Softcover

ISBN 10: 0470633719 ISBN 13: 9780470633717

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 2010

New in Paperback! Make learning more meaningful by teaching the "whole game"

David Perkins, a noted authority on teaching and learning and co-director of Harvard's Project Zero, introduces a practical and research-based framework for teaching. He describes how teaching any subject at any level can be made more effective if students are introduced to the "whole game," rather than isolated pieces of a discipline. Perkins explains how learning academic subjects should be approached like learning baseball or any game, and he demonstrates this with seven principles for making learning whole: from making the game worth playing (emphasizing the importance of motivation to sustained learning), to working on the hard parts (the importance of thoughtful practice), to learning how to learn (developing self-managed learners).

• Vividly explains how to organize learning in ways that allow people to do important things with what they know
• Offers guidelines for transforming education to prepare our youth for success in a rapidly changing world
• Filled with real-world, illustrative examples of the seven principles

At the end of each chapter, Perkins includes "Wonders of Learning," a summary of the key ideas.

From the Inside Flap:

Making Learning Whole

"One summer I participated in Little League baseball . . . Baseball for me was a triumph of mediocrity. I wasn't especially good at it but I wasn't awful either . . . In the years since those days I've come to an odd conclusion about those early learning experiences: The results were only so-so but the process was pretty good . . . It was pretty good because from the beginning I built up a feel for the whole game. I knew what hitting the ball or missing the ball got you. I knew about scoring runs and keeping score. I knew what I had to do to do well, even though I only pulled it off part of the time. I saw how it fit together."
—from the IntroductionIn Making Learning Whole, David Perkins—a noted authority on teaching and learning and senior co-director of Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education—introduces a new, practical, and research-based framework for teaching. Using learning the game of baseball as a metaphor, Perkins illustrates how teaching any subject at any grade level can be made more effective if students are introduced to the "whole game," rather than isolated pieces of a discipline.

Filled with real-world examples, Making Learning Whole describes how learning can be organized for deep and lasting impact by using these seven principles:

• Play the Whole Game

• Make the Game Worth Playing

• Work on the Hard Parts

• Play Out of Town

• Uncover the Hidden Game

• Learn from the Team

• Learn the Game of Learning

At the end of each chapter, Perkins includes "Wonders of Learning," a summary of the key ideas and "I wonder . . ." questions, which can be answered in real contexts of teaching and learning.

From the Back Cover:

David Perkins, a noted authority on teaching and learning, introduces a new, practical, and research-based framework for teaching. Using learning the game of baseball as a metaphor, Perkins illustrates how teaching any subject at any grade level can be made more effective if students are introduced to the "whole game," rather than isolated pieces of a discipline.

PRAISE FOR MAKING LEARNING WHOLE

"David Perkins is one of the great teachers of our time. In this insight-filled book, you can learn how he achieves his educational goals and how you can achieve yours as well."
—HOWARD GARDNER, HOBBS PROFESSOR OF COGNITION AND EDUCATION, HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION; AUTHOR, FIVE MINDS FOR THE FUTURE

"An instant classic! Making Learning Whole will be used for decades by those interested in a framework for making classrooms better places for learning."
—GARY S. STAGER, Ph.D., EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE CONSTRUCTIVIST CONSORTIUM

"A must-read for those serious about transforming education to prepare our youth for success in a rapidly changing world."
—DR. JAYNE H. MOHR, ASSOCIATE SUPERINTENDENT, TRAVERSE CITY (MICHIGAN) AREA PUBLIC SCHOOLS

"David Perkins goes straight to the heart of the matter. Every educator should read this book, and so should policymakers whose work influences whether and how we can finally make school learning whole."
—LINDA DARLING-HAMMOND, CHARLES E. DUCOMMUN PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION, STANFORD UNIVERSITY