The international bestseller about friendship, second chances, and a tiny glow-in-the-dark pink elephant 'The most enjoyable novel I've read all year' Elizabeth McKenzie, author of The Portable Veblen 'I loved Elefant! It was a complete tonic' Seni Glaister, author of The Museum of Things Left Behind 'It's easy to fall in love with this novel because it's easy to fall in love with its main character, a tiny, glowing, pink elephant.' Homer Hickam, author of Carry Albert Home What would you do if you woke up to see a living, breathing, tiny, glowing, pink elephant? If you're anything like Schoch, who lives on the streets of Zurich and is decidedly down on his luck, you might well think it's time to put away the bottle before your hallucinations get any stranger, and go back to sleep. But what if the tiny pink elephant is still there when you wake up? And clearly needs someone to take care of it? And what if you discover that it's been created through genetic engineering, by a group of scientists who just want to use it to get rich and don't care about the elephant's welfare? And that they're in cahoots with a circus and will stop at nothing to get it back? What if this little elephant is about to change your life?

" "The authors set out to produce a book that would "demystify reflective practice" and they have succeeded The book is rich in practical wisdom, concisely expressed, and will enable both experienced teachers and new entrants to use reflective practice to improve and develop teaching and learning in a complex and diverse lifelong learning sector."
Dr David Holloway, University of Portsmouth, UK. "

" "This book speaks with academic authority and the experience and understanding of practitioners. The authors draw teachers into their world of everyday reflective practice that is much more than a requirement from trainee teachers, but rather is at the heart of all teachers' practice. The authors highlight its value for improving teaching and learning and coping with ongoing change, whilst recognising honestly the difficulties in making time to reflect deeply and critically and the questions raised about the worth of reflective practice in an increasingly regulated sector. Rich examples bring the text to life, exemplify concepts and demonstrate practical applications."
Mary Samuels, Oxford Brookes University, UK. "

" "This book has a heartening and optimistic message at its centre: reflective practice can help us as teachers discover what actually works to improve practice, not what should work or what we've been told might work. It is written in a refreshingly straightforward way that steers clear of educational jargon and aims for clarity; it is an antidote to the over-theorizing of Reflective Practice that it warns against."
Noelle Graal, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK. "

" "The authors of this clear and informative book have delved into their extensive experience to produce a must have text for all those who care about the state of teaching and learning in the Lifelong Learning sector. By providing an in depth, detailed and critical accounts of the key processes and products of reflective practice their book must become a set text on initial teacher training courses for the sector and an essential resource for both tutors and managers."
Dr Graham Hitchcock, University Centre, Doncaster, UK. "

Reflective practice is an important skill for students learning to teach in the lifelong learning sector. This book makes the case for reflective practice in post-compulsory teaching and shows how it can be used to support teachers in coping with the complexities and contingencies of practice.

The book introduces a basic model of reflective practice and then explores several further models relevant to teaching in the lifelong learning sector, offering guidance on the application of each model in practice.

Collaborative approaches to reflective practice are also discussed, and the place of reflective practice in teachers continuing professional development is carefully examined. Other key features of the book include: Clear links with the professional standards for teachers in the lifelong learning sector Discussion of the challenges and issues when engaging in reflection on practice Coverage of action research, often considered an extension of reflective practice Illustrations drawn from the authors' extensive experience in teaching and enabling learning "Reflective Practice for Teaching in Lifelong Learning" has been written to address the needs of student teachers across a whole range of lifelong learning courses.

Video journalist Jonas Brand is on a rail journey from Zurich to Basel when stock trader Paolo Contini appears to throw himself from the train to his death. Brand sets his footage of the aftermath of the incident aside to investigate an apparently unconnected coincidence: two 100-Swiss-franc banknotes bearing the same serial number have come into his possession. Sensing an opportunity to graduate from celebrity journalism to serious investigation, he has the banknotes analysed, with bizarrely contradictiory - and fatal - results. Set in the tangled world of finance, politics and the media, Montecristo is a pacy conspiracy thriller full of betrayal and underhand tactics - a sharp and entertaining demonstration of the topical maxim that some banks are simply 'too big to fail'.