The Learning Power Approach

Foreword Acknowledgments About the Author Chapter 1. The Origins of the Learning Power Approach Nuclear Family Godparents Friends and Neighbors Near Misses A Socket Set Chapter 2. What Is Learning? Why Do We Learn? When Do We Learn? What Is the Launchpad for Learning? What Do Learners Actually Do? The Beginnings of Learning Power So Can You Get Better at Learning? What Kinds of Learning Are Going On in Classrooms? Chapter 3. What Exactly Is the Aim of the Learning Power Approach? Diving In: The Aim of the Learning Power Approach Some Flesh on the Bones Chapter 4. How Do I Get Started? Some Quick Wins The LPA Menu du Jour Curious, Adventurous, Determined, Collaborative: A Starter Kit of Learning Dispositions A Reflective Exercise Chapter 5. Why Does Learning Power Matter? 10 Good Reasons for Pumping Those Learning Muscles 1. Because Life Is Complicated 2. Because Learning Power Makes the World a Safer Place 3. Because We Won't Always Be There 4. Because Good Learners Are More Successful in Life 5. Because Employers Want to Hire Powerful Learners 6. Because Powerful Learners Do Better in School 7. Because Powerful Learners Do Better in College 8. Because It Makes Teaching Easier and More Rewarding 9. Because People Are Happier When They Are Learning 10. Because Young People's Mental Health Depends Upon Their Learning Power Chapter 6. What Is Learning Power Made Of? The Elements of Learning Power Chapter 7. Learning Power in Action: Some Classroom Illustrations Chapter 8. Design Principles of the LPA Classroom 1. Create a Feeling of Safety 2. Distinguish Between Learning Mode and Performance Mode 3. Organize Compelling Things to Learn 4. Make Ample Time for Collaboration and Conversation 5. Create Challenge 6. Make Difficulty Adjustable 7. Show the Innards of Learning 8. Make Use of Protocols, Templates, and Routines 9. Use the Environment 10. Develop Craftsmanship 11. Allow Increasing Amounts of Independence 12. Give Students More Responsibility 13. Focus on Improvement, Not Achievement 14. Lead by Example Chapter 9. What Is the Evidence for the Learning Power Approach? Does Curiosity Affect Learning? What About Concentration? Can Learners' Resilience Be Deliberately Increased? Does Resilience Contribute to Raising Achievement in School? Does Imagination Improve Learning and Creativity, and Can People Get Better at Imagining? Do Deliberate Attempts to Teach Students to Think Clearly Work? And Do They Improve School Performance? What About Collaboration? Does the Same Apply to Empathy? Does Reflection Aid Learning? Does Learning Power Developed in One Context Transfer to Other Contexts? Chapter 10. Distinctions and Misconceptions Focus on Learning Power, Not Just Learning Learning, Not Thinking Learning Dispositions Are Malleable, Not Fixed Is the LPA "Traditional" or "Progressive"? Evidence, Not Measurement Precision About Language Learning Muscles and the Mind Gym Pedagogy Rules It's Not Just Classrooms; It's the Ethos of the Whole School Provisional and Growing, Not Set in Stone Chapter 11. Joining the Culture Club Bibliography and References Resources and Further Reading Index