The Children We Leave Behind by Masters, Geoff;

Short description:

How does schooling itself leave some students behind? Geoff Masters challenges what most of us take for granted about learning at school and lifts the lid on vast differences in students’ performances and needs within each grade. A must read for teachers, parents and anybody interested in how schooling needs to change.

Long description:

How can we unlock every child’s potential? What would it take for every student to learn successfully at school and be well prepared for their future? How does schooling itself leave some students behind?

Internationally recognised education adviser Geoff Masters AO challenges what most of us take for granted about learning at school and lifts the lid on vast differences in students’ performances and needs within each grade. Readers are invited to consider an alternative way of organising learning – one that is focused on meeting individual learners where they are and that is built on an understanding of learning as long-term growth. Masters makes a case for reforming school learning systems to better target individuals’ differing needs, to give all students the time they require to learn, and to build every student’s confidence in their capacity for success.

A must read for teachers, parents and anybody interested in how schooling needs to change.

“This book lifts the lid on how our approach to assessment of students in school is failing. It presents a compelling argument for change. For many students assessment is having a negative impact on student engagement, on student learning, and on progression and growth. The evidence is strong for the case for change to a model of assessment which enables every child to flourish and grow.”

• Helen Drennen, Chair of the International Baccalaureate Board of Governors

“The Children We Leave Behind speaks powerfully to officials, educators, students, and parents who know, with certainty, that the current model of schooling has not and cannot meet the needs of each young person’s learning to enable their growth and development. In proposing ‘how school could be done differently’, Masters lays out with remarkable foresight and precision (not prescription) redesigned learning environments capable of operating ecosystemically — transforming our learning systems and providing a new grammar of schooling. Inspiring and motivating for all committed to the new definitions of excellence and equity we so desperately need.”

• Anthony Mackay AM, Board Co-Chair, National Center on Education & the Economy, Washington DC, Learning Creates Australia, Melbourne

“Schooling is in crisis, with up to fifty per cent of students not engaged emotionally or intellectually. Our communities are looking for leadership on how to address this crisis. Well, here it is – in one small, readable, professionally researched volume by an expert in the field. The author distils the critical issues, writes about them in non-technical language and offers alternative ways forward from his research about good practice from around the world.”

• David Loader, 32 years’ experience as a school principal, and author of two school-focused books, The Inner Principal and Jousting for the New Generation

“A deeply insightful and humane book that challenges the very machinery of schooling. Masters combines rigorous evidence with real stories to show what’s possible when we design systems around growth, not failure.”

• Brad Gaynor, Education Performance Improvement Leader

Table of Contents:

1. The Need for Reform

2. The Evolution of Schooling

3. Enormous Learning Gaps

4. Do Gaps Reflect Differences in Merit?

5. Could All Students Learn Successfully?

6. Are Higher Expectations the Answer?

7. Is Tighter Prescription the Answer?

8. What Every Child Needs to Flourish

9. A Curriculum Designed for Growth

10. Assessments Designed for Growth

11. Mapping Long-Term Growth

12. Reimagining Schooling