In Teacher in the Cupboard: Self-reflective, solution-focused teaching and learning, Lisa Jane Ashes takes educators on a self-reflective journey that will inspire them to challenge the ‘how to’, tick-box approach to teaching.

Even if all the problems in your classroom have been solved by the time you read this, plenty more would surface to take their place … And while each problem has multiple solutions, you’ll need your creativity in order to find them.

In this book, Lisa explores how spending time ‘in the cupboard’ — a metaphor for removing yourself from a situation and seeing it through a more objective lens — can help teachers come up with creative solutions to everyday challenges and positively transform their classroom practice and human interactions.

Teacher in the Cupboard encompasses Lisa’s many and varied observations in education — and each chapter includes real-life experiences to make you think, as well as practical techniques to help educators avoid retreating into self-blindness: a common affliction that robs them of their perception of their own contribution as part of the teaching and learning process.

Brimming with fresh perspectives, the book presents a wide range of innovative ideas to enable educators to harness the power of self-reflection and create a stimulating learning environment that produces excellent results for them, their students and their colleagues. It also talks teachers through a number of methods, approaches and resources that will enable them to instil in their learners a sense of satisfaction derived from the learning skills and behaviours being developed in the classroom. These materials are collated in the ‘Resource Cupboard’ section at the back of the book, offering adaptable — and downloadable — resources that Lisa has used to successfully enhance learning in the classroom.

Suitable for NQTs, teachers and school leaders.

Contents include: Part I: The View from the Cupboard: Students. 1. Get Some Perspective! 2. It’s All Their Fault! 3. They’ll Never Learn! 4. No Need to Worry About Them — They’re Clever! 5. They’ll Never Make It Through! Part II: The View from the Cupboard: Teachers. 6. Do You Realise How Hard I Work? 7. She’s Just a Supply. 8. I’ll Have to Work Late Tonight — We’ve Had ‘the Call’. 9. What’s the Point? 10. I Can’t Help Them All. 11. Just Another Rubbish Teacher. 12. Continuous Professional Development.

Lisa Jane Ashes

Books