Teach Secondary 14.4

Off the Shelves Brilliant titles for you and your students to explore ExtraordinaryLearningforAll (AylonSamouha,JeffWetzlerandJeneeHenry Wood,Jossey-Bass,£24.99) This book looks at the way schools are traditionally designed to satisfy needs dating back to a hundred years or so.Muchmore could be achieved in terms of pupils’ individual fulfilment, argue the authors, if the curriculum, design of the school day andwider community were actively involved.They proceed to show how their suggested remedies – including project- and problem-based learning,work experience and learning in non-school venues – can be implemented andwhy theywork. Unfortunately, however, said proposals would inevitably require a level of collaboration, time investment and funding that would effectively act as barriers to entry in the current UK climate.That said, as a source of potential ideas and inspiration, the book could be very useful indeed.The case studies it detailsmay be US-centric, but are still interesting illustrations of what can be achieved. ReviewedbyTerry Freedman (see bit.ly/Eclecticism formore details) TheBookshop,TheDraper,The CandlestickMaker:AHistoryof theHighStreet (AnnieGray,Profile,£22) Thismight seem like an esoteric book at first glance, but it warrants closer inspection.Taking readers fromtheMiddle Ages to (more or less) the present day, Gray charts how the places where we do our shopping andwhat we buy have changed over the centuries.Along the waywe gain a deeper understanding of societal and economic history, alongside the references you’d expect to Pepys and other English classroommainstays. In that context, it could provide some useful context when studyingAusten’s Bath episodes.There are sections in the book dedicated to specific trades, including the titular tailors, as well as examinations of towns outside of London. Despite the huge volume of research that clearlywent into its creation, this is no dry, academic tome.Warmly recommended. ReviewedbyTerry Freedman TheDictators: 64Dictators,64 Authors,64Warnings from History (IainDale (ed.),Hodder&Stoughton,£30) In some respects one could view this book as a single warning repeated 64 times. In as many chapters, it covers a number of familiar names – includingAttila the Hun, Ho Chi Minh and, of course,Hitler – in chronological order, fromancient times to the present day.A fascinating opening chapter sets the scene by discussing the psychology of dictators and the traits they can often share. Despite each of the following chapters being penned by a different author, the book hangs together remarkablywell, serving up some compelling insights into themachinations of dictators through the ages,making it a potentially useful reference for political studies and history.Theremight be a surprising omission or two – such as Trujillo andVlad the Impaler – but 64 is surely enough to be getting on with... ReviewedbyTerry Freedman 38 teachwire.net/secondary