Understanding Teaching and Learning in Primary Education

This textbook supports your initial teacher education by providing guidance and insight into the professional knowledge and understanding, skills and abilities, and values and commitments necessary in order to succeed in the primary classroom.

Coverage includes:

• View from practice boxes in every chapter exploring real-life examples of intelligent and engaging teaching in schools
• Thinking points and reflective questions challenging you to engage critically with what you have read and apply it to your own teaching
• Links to further reading connecting you to specialised literature on every chapter topic
• Clear discussion of education policy differences across the UK.

Mike Carroll is the PGDE (Primary and Secondary) Programme Leader and Director of the MEd Professional Learning and Enquiry programme in the School of Education, University of Glasgow.  Margaret McCulloch is a University Teacher within the School of Education, University of Glasgow.

Dr Mike Carroll is a retired Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Glasgow. Mike was formerly the Director of the MEd Professional Learning and Enquiry. Mike contributed to a range of masters-level programmes for serving teachers, with a particular interest in the development of leadership at all levels in the school. As a retired member of staff Mike continues to contribute as an Associate Tutor involved in supporting students on school placements as well as working as an Education Consultant contributing to Teacher Induction Programmes. Mike co-edited the successful Understanding Teaching and Learning in Primary Education text published by SAGE.

Margaret McCulloch is a lecturer in the School of Education, University of Glasgow. She worked for many years as a primary teacher, specialising in Support for Learning, before becoming an Inclusion Development Officer, and she has extensive experience of working collaboratively with parents, teachers and colleagues from other professions. She teaches educational studies, with a particular focus on inclusive education and related issues, on a number of undergraduate programmes. She also works with international students and practising teachers from Scotland on the Masters programme in Inclusive Education: Policy, Practice and Research. Her research interests include professional identity in teacher education, inclusive education and dyslexia. She has written on inter-professional approaches to practice (Forde et al., 2011); she contributed to the Literature Review on Teacher Education in the 21st Century (Scottish Government, 2010) and to the Assessment at Transition report (Scottish Government, 2012).