. Each research project undertaken by the contributing authors herein resulted in the publication of a scholarly paper. As a collection, the ten studies featured in this book are the crème de la crème of submissions to the Middle Grades Research Journal between August 2006 and December 2008. They are the ten highest peer reviewed manuscripts examined by members of the MGRJ Review Board each having undergone careful'blinded'examination by three or more experts in the subspecialty area addressed by the research study conducted. In addition, each study serves to exemplify how sound, practical research findings can be linked to classroom practice in middle grades classrooms. Middle Grades Research: Exemplary Studies Linking Theory to Practice is a must read for university professors and a useful tool for middle grades educators across all subject areas and school settings. Professors who teach middle grades courses, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, will find the book to be a superb supplemental / accelerated readings text. Every collegelevel middle grades education course should make this book an integral part of class discussions. The book is also an excellent professional development study group resource for middle grades principals and classroom teachers across all subject areas. School level “Professional Learning Communities” (PLCs) will find that Dr. Hough's book stimulates scholarly thought, promotes discussion, and demonstrates how educational theory can and should impact teaching and learning.
Public Education under Siege by
Proponents of education reform are committed to the idea that all children should receive a quality education, and that all of them have a capacity to learn and grow, whatever their ethnicity or economic circumstances. But though recent years have seen numerous reform efforts, the resources available to children in different municipalities still vary enormously, and despite landmark cases of the civil rights movement and ongoing pushes to enact diverse and inclusive curricula, racial and ethnic segregation remain commonplace. Public Education Under Siege examines why public schools are in such difficult straits, why the reigning ideology of school reform is ineffective, and what can be done about it. Public Education Under Siege argues for an alternative to the test-driven, market-oriented core of the current reform agenda. Chapters from education policy experts and practitioners critically examine the overreliance on high-stakes testing, which narrows the content of education and frustrates creative teachers, and consider how to restore a more civic-centered vision of education in place of present dependence on questionable economistic models. These short, jargon-free essays cover public policy, teacher unions, economic inequality, race, language diversity, parent involvement, and leadership, collectively providing an overview of the present system and its limitations as well as a vision for the fulfillment of a democratic, egalitarian system of public education.
The Teaching Brain by
What is at work in the mind of a five-year-old explaining the game of tag to a new friend? What is going on in the head of a thirty-five-year-old parent showing a first-grader how to button a coat? And what exactly is happening in the brain of a sixty-five-year-old professor discussing statistics with a room full of graduate students?While research about the nature and science of learning abounds, shockingly few insights into how and why humans teach have emerged—until now. Countering the dated yet widely held presumption that teaching is simply the transfer of knowledge from one person to another, The Teaching Brain weaves together scientific research and real-life examples to show that teaching is a dynamic interaction and an evolutionary cognitive skill that develops from birth to adulthood. With engaging, accessible prose, Harvard researcher Vanessa Rodriguez reveals what it actually takes to become an expert teacher. At a time when all sides of the teaching debate tirelessly seek to define good teaching—or even how to build a better teacher—The Teaching Brain upends the misguided premises for how we measure the success of teachers.This game-changing analysis of how the mind teaches will transform common perceptions of one of the most essential human practices (and one of the most hotly debated professions), charting a path forward for teachers, parents, and anyone seeking to better understand learning—and unlocking the teaching brain in all of us.