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The New Lives of Teachers
Drawing upon a variety of academic disciplines this book explores some of the different means of understanding teaching and learning, both in and across contexts, the issues they raise and their implications for pedagogy and research.
- GenresNonfiction
241 pages, ebook
First published May 21, 2010
4 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Day
117 books6 followersLibrarian Note: There are more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 27, 2024
Christopher Day and Qing Gu have produced an insightful, detailed, and well-researched book concerning not only the experiences of teachers and expertise but other factors such as the importance and impact of government policies to reform education. The New Lives of Teachers provides real depth and insight with excellent references illustrating the hard work and commitment that must have gone into this well-researched book. The chapter titled ‘The Person within the Professional’, made for a reflective read about how our self-image, esteem, motivation, and expectations can impact our teaching and pedagogical development.
The evidence-based approach used throughout is done experimentally well and is further enhanced with stories from teachers of varying experience levels. Covering experiences from NQTs to teachers with thirty years of experience. Day & Gu provides a detailed account of how important teacher passion and commitment are to enabling impactful and quality teaching.
As a teacher, I found this book invaluable as it highlights practitioner’s challenges at various stages of their vocational cycle over time spent as a teacher. I picked up a copy of ‘The New Lives of Teachers’ to explore the relationship between the number of years of teaching and the skills developed. The link between experience and expertise is fascinating as demonstrated more teaching years don’t always translate to more expertise in teaching (Day et al., 2007).
Each chapter provides concise conclusions with additional value-added as it’s not simply a summary but an extension. The New Lives of Teachers goes beyond an overview of how teaching has changed post-war starting with the Education Act 1944 and the Education Reform Act of 1988. It’s a brief overview with excellent context to the political and market conditions leading to the development of a national curriculum in response.
The New Lives of Teachers reads like a well-researched insightful academic masterpiece but also adds additional value with its excellent evidence-based approach. Many of the references used throughout were up to date given that the book was published in 2010. There's plenty to think about such as the struggle among varying stakeholder groups about defining teacher professionalism and professionality. Day & Gu have put in a tremendous amount of work to get ‘The New Lives of Teachers’ on the bookshelves.
‘The likely to become more important’ resonated strongly as teachers should consider changes in workforce demands and technological developments. ‘We need to bring what we teach and how we teach into the 21st century’ No Child Left Behind could be viewed as the minimum and we should ensure to incorporate the demands of our current social, technological and economic environment. The importance of flexibility and versatility, knowing more about the world, thinking outside the box, and developing strong emotional intelligence is a guiding light for all teachers. (Day & Gu, 2010: 37)
I loved the brilliantly insightful chapter on how teachers are challenged in not only continuing relevance, and appropriateness of their pedagogical knowledge but also the practice.
It seems too simple to state that a positive identity of self and well-being has a substantial impact on what makes a good teacher. These points are excellently linked to the humanistic pedagogical approach.
In an attempt at keeping this review brief, I have often found myself nodding along while reading, as teachers who are self-regulated and want to learn frequently we face the challenges induced by being a teacher within an environment that makes learning a challenge due to the time constraints (Day & Gu, 2010). I would highly recommend The New Lives of Teacher to school leaders, teachers and anyone interested in learning about education. If you enjoy reading well-researched and at times technical books on education and pedagogical practice ‘The New Lives of Teachers’ will delight you.
The evidence-based approach used throughout is done experimentally well and is further enhanced with stories from teachers of varying experience levels. Covering experiences from NQTs to teachers with thirty years of experience. Day & Gu provides a detailed account of how important teacher passion and commitment are to enabling impactful and quality teaching.
As a teacher, I found this book invaluable as it highlights practitioner’s challenges at various stages of their vocational cycle over time spent as a teacher. I picked up a copy of ‘The New Lives of Teachers’ to explore the relationship between the number of years of teaching and the skills developed. The link between experience and expertise is fascinating as demonstrated more teaching years don’t always translate to more expertise in teaching (Day et al., 2007).
Each chapter provides concise conclusions with additional value-added as it’s not simply a summary but an extension. The New Lives of Teachers goes beyond an overview of how teaching has changed post-war starting with the Education Act 1944 and the Education Reform Act of 1988. It’s a brief overview with excellent context to the political and market conditions leading to the development of a national curriculum in response.
The New Lives of Teachers reads like a well-researched insightful academic masterpiece but also adds additional value with its excellent evidence-based approach. Many of the references used throughout were up to date given that the book was published in 2010. There's plenty to think about such as the struggle among varying stakeholder groups about defining teacher professionalism and professionality. Day & Gu have put in a tremendous amount of work to get ‘The New Lives of Teachers’ on the bookshelves.
‘The likely to become more important’ resonated strongly as teachers should consider changes in workforce demands and technological developments. ‘We need to bring what we teach and how we teach into the 21st century’ No Child Left Behind could be viewed as the minimum and we should ensure to incorporate the demands of our current social, technological and economic environment. The importance of flexibility and versatility, knowing more about the world, thinking outside the box, and developing strong emotional intelligence is a guiding light for all teachers. (Day & Gu, 2010: 37)
I loved the brilliantly insightful chapter on how teachers are challenged in not only continuing relevance, and appropriateness of their pedagogical knowledge but also the practice.
It seems too simple to state that a positive identity of self and well-being has a substantial impact on what makes a good teacher. These points are excellently linked to the humanistic pedagogical approach.
In an attempt at keeping this review brief, I have often found myself nodding along while reading, as teachers who are self-regulated and want to learn frequently we face the challenges induced by being a teacher within an environment that makes learning a challenge due to the time constraints (Day & Gu, 2010). I would highly recommend The New Lives of Teacher to school leaders, teachers and anyone interested in learning about education. If you enjoy reading well-researched and at times technical books on education and pedagogical practice ‘The New Lives of Teachers’ will delight you.
June 4, 2012
There are some great stories in this book about the lives of teachers. I am uncertain about some of the larger conclusions the authors draw.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews