Why Don′t Students Like School?: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom - Hardcover

Willingham, Daniel T.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470279303 ISBN 13: 9780470279304

Publisher: Jossey Bass, 2009

Synopsis

Easy-to-apply, scientifically-based approaches for engaging students in the classroom Cognitive scientist Dan Willingham focuses his acclaimed research on the biological and cognitive basis of learning. His book will help teachers improve their practice by explaining how they and their students think and learn. It reveals-the importance of story, emotion, memory, context, and routine in building knowledge and creating lasting learning experiences.* Nine, easy-to-understand principles with clear applications for the classroom* Includes surprising findings, such as that intelligence is malleable, and that you cannot develop "thinking skills" without facts* How an understanding of the brain's workings can help teachers hone their teaching skills "Mr. Willingham's answers apply just as well outside the classroom. Corporate trainers, marketers and, not least, parents -anyone who cares about how we learn-should find his book valuable reading." -Wall Street Journal

About this title

Review:

"Drilling often conjures up images of late-19th-century schoolhouses, with students singsonging state capitals in unison without much comprehension of what they have learned," (New York Times, 2010) "But Mr. Willingham's answers apply just as well outside the classroom. Corporate trainers, marketers and, not least, parents -- anyone who cares about how we learn -- should find his book valuable reading." (Wall Street Journal, April 29, 2009)

From the Back Cover:

Praise forWhy Don't Students Like School?

"Just like his Ask the Cognitive Scientist column, Dan Willingham'sbook makes fascinating but complicated research from cognitive science accessible to teachers. It is jam packed with ideas that teachers willfind both intellectually rich and useful in their classroom work."
—Randi Weingarten, president, American Federation of Teachers

"This readable, practical book by a distinguished cognitivescientist explains the universal roots of effective teaching and learning.With great wit and authority it practices the principles it preaches! It isthe best teachers' guide I know of—a classic that belongs in the book bag of every teacher from preschool to grad school."
—E. D. Hirsch, Jr., university professor emeritus, University of Virginia

"Dan Willingham, rare among cognitive scientists for also being awonderful writer, has produced a book about learning in school that readslike a trip through a wild and thrilling new country. For teachers and parents, even students, there are surprises on every page. Did you know, for instance,that our brains are not really made for thinking?"
—Jay Mathews, education columnist, The Washington Post

"Educators will love this wonderful book—in clear and compelling language, Willingham shows how the most important discoveries from the cognitive revolution can be used to improve teaching and inspire students in the classroom."
—John Gabrieli, Grover Hermann Professor of Health Sciences,Technology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"Scientists know so much more than we knew thirty years ago about how children learn. This book offers you the research, and the arguments,that will help you become a more effective teacher."
—Joe Riener, English teacher, Wilson High School, Washington, D.C.

About this edition

• Publisher: Jossey Bass
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0470279303
• ISBN 13: 9780470279304
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192