The Expert Teacher: Using pedagogical content knowledge to plan superb lessons

In The Expert Teacher: Using pedagogical content knowledge to plan superb lessons, Darren Mead presents an engaging, research-informed view on which teaching strategies work best to induce long-term learning in students.

This question generally occurs to educators when they enquire into evidence-based approaches to teaching – and often they will get to the end of a teaching manual only to find that it remains unanswered.

In The Expert Teacher, however, Darren Mead provides many of the answers.

One of the most universally respected teachers in Britain, Darren has devoted his professional life to attaining pedagogical excellence. In this book he examines in depth what expert teachers do to help students progress their learning and strive for academic success.

He lays bare the concept of pedagogical content knowledge and eloquently explains how to utilise it to overcome student misconceptions, create contexts and connections in learning and teach difficult and important content – empowering educators to transform their sub¬ject knowledge into multiple means of representing it in teachable ways.

The intention of The Expert Teacher is to help teachers to reflect on what and how they plan, how they teach and how to improvise around these plans, and to pave the way for deep professional thinking about best practice. It is split into two parts – entitled How is Your Subject Learned? and Expert Teaching and Learning – and provides educators with a variety of practical tools, illuminating examples and flexible frameworks geared to help them underpin and reinforce the very ampersand in expert teaching & learning.

A warning though: this book is not for teachers seeking quick fixes or superficial tricks. The Expert Teacher is for educators who are eager to experience the excitement of knowing and teaching their subject masterfully.

Suitable for all teachers in all settings.

Contents include: Part I: Pedagogical Content Knowledge: How is Your Subject Learned? Chapter 1. Using Pedagogical Content Knowledge to Plan to Overcome Misconceptions; Chapter 2. Using Pedagogical Content Knowledge to Create Contexts and Connections in Learning; Chapter 3. Using Pedagogical Content Knowledge to Plan to Teach Difficult and Important Knowledge; Part II: Pedagogical Content Knowledge: Expert Teaching and Learning Chapter 4. The Art of Teacher Communication: Planning What to Say and How to Say It; Chapter 5. The Act of Learning: Memory as a Process; Chapter 6. The Act of Learning: Memory as a Destination.