Teaching Change: How to Develop Independent Thinkers Using Relationships, Resilience, and Reflection

Teaching Change emphasizes the importance of relationships, resilience, and reflection in education to better prepare graduates for the future. By focusing less on teachers and content and more on students and process, education can create better conditions for learning and foster the ability to think for oneself. Bowen's book combines elegant and gripping explanations of research with practical suggestions for teachers.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 488 pages
\n Publication date: 28 September 2021
\n Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
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This groundbreaking book for educators demonstrates that prioritizing relationships, resilience, and reflection can better equip graduates for the future.

Learning something new, particularly something that challenges your preconceived notions, is far more challenging than most teachers assume. Humans tend to disregard new information unless it aligns with their existing worldview, as people think with their emotions and are influenced by their communities and social groups. Consequently, facts alone, even when presented in great detail, often fail to open minds and initiate change. In a world that desperately needs graduates who can adapt to new information and situations, we must revitalize our educational commitment to cultivating flexible and independent thinkers.

In Teaching Change, José Antonio Bowen makes the compelling argument that education must be reimagined to account for the intricacies of human thinking, behavior, bias, and change. Drawing on recent research, Bowen delves into how we can create optimal learning environments that prioritize students and processes over teachers and content. He also examines student psychology, history, assumptions, anxiety, and bias, advocating for education to prioritize a new set of 3 Rs: relationships, resilience, and reflection. Finally, he proposes explicit learning designs to nurture the ability to think critically and independently.

The case for a liberal education has never been more compelling, but Bowen argues that it must be redesigned to achieve the ultimate goal of cultivating lifelong learners and citizens capable of divergent and independent thinking. Teaching Change combines elegant and engaging explanations of recent and diverse research from biology, economics, education, and neuroscience with hundreds of practical suggestions for individual teachers.

By prioritizing relationships, resilience, and reflection, educators can better prepare graduates for the challenges and opportunities of the future. By creating learning environments that foster critical thinking, adaptability, and a sense of inquiry, we can help students develop the skills they need to thrive in an ever-changing world.

\n Weight: 808g\n
Dimension: 161 x 237 x 37 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781421442617\n \n