Reading list

Please find below a list of books about learning to get you going. We also have a separate list of books about educational research projects available.

New Kinds of Smart, Bill Lucas

20th Century schools presumed that students' intelligence was largely fixed.
21st century science says that intelligence is expandable. New Kinds of Smart argues that this shift in the way we think about young minds opens up hitherto unexplored possibilities for education. This book brings together all the main strands of research about intelligence and explains these new ideas to practising teachers and educators. Each chapter presents practical examples, tools and templates.
Published: 2010
ISBN: 0335236189

What's the point of school? Guy Claxton

Why is our current school system failing so many children? Guy’s book systematically seeks to answer the question and in the process offer a trenchant critique of the status quo. Written with wit and passion, the book blends down-to-earth examples of interesting practice with latest advances in brain science to make the case for a sea-change in education.
Published: 2009

rEvolution, Bill Lucas

150 years after Charles Darwin invented the concept of natural selection, Bill argues that the rules of evolution are changing. To thrive in our current crazy world we need a new kind of “mind-ware”. Specifically we need to develop our adaptive intelligence. The book describes some of the practical steps you can take at home, at school, in the workplace and in the wider community.
Published: 2009
ISBN: 1845901290

Learning about Learning, Chris Watkins et al

The School Improvement Network, run by Chris Watkins at The London Institute, was one of the first groups to provide systematic evidence for the connection between learning to learn and school improvement. This booklet is an excellent mixture of theory and practical activities.
Published: 2000
ISBN: 0415223490

How people learn; brain, mind, experience and school, National Research Council of USA

The USA is about five years ahead of us in terms of serious research into how people learn and its implications for schools. This is a scholarly but very readable account.
Published: 2000
ISBN: 0309070368

Building learning power, Guy Claxton

Aimed at primary schools, Guy Claxton offers a compelling case for teaching pupils to explore their learning muscles along with really good practical examples which suggest just how they might do this.
Published:2007
ISBN: 1901219518

Boost your mind power week by week, Bill Lucas

An attempt to combine research with practical activities, ideal for the hard-pressed teacher keen to improve his or her own learning. While a new exercise every week may be too much for anyone, this book should provide you with ideas that you can use at home or at work.
Published: 2006
ISBN: 1844832643

Creativity in education, Ed Anna Craft, Bob Jeffrey and Mike Leibling

A series of essays about this important subject from leading thinkers on the subject, ideal if you are trying to read up quickly on some of the key issues.
Published: 2001
ISBN: 0826448631

Professional learning communities, Stoll, Louise and Karen Louis

In the last five years we have learned much about how schools can help each other and how tomorrow's school leaders will be encouraged to take on roles beyond their own institution. This excellent selection of essays covers all the ground and explains why learning from and with others is so important.
Published: 2007
ISBN: 0335220304

Schools as learning communities, David Clark

We talk about schools as learning communities and few disagree with the idea in principle. But how do you put it into practice? This book offers some believable suggestions.
Published: 1996
ISBN: 0304330752

IQ, the brilliant idea that failed, Stephen Murdoch

Researchers now believe that IQ (or general cognitive ability) only accounts for about 25 per cent of what it takes to get on at school and in life. Yet much of what we do at school still harks back to an era of 11+ testing and fixed views of intelligence. This book is the history of a flawed but powerful idea and should motivate anyone into believing that intelligence is malleable.
Published: 2007
ISBN:9780471699774

Wise up; the challenge of lifelong learning, Guy Claxton

This is a seminal book about lifelong learning from the creator of Building Learning Power. It introduces the idea that the new 3Rs are resourcefulness, resilience and reflectiveness, ideas which have subsequently been developed by many others.
Published: 2000
ISBN: 1582340927

The learning game; arguments for an education revolution, Michael Barber

Best known for moving to Number 10 and being the brains behind New Labour’s literacy and numeracy strategies, this is a thoughtful and provocative account of some of the issues connected with system-wide improvement in education.
Published: 1997
ISBN: 0575401001

The learner-centred classroom and school, Barbara McCombs and Jo Sue Whistler

This well-researched book shows how schools can create classrooms which really do put learners first and foster motivation, engagement and achievement.
Published: 2007
ISBN: 1412926904

New kinds of smart, the talent foundation

This report offers new ways of thinking about intelligence and a new set of elements, each of which is learnable and each of which is grounded in credible research, including: taking responsible risks, social intuition, learning from and with others and resilience. Can be downloaded free from www.talentfoundation.com

Frames of mind, Howard Gardner

This was the book that, for many teachers, started a revolution in thinking about the nature of intelligence. Even if you are not ultimately persuaded by Frames of Mind, it is worth reading to remind ourselves to focus on working out the many ways on which pupils demonstrate their intelligence.
Published: 1986
ISBN: 0465025080

The teacher’s toolkit, Paul Ginnis

This book has made its author’s name because, although it is sometimes a wordy read, it is simply packed full of ideas that work, well-grounded in theory and engagingly written by someone who so obviously cares about teaching.
Published: 2002
ISBN: 1899836764

The power of mindful learning, Ellen Langer

This book is the antidote to a test-dominated universe in which it is all to easy simply to go through the motions of teaching to the syllabus. Ellen Langer shows us just how important it is to question, and, by contrast, how an over-reliance on traditional teaching methods produces mindless behaviour in our classrooms.
Published: 1998
ISBN: 0201339919

Help your child to succeed, Bill Lucas and Alistair Smith

Arguably the first book to attempt to take new thinking about learning directly to parents of primary-aged children, this book is its publisher's best-selling title ever.
Published: 2002
ISBN: 1855391112

Discover your hidden talents; the essential guide to lifelong learning, Bill Lucas

Tim Brighouse raved about this book in the TES, but, as its author, I know I can do better yet… Discover your hidden talents is the most comprehensive digest of learning theory, all explained and made practical, that I have seen so far!
Published: 2005
ISBN: 185539104X

Learned optimism, Martin Seligman

When I first read this book, I was knocked sideways. For Martin Seligman shows with forensic effect just how we can all take more responsibility for what happens to us and just how important the cultivation of a positive mind-set is to all learners.

Schools that learn, Peter Senge et al

This book takes the idea of the learning organisations into the setting of school. It draws on a range of educators who offer many practical ways in which a school can create a learning culture for its pupils, staff and parents.
Published: 2000
ISBN: 0385493231

The brain’s behind it, Alistair Smith

This is one of Alistair Smith’s best books, cogently analysing the science and the hype around brain-based teaching and effectively separating truth from fad.
Published: 2002
ISBN: 1855390833

It’s about learning and it’s about time, Stoll, Louise et al

As well as having a clever title, this is a wise and useful book. Read this if you want to remind yourself how important it is to return the topic of learning in schools!
Published: 2003
ISBN: 0415227895

Additional reading

ASK: How to teach; learning-to-learn in the secondary school

Villiers High is one of the first high schools in the country to introduce a fully developed curriculum designed so that students can learn how to learn. The results have been remarkable, with year on year improvements in public examination results and an increased student hunger to learn. Full of tried and tested teaching and learning strategies, this book will transform the way any teacher sees their subject. All of the lesson ideas detailed in this book are easily applied to any curriculum subject and if used across different subjects.

Published: 2006
ISBN: 978-184590024-3
www.crownhouse.co.uk