Harry Fletcher-Wood introduces The Learning Curriculum 2.0 – a revised version of his guide for teacher educators on how to teach teachers the science of learning.
Professionals have specialist knowledge. Pilots must understand the physics and mechanics of flight; doctors must know the biology and chemistry of the body; teachers must know how students learn.
Those who teach these professionals must have similar – deeper – knowledge and must also be able to make it comprehensible and useful to the professionals they support.
Two years ago, the pilot cohort of our Teacher Education Fellows programme faced a problem. They found clear explanations of student learning – from Deans for Impact and from my colleague Peps McCrea – but they lacked equivalent guidance about how to teach teachers these principles.
They asked:
How we should sequence learning about these principles?
How we could evidence and illustrate these principles accessibly yet defensibly?
How we could check teachers’ understanding?