Neil Phillipson – författare

Thinking Together in Primary Science offers eight fully resourced lesson plans aimed at ages 9–11 to get teachers and primary-aged children talking together about science and how scientists think and learn as a community. The lessons will help children to form a stronger relationship with science and to understand how scientific thinking can help them in everyday life.By secondary school, many young people have already decided that science is not for them. One implication of this is people are less likely to adopt a ‘scientific mindset’ when evaluating the information they encounter online. Understanding the nature of science – what it is and the ways of thinking associated with it – helps young people to identify with the subject, and can protect them from everyday misinformation. The book introduces children to key ideas, such as the tentative nature of scientific knowledge, the importance of scepticism, and the role of evidence. It highlights how science can be trusted because of the collaborative way the scientific community generates, tests, and refines knowledge over time.The book empowers teachers to teach science with greater depth and meaning while embedding oracy into the curriculum. Building on the evidence-based Thinking Together approach, it uses stories to spark dialogue that deepens children’s understanding of science, fosters a closer connection to the subject, and helps protect them from the misinformation so prevalent in today’s world.

Thinking Together in Primary Science offers eight fully resourced lesson plans aimed at ages 9–11 to get teachers and primary-aged children talking together about science and how scientists think and learn as a community. The lessons will help children to form a stronger relationship with science and to understand how scientific thinking can help them in everyday life.By secondary school, many young people have already decided that science is not for them. One implication of this is people are less likely to adopt a ‘scientific mindset’ when evaluating the information they encounter online. Understanding the nature of science – what it is and the ways of thinking associated with it – helps young people to identify with the subject, and can protect them from everyday misinformation. The book introduces children to key ideas, such as the tentative nature of scientific knowledge, the importance of scepticism, and the role of evidence. It highlights how science can be trusted because of the collaborative way the scientific community generates, tests, and refines knowledge over time.The book empowers teachers to teach science with greater depth and meaning while embedding oracy into the curriculum. Building on the evidence-based Thinking Together approach, it uses stories to spark dialogue that deepens children’s understanding of science, fosters a closer connection to the subject, and helps protect them from the misinformation so prevalent in today’s world.

Dialogue has long been used in primary classrooms to stimulate thinking, but it is not always easy to unite the creative thinking of good dialogue with the need for children to understand the core concepts behind knowledge-rich subjects. A sound understanding of key concepts is essential to progress through the national curriculum, and assessment of this understanding along with effective feedback is central to good practice. Dialogic Education builds upon decades of practical classroom research to offer a method of teaching that applies the power of dialogue to achieving conceptual mastery. Easy-to-follow template lesson plans and activity ideas are provided, each of which has been tried and tested in classrooms and is known to succeed. Providing a structure for engaging children and creating an environment in which dialogue can flourish, this book is separated into three parts: Establishing a classroom culture of learning; Core concepts across the curriculum; Wider dialogues: Educational adventures in the conversation of mankind. Written to support all those in the field of primary education, this book will be an essential resource for student, trainee and qualified primary teachers interested in the educational importance of dialogue.