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ABOUT TMR

INTRODUCTION

TEACHING IN MIND
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Contents
Preface
Introduction
Reviews 
About the author

TEACHER THINKING
Beliefs
Metaphors
Values
Meaning

EDUCATION MYTHS
Curriculum 
Knowledge
Teaching
Learning

ARTICLES

WORKSHOPS  

MEDIA 

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Teachers!

        Are you tired of being ignored in the process of educational planning and improvement?

        Are you weary of being told what you “should” do by educational experts who don’t recognize your own expertise?

        Have you forgotten that you are at the heart of any meaningful change in education?

A new book—Teaching in Mind: How Teacher Thinking Shapes Education by Judith Lloyd Yero—finally acknowledges the profound influence teachers have on the entire educational process. Read more about Teaching in Mind.

In the wealth of rhetoric on school improvement and educational reform, teachers have been consistently ignored. Only recently has "teacher quality" become a priority in response to numerous studies demonstrating that teachers are the most important factor in a student’s learning experience. Yet in the tradition of reforming education by fiat, “quality teaching” is reduced to a checklist of what teachers “should” do.

Quality teaching can't be characterized by a simple list of behaviors and attitudes that can be “taught” to teachers. Effective teachers come in many shapes, sizes, and temperaments. Their “quality” arises from their individual personality and thinking, the beliefs they have about teaching and learning, how they conceptualize their work, and the ways in which they interact with students.

Teachers’ personal beliefs and values provide the unconscious foundation for their behavior. The metaphors they use to describe their work shape the world in which they and their students operate. Because teachers' mental models of “reality” are highly individualistic, no two classrooms are, or can be, the same.

WHAT YOU'LL FIND HERE

Information, Examples, Processes, Tools for Change

Teaching in Mind and this website are dedicated to teachers. They shift the focus from the externals of teaching to the inner world of individual teachers. They probe the realms of subjective experience—the beliefs, values, presuppositions, metaphors, and meanings that shape a teacher’s personal world. They are  both for and about teachers—about you.

We believe that it is only through the active participation of reflective teachers that meaningful change in education can occur. It is our goal to help you identify the aspects of your thinking that profoundly influence your teaching. The power of teachers to create both effective and ineffective teaching environments is tremendous—and largely unexamined.

Browse through the links in whatever areas interest you. We suggest that you read the INTRODUCTION first, so that you'll have a sense of what we're about. We think you'll be amazed at some of the ideas you find here. Think of this website as a buffet of ideas, a toolkit filled with alternatives, or a symphony of approaches to educational change. 

Welcome to the world of teacher thinking!