Teach Secondary - Issue 14.6

TheTeachLikeaChampionGuideto theScienceofReading (DougLemov,ColleenDriggs&EricaWoolway,Jossey- Bass,£22.99) Formore than a decade, the organisationTeach Like a Champion has scoured the globe, uncovering the best teachers working today, learning what makes their practice so effective and feeding those findings into an ever-growing pool of teaching resources. As the title suggests, this book takes the ‘TLaC’methodology and applies it specifically to reading.The first thing to note is that it’s a creation ofAmerican authors, but contains wisdomthat transcends national borders, and indeed directly cites teaching practice and education policy originating fromboth the US and the UK.The second thing is that the book’s chapters include a series of links toVimeo-hosted online videos showing actual reading instruction and teaching taking place in situ, the viewing of which are prettymuch essential for following the advice and practical teaching suggestions given in each chapter. Make nomistake, this is a dense work that covers the teaching of reading froma whole host of different angles spanning neuroscience, pedagogy,wider cultural concerns, personal behaviours andmore besides.The authors are practised hands at this, however, as shown by the thoughtful way in which the book’smaterial is organised, but above all, in the tone and language that’s always drawing you in,making the formidable seemdoable, and eager to conveywhat makes the teaching practice shown in those videos so great, so that you can see it too. Whatwereyour reasons forwriting the book, andwhynow? Several years ago, I was leading on equality, diversity and inclusion across two schools, andwas often asked by colleagues about how to discuss issues of race, and the Black Lives Mattermovement in the classroom. Conversations were also being had around our Pride clubs, andwhether there should also be student clubs for Christianity and Islam– which, inmyview,wasn’t a big deal. The students could have those clubs if they wanted, so long as theywere willing and able to enter intomature and honest conversations with their teachers as to why. Even if students don’t like having those kinds of conversations, they can still see that you’re being honest and candidwith them, whichmakes them feel like they belong. You’re not hiding ormasking anything.That’s what really led tome writing the book – a wish to document the experiences I andmy colleagues were having, and our conversations with students. Wereyouwriting for a specific readership? I wasn’t. EDI can be led fromthe top – I’ve been lucky enough to be in a senior position working directlywith headship – and be embedded in the school’s strategy and development plans.At other schools, it can bemore a case of, ‘ We need to put something about race, representation and diversity in the curriculum– let’smake it a project for that ECT whowants a promotion. ’ I had both scenarios inmind, having spoken to people across the spectrum, from leaderships who really‘get it’, to teachers taskedwith organising an anti-racism schools award but didn’t knowwhere to start.The book includes specific chapters on school culture and values for leadership teams, as well as chapters with what are hopefully helpful tips for ECTs, teachers and managers on creating belonging at a smaller scale,within their classrooms. What areyourwider thoughts on howEDI is currentlyseen across thewiderprofession? I think the good intentions needed to build belonging and inclusion are there, though there are still systemic barriers regarding access to education, and socioeconomic issues outside of schools’ control. I’d say things aremoving in the right direction.My only concern is whether schools are seeing inclusion and belonging as integral to the curriculum– because it needs to be within the fabric of your behaviour framework, your teaching and learning. It’s not just an ‘add-on’. Zahara Chowdhury is an English teacher, head of department and senior leader ON THE RADAR Meet the author ZAHARA CHOWDHURY The IllusionistBrain:The NeuroscienceofMagic (Jordi Cami &LuisM.Martinez,Princeton, £22) However closely I might watch the hands of a magician at work, I’ll always miss what’s actually going on. In The Illusionist Brain , Cami and Martinez examine how the brain works, and how practitioners of the ancient art of magic take advantage of these processes to make us see things that aren’t there, or miss things that are. Needless to say, the main aim of the book isn’t to lift the lid on how various magic tricks are conceived and performed, but to instead elucidate the intricacies of cognition and memory. I was surprised to read some of the clearest explanations of neuroscience I’ve yet come across, such as the key concept of framing, and how magicians will utilise it when preparing their audiences to ensure certain outcomes. Definitely a useful and highly readable book. ReviewedbyTerry Freedman CreatingBelonging inthe Classroom (ZaharaChowdhury,Bloomsbury,£18) It’s nowwidely accepted that schools aren’t isolated bunkers, cut off fromany engagement with the issues of the day, but rather spaces in which enquiry and debate of contemporary topics is often encouraged.At the same time, broader shifts in social attitudes have resulted in greater awareness and appreciation of students’ differing backgrounds and identities, and how failures of inclusion can lead to alienation and disengagement.The process of ensuring that all students feel that they belong at school can be complicated and difficult to unpack – which is where this book comes in. Chowdhury’s advice is rooted in personal experience (the intro vividly recounting her memories of how it felt to be an ‘EAL student’), but wide in scope, taking in discussions of values, allyship, social media, behaviour audits andmuchmore, in an admirably open, approachable and non-prescriptive way that should prove invaluable to both cautious ECTs and seasoned heads alike. 43 teachwire.net/secondary B O O K R E V I E WS