Don Skinner

Teacher Learning for Educational ChangeHobanGarry(2002)Teacher Learning for Educational ChangeOpen University Press ISBN 0335 20953X£17.99192pages

accessible format, with frequent sub-headings, bullet points lists and questions for reflection at the end of each chapter. The eight pages of references are an excellent outline map of published work in this field over the past twenty or so years. As the title suggests, the primary focus of this work is the committed teacher it is aimed at those who work in schools. If all the books in the series are as good at this one, it will play an important role in making the wider research literature, national and international, available to a professional community whose time is precious.

The Cultural Roots of Professional Wisdom: Towards a Broader View of Teacher Expertise.

Perhaps the most pressing issue concerning teacher education and training since the end of the Second World War has been that of the role of theory—or principled reflection—in professional expertise. Here, although the main post‐war architects of a new educational professionalism clearly envisaged a key role for theory—considering such disciplines as psychology, sociology and philosophy as indispensable for reflective practice—there are nevertheless well‐rehearsed difficulties about crediting such disciplines with quite the (applied) role in educational practice of (say) physiology or anatomy in medical practice. This paper argues that while recent developments in professional teacher education and training may have moved on from erstwhile instrumentalist and/or applied science (competence and other) perspectives, there may yet be a case for further progress towards a rather more sophisticated philosophical psychology of teacher knowledge and expertise.

Building Collaborative Communities of Enquiry in Educational Research.

This article explores the concept of community of enquiry through an examination of 3 case studies: (a) a school-based community of enquiry involving pupils, teachers, and researchers; (b) a community of enquiry involving teachers from around 100 different schools in a Scottish local authority, together with policy advisers and researchers; and (c) the project team involved in the present study itself. The 3 case studies are considered in relation to 7 factors identified in previous research as significant considerations when attempting to build a community of enquiry, namely: dialogue and participation; relationships; perspectives and assumptions; structure and context; climate; purpose; and control. The authors conclude by highlighting key issues and potential implications for attempts to foster collaborative partnerships between educational researchers and practitioners.

Using a Virtual Research Environment to Support New Models of Collaborative and Participative Research in Scottish Education.

Drawing on research supported within the Scottish ‘Applied Educational Research Scheme’ this paper explores the use of the Virtual Research Environment (VRE) in developing ‘communities of enquiry’ in Scottish education and research. It focuses on the role of VREs in influencing collaborative working and educational research. The paper uses three vignettes to illustrate the ways in which VREs have the potential to transform the processes of collaborative enquiry and research in education, by offering new ways of conducting research and engaging various stakeholders (the policy, practice and research communities). The paper argues that, while initially the work conceptualised VREs essentially as tools to support communities of enquiry, it has become clearer during the analysis of emerging data from the project that VREs are developing as new environments in which participants engage and generate new forms of knowledge. They pose ethical dilemmas and challenge the status and analysis of data. The authors conclude that practitioner use of VREs needs to be recognised as a legitimate approach to collaborative working and that virtual dimensions to communities of enquiry require careful nurturing if they are to prove successful.

Book Review: The Learning Brain: Lessons for Education

Day summarizes an interesting contrast made earlier by Fried between a top-down, teacher focus on learning and one more concerned to give learners ownership of their own learning and exploration. For example he contrasts: ‘Then I wanted students to be . . . able to accept, understand, practice, and adopt the suggestions I made on how to make their papers more literate’ with ‘Now I want students to be . . . reflecting upon and assessing their own and others’ thoughts; ready to change their minds if it seems to make sense to do so.’

Explaining in the Primary SchoolWraggE C and BrownGeorge(2002)Explaining in the Primary SchoolRoutledgeFalmer ISBN 0-415-24955-4£9.9996pages

changes the focus to the responsibility of the individual and the institution to secure continuing professional development. It helpfully discusses the characteristics, for instance, of a mentoring organisation. Then follows a chapter reviewing the literature on performance management, leaving the reader to infer that there is not much contentious here, just slightly different interpretations of what everyone agrees to be a good thing. To my mind, the most valuable part of the book is in chapters 4,5 and 6 and investigates the changing of professional practice, something that historically INSET did not even claim to do. These three chapters explore reflection, action research and work-based learning. To some involved in professional development these may seem like statements of the obvious, but there is some depth here, inviting practitioners of CPD to reflect themselves on their own professional practice.