Regarded by some as the bible of initial teacher training, Petty's book is informed by reviews of research on teaching methods and will be invaluable to new teachers and more experienced professionals alike.
Teaching today
Synopsis
This fifth edition of Geoff Petty's 'practical guide' to teaching offers 24 chapters of advice on different teaching methods, exploring how to set active tasks and how to explain, demonstrate, check and correct learning. Building on his work on ‘Evidence Based Teaching’, Petty's guide backs up its advice with relevant research and findings.
Beginning with an exploration of learners' practical and emotional needs, Petty's guide takes new teachers through the classroom experience, starting with first impressions, and how to make sure unfavourable impressions do not harm the learning experience, for either the pupil or the teacher.
He then goes through various classroom activities, suggesting improvements on old techniques (such as how to make questioning more effective) and ideas for new teaching methods, with a strong emphasis on engaging pupils as active learners. This carries right through to advice on how to get the most out of homework activities and - perhaps more usefully - how to make sure it gets done.