Designing a research project is possibly the most difficult task a dissertation writer faces. It is fraught with uncertainty: what is the best subject? What is the best method? For every answer found, there are often multiple subsequent questions, so it's easy to get lost in theoretical debates and buried under a mountain of literature. This book looks at literature review in the process of research design, and how to develop a research practice that will build skills in reading and writing about research literature-skills that remain valuable in both academic and professional careers. Literature review is approached as a process of engaging with the discourse of scholarly communities that will help graduate researchers refine, define, and express their own scholarly vision and voice. This orientation on research as an exploratory practice, rather than merely a series of predetermined steps in a systematic method, allows the researcher to deal with the uncertainties and changes that come with learning new ideas and new perspectives. The focus on the practical elements of research design makes this book an invaluable resource for graduate students writing dissertations. Practicing research allows room for experiment, error, and learning, ultimately helping graduate researchers use the literature effectively to build a solid scholarly foundation for their dissertation research project.

What is the role of the mathematics specialist?

What is deep subject knowledge in mathematics?

What sort of pedagogical knowledge does a mathematics specialist need?

How can you best support your colleagues to improve mathematics teaching and learning?

Becoming a Primary Mathematics Specialist Teacher helps you explore the role of the specialist in promoting positive attitudes towards mathematics and developing the teaching and learning of mathematics in your primary school.

Illustrated throughout with classroom-based examples and referenced to relevant research, it is designed to support your development as a reflective practitioner who can confidently review and develop practice in your own classroom, as well as challenge and move the whole school forward through collaborative professional development. Essential topics explored include:

• The nature of the role of the primary mathematics specialist
• Understanding how attitudes to mathematics evolve, and why it is crucial to challenge and change negativity
• What we mean by deep subject knowledge in primary mathematics
• Pedagogical knowledge of how mathematics is taught and learned
• The skills of coaching and mentoring to support teachers and teaching assistants
• Unpicking the principles of progression for high quality teaching in all years groups
• The key features of deep subject knowledge and pedagogy in three areas of the curriculum: multiplication, time and data handling.

Becoming a Primary Mathematics Specialist Teacher is an essential source of guidance and ideas for all primary school teachers aiming to achieve Mathematics Specialist status or already taking this role, those studying primary mathematics as a specialism and at masters level, and for all primary mathematics co-ordinators.

What is the role of the mathematics specialist?

What is deep subject knowledge in mathematics?

What sort of pedagogical knowledge does a mathematics specialist need?

How can you best support your colleagues to improve mathematics teaching and learning?

Becoming a Primary Mathematics Specialist Teacher helps you explore the role of the specialist in promoting positive attitudes towards mathematics and developing the teaching and learning of mathematics in your primary school.

Illustrated throughout with classroom-based examples and referenced to relevant research, it is designed to support your development as a reflective practitioner who can confidently review and develop practice in your own classroom, as well as challenge and move the whole school forward through collaborative professional development. Essential topics explored include:

• The nature of the role of the primary mathematics specialist
• Understanding how attitudes to mathematics evolve, and why it is crucial to challenge and change negativity
• What we mean by deep subject knowledge in primary mathematics
• Pedagogical knowledge of how mathematics is taught and learned
• The skills of coaching and mentoring to support teachers and teaching assistants
• Unpicking the principles of progression for high quality teaching in all years groups
• The key features of deep subject knowledge and pedagogy in three areas of the curriculum: multiplication, time and data handling.

Becoming a Primary Mathematics Specialist Teacher is an essential source of guidance and ideas for all primary school teachers aiming to achieve Mathematics Specialist status or already taking this role, those studying primary mathematics as a specialism and at masters level, and for all primary mathematics co-ordinators.

Designing a research project is possibly the most difficult task a dissertation writer faces. It is fraught with uncertainty: what is the best subject? What is the best method? For every answer found, there are often multiple subsequent questions, so it's easy to get lost in theoretical debates and buried under a mountain of literature. This book looks at literature review in the process of research design, and how to develop a research practice that will build skills in reading and writing about research literature-skills that remain valuable in both academic and professional careers. Literature review is approached as a process of engaging with the discourse of scholarly communities that will help graduate researchers refine, define, and express their own scholarly vision and voice. This orientation on research as an exploratory practice, rather than merely a series of predetermined steps in a systematic method, allows the researcher to deal with the uncertainties and changes that come with learning new ideas and new perspectives. The focus on the practical elements of research design makes this book an invaluable resource for graduate students writing dissertations. Practicing research allows room for experiment, error, and learning, ultimately helping graduate researchers use the literature effectively to build a solid scholarly foundation for their dissertation research project.

"Every person has at ten-plus stories inside," says author Dave Harris, who lives in Poulsbo, Washington, after years of international traveling with the Air Force and Army Corps of Engineers, teaching college, writing, and earning his master's degree in mass communication from the University of Denver. In "Treasure Trove in Passing Vessels, " he introduces intriguing people and experiences he's encountered internationally over six decades.

Presenting these concise, true tales has been Dave's lifelong goal. Herein are observations through eyes of common people "ravished by the glory of God." These stories trigger your recollections where you'll see God moving in unusual or amusing ways. The stories lead you to take your own spiritual temperature.

If you find yourself skipping stories with spiritual overtones, it's not spirituality that you avoid, but God. If you avoid God, ask yourself if you are running to or from something, and gather more facts. One chooses a destiny--spiritual intimacy with or separation from God, beginning now--by the kind of companionship and interests we prefer daily. Gentleman God forces nobody to spend time with Him--now or forever. But He cherishes moments with sons and daughters, His own handiwork. What stories and destiny describe you?

HOW TO LEAD A SCHOOL WITHOUT SELLING YOUR SOUL
School leadership brings with it tremendous pressure from the government for results at all costs. It's the outcome that counts (and the league tables), not the process. Which means, now more than ever, for genuine leaders leading schools in the right direction for the right reasons, bravery is key. Dave Harris is well placed to write the ultimate guide to bravery in school leadership. As the principal of a high-profile brand new Academy he has had to stand by his beliefs about the role of the school in the community - 'It's a marathon, not a sprint' - despite the pressure to forget genuinely educating young people and just focus on 'floor targets'. A book for every leader who wants to make a genuine difference (and get great results, as Dave has done)
Brave Heads is a personal account, a smart synthesis of current thinking about leadership and an invitation to reflect on and review how leadership might need to change to respond to a turbulent and often contradictory environment. It is a powerful and very welcome addition to the literature on how leadership needs to develop in order to create an educational system rooted in authentic values and a belief in the transformational potential of schools.
John West-Burnham, Professor of Educational Leadership, St Mary's University College, Twickenham
Brave Heads works both as a very useful handbook full of practical tips that any new head teacher would be wise to adopt and a timely reminder to more experienced leaders about what matters most in schools. For both, it emphasises the perennial privilege of being a head teacher - being a driver of change that benefits children and communities.
The book takes a refreshing look at both the challenges and the joys of leading a school, describing the bravery needed by head teachers in respect of facing up to external political imperatives, curriculum design and delivery, securing short- and long-term success, the leadership styles necessary at different times and the wealth of research into school leadership that can have real-world relevance and application.
Mike Butler, Chief Executive, Djanogly Learning Trust, Director of the Independent Academies Association