Peter Woods – författare

Is creative teaching still possible in English schools? Can teachers maintain and promote their own interests and beliefs as well as deliver a prescribed National Curriculum?Originally published in 1995, this book explores creative teachers’ attempts to pursue their brand of teaching despite the changes. Peter Woods has discovered a range of strategies and adaptations to this end among such teachers, including resisting change which runs counter to their own values; appropriating the National Curriculum within their own ethos; enhancing their role through the use of others; and enriching their work through the National Curriculum to provide quality learning experiences. If all else fails, such teachers remove themselves from the system and take their creativity elsewhere. A strong theme of self-determination runs through these experiences.While acknowledging hard realities, the book is ultimately optimistic, and a tribute to the dedication and inspiration of primary teachers.The book makes an important contribution to educational theory, showing a range of responses to intensification as well as providing many detailed examples of collaborative research methods.

Is creative teaching still possible in English schools? Can teachers maintain and promote their own interests and beliefs as well as deliver a prescribed National Curriculum?Originally published in 1995, this book explores creative teachers’ attempts to pursue their brand of teaching despite the changes. Peter Woods has discovered a range of strategies and adaptations to this end among such teachers, including resisting change which runs counter to their own values; appropriating the National Curriculum within their own ethos; enhancing their role through the use of others; and enriching their work through the National Curriculum to provide quality learning experiences. If all else fails, such teachers remove themselves from the system and take their creativity elsewhere. A strong theme of self-determination runs through these experiences.While acknowledging hard realities, the book is ultimately optimistic, and a tribute to the dedication and inspiration of primary teachers.The book makes an important contribution to educational theory, showing a range of responses to intensification as well as providing many detailed examples of collaborative research methods.

Creative teaching is an art form – aesthetic, intuitive and expressive. The proliferation of new educational policies in the early 1990s and the related increase in tensions and dilemmas facing schools, combined with the growing demand for a wider range of skills and knowledge among children meant that there was an even greater need for creative teaching than before the National Curriculum. Originally published in 1996, this book addresses this need by: exploring the features of creative teaching with a focus on the day to day practice of primary teachers; showing how teachers used emotion, created atmosphere and stimulated imagination to enhance their teaching; examining the ways in which teachers managed the National Curriculum and developed a new professional discourse in response to government pressures at the time. This book is a sequel to Creative Teachers in Primary Schools and builds upon this work providing new insights into the art of teaching.

Creative teaching is an art form – aesthetic, intuitive and expressive. The proliferation of new educational policies in the early 1990s and the related increase in tensions and dilemmas facing schools, combined with the growing demand for a wider range of skills and knowledge among children meant that there was an even greater need for creative teaching than before the National Curriculum. Originally published in 1996, this book addresses this need by: exploring the features of creative teaching with a focus on the day to day practice of primary teachers; showing how teachers used emotion, created atmosphere and stimulated imagination to enhance their teaching; examining the ways in which teachers managed the National Curriculum and developed a new professional discourse in response to government pressures at the time. This book is a sequel to Creative Teachers in Primary Schools and builds upon this work providing new insights into the art of teaching.

Drawing on wide ranging research this book, originally published in 1997, explores how the policy changes of previous years were affecting primary teachers and their work at the time. Within the context of worldwide restructuring, the thoughts, feelings and activities of teachers in their daily work are examined. The core argument is that what used to be a complex but fulfilling job distinguished by professional dilemmas, which are amenable to professional skill, had become increasingly marked by tension and constraint, which frustrates teacher creativity. While some teachers found new opportunities in the ‘new’ primary school, many used strategical and micro-political activity in order to cope, while others fell victim to stress and burnout. The authors argue that teachers’ own active involvement in policy change is required if their creative potential is to be realized. The book will still be of interest to teachers in primary schools, researchers and policy makers.

Drawing on wide ranging research this book, originally published in 1997, explores how the policy changes of previous years were affecting primary teachers and their work at the time. Within the context of worldwide restructuring, the thoughts, feelings and activities of teachers in their daily work are examined. The core argument is that what used to be a complex but fulfilling job distinguished by professional dilemmas, which are amenable to professional skill, had become increasingly marked by tension and constraint, which frustrates teacher creativity. While some teachers found new opportunities in the ‘new’ primary school, many used strategical and micro-political activity in order to cope, while others fell victim to stress and burnout. The authors argue that teachers’ own active involvement in policy change is required if their creative potential is to be realized. The book will still be of interest to teachers in primary schools, researchers and policy makers.

Changing schools at 11 or 12+ is a critical, often traumatic event in a pupil’s career. Earlier studies had looked at this transitional stage from the schools’ point of view, in the light of institutional aims and objectives. Originally published in 1984, this richly detailed and readable study looks at it from the pupils’ point of view: it illustrates their perceptions of the transfer, their anxieties and their experiences.The book is the result of a research project, in which children transferring from a typical middle school to a typical comprehensive in a Midlands town were observed over a period of eighteen months. The authors reveal various ways in which children adjust to a large, more complex school organisation, to new forms of discipline and authority, and new demands in school work. They emphasise the significance of teenage culture during this period, and identify an important area of interplay between school culture and sub-culture. They pay special attention to gender identities, and the ways in which these affect pupils’ responses to different subjects in the curriculum.Finally, they consider the theoretical and policy implications of their survey, and make positive recommendations for improving school and classroom practice at both primary and secondary level.

Changing schools at 11 or 12+ is a critical, often traumatic event in a pupil’s career. Earlier studies had looked at this transitional stage from the schools’ point of view, in the light of institutional aims and objectives. Originally published in 1984, this richly detailed and readable study looks at it from the pupils’ point of view: it illustrates their perceptions of the transfer, their anxieties and their experiences.The book is the result of a research project, in which children transferring from a typical middle school to a typical comprehensive in a Midlands town were observed over a period of eighteen months. The authors reveal various ways in which children adjust to a large, more complex school organisation, to new forms of discipline and authority, and new demands in school work. They emphasise the significance of teenage culture during this period, and identify an important area of interplay between school culture and sub-culture. They pay special attention to gender identities, and the ways in which these affect pupils’ responses to different subjects in the curriculum.Finally, they consider the theoretical and policy implications of their survey, and make positive recommendations for improving school and classroom practice at both primary and secondary level.

Originally published in 1984, the articles presented here explore such matters as how teachers maintain order, how they treat their pupils and how they cope with pressure; they examine the ways in which teachers relate to their colleagues, what goes on in staffrooms, how they engage in educational debate, and what their ambitions are. The contributors get to grips with what it is really like to be a teacher, to make sense of the everyday rewards and penalties, opportunities and problems.This is the hallmark of the ethnographic method of educational inquiry. It brings to life (by close observation and/or in-depth interview) the internal workings of an institution or culture, revealing the perspectives of its members, their roles and adaptations and making explicit the routine or taken-for-granted features of institutional life.All the papers in the volume are to one degree or another located within this methodological tradition – they all begin with what life is actually like for teachers in schools. Though they draw on a range of theoretical perspectives, from interactionism and ethnomethodology, to Marxism and the ‘New Sociology of Education’; and more besides.In this volume the editors bring together examples of some of the most important and influential pieces of work which illustrate the range of material, and which have hitherto been spread widely among different research reports, academic journals, and collections of conference papers. Classrooms and Staffrooms provides a fund of quality source materials for initial and in-service teachers.

Originally published in 1984, the articles presented here explore such matters as how teachers maintain order, how they treat their pupils and how they cope with pressure; they examine the ways in which teachers relate to their colleagues, what goes on in staffrooms, how they engage in educational debate, and what their ambitions are. The contributors get to grips with what it is really like to be a teacher, to make sense of the everyday rewards and penalties, opportunities and problems.This is the hallmark of the ethnographic method of educational inquiry. It brings to life (by close observation and/or in-depth interview) the internal workings of an institution or culture, revealing the perspectives of its members, their roles and adaptations and making explicit the routine or taken-for-granted features of institutional life.All the papers in the volume are to one degree or another located within this methodological tradition – they all begin with what life is actually like for teachers in schools. Though they draw on a range of theoretical perspectives, from interactionism and ethnomethodology, to Marxism and the ‘New Sociology of Education’; and more besides.In this volume the editors bring together examples of some of the most important and influential pieces of work which illustrate the range of material, and which have hitherto been spread widely among different research reports, academic journals, and collections of conference papers. Classrooms and Staffrooms provides a fund of quality source materials for initial and in-service teachers.

There can be little doubt that pupils’ own interpretations of what happens in their schools represent a crucial link in the educational chain. We need to understand how pupils respond to different forms of pedagogy and school organization, and why they respond in the ways they do, in order to increase the effectiveness of our schooling.In the ten years prior to first publication ethnographic studies of pupils in schools had increased in number and importance. They had come to represent a leading area of inquiry which is still of relevance to practising and student teachers today. However, this material was not easily accessible, being widely distributed across educational and sociological journals and books. Originally published in 1984, this book collects together significant contributions to the field in a single volume, and will still be of relevance to practising and trainee teachers, and students of sociology and education.

There can be little doubt that pupils’ own interpretations of what happens in their schools represent a crucial link in the educational chain. We need to understand how pupils respond to different forms of pedagogy and school organization, and why they respond in the ways they do, in order to increase the effectiveness of our schooling.In the ten years prior to first publication ethnographic studies of pupils in schools had increased in number and importance. They had come to represent a leading area of inquiry which is still of relevance to practising and student teachers today. However, this material was not easily accessible, being widely distributed across educational and sociological journals and books. Originally published in 1984, this book collects together significant contributions to the field in a single volume, and will still be of relevance to practising and trainee teachers, and students of sociology and education.

How do multicultural children and their parents experience the very beginning of their school careers?How do teachers mediate the demands of the educational system, and how do the children adapt?What kind of access to the National Curriculum is offered to multicultural children?Originally published in 1999, the authors answer these questions by drawing on two years’ intensive research in three multi-ethnic institutions. They explore teachers’ values and beliefs and how they attempt to put them into practice. They describe how, at times, teachers were constrained to get things done because of pressures operating on them, but at other times, taught creatively in a way particularly relevant to the children’s concerns and cultures.The authors studied the children’s experiences on their transition into school, and argue that they were inducted into not only a general pupil role, but also one based on an anglicised model of pupil. Opportunities for learning which children found most meaningful came notably from free play, but these became gradually more limited as they engaged with the National Curriculum. These young children were forming complex identities as they sought to respond to the varying influences operating them. Their parents saw a cultural divide opening up between home and school. Many suggestions for practice and policy are made in the course of the book and are still relevant today.

How do multicultural children and their parents experience the very beginning of their school careers?How do teachers mediate the demands of the educational system, and how do the children adapt?What kind of access to the National Curriculum is offered to multicultural children?Originally published in 1999, the authors answer these questions by drawing on two years’ intensive research in three multi-ethnic institutions. They explore teachers’ values and beliefs and how they attempt to put them into practice. They describe how, at times, teachers were constrained to get things done because of pressures operating on them, but at other times, taught creatively in a way particularly relevant to the children’s concerns and cultures.The authors studied the children’s experiences on their transition into school, and argue that they were inducted into not only a general pupil role, but also one based on an anglicised model of pupil. Opportunities for learning which children found most meaningful came notably from free play, but these became gradually more limited as they engaged with the National Curriculum. These young children were forming complex identities as they sought to respond to the varying influences operating them. Their parents saw a cultural divide opening up between home and school. Many suggestions for practice and policy are made in the course of the book and are still relevant today.

The fully updated third edition of Successful Writing for Qualitative Researchers includes new material on the nature of qualitative research and the significance of contemporary circumstances in which academic writers have to work, as well as ethical considerations and authorial responsibilities. It provides a wealth of information and practical tips required to successfully translate qualitative research into writing.Using a wide range of examples, the authors provide tried and tested methods that explore the mindsets, strategies and techniques involved in successful qualitative writing, and the opportunities and rewards that are available. Considering the continuing pressure on researchers to produce high-quality writing in difficult circumstances, this book provides guidance on: The nature of qualitative research The conditions for successful writing The responsibilities of the author Getting started and keeping going Organising your work Traditional and arts-based modes of writing Styles of writing Editing your work Preparing for publicationClear, concise, and engaging, this must-read guide is suitable for all those in the social sciences seeking to formulate their qualitative research into writing with maximum effectiveness, including undergraduates, postgraduates, and academics, whether in dissertations, theses, research reports, journal and magazine articles, conference papers or books.

The fully updated third edition of Successful Writing for Qualitative Researchers includes new material on the nature of qualitative research and the significance of contemporary circumstances in which academic writers have to work, as well as ethical considerations and authorial responsibilities. It provides a wealth of information and practical tips required to successfully translate qualitative research into writing.Using a wide range of examples, the authors provide tried and tested methods that explore the mindsets, strategies and techniques involved in successful qualitative writing, and the opportunities and rewards that are available. Considering the continuing pressure on researchers to produce high-quality writing in difficult circumstances, this book provides guidance on: The nature of qualitative research The conditions for successful writing The responsibilities of the author Getting started and keeping going Organising your work Traditional and arts-based modes of writing Styles of writing Editing your work Preparing for publicationClear, concise, and engaging, this must-read guide is suitable for all those in the social sciences seeking to formulate their qualitative research into writing with maximum effectiveness, including undergraduates, postgraduates, and academics, whether in dissertations, theses, research reports, journal and magazine articles, conference papers or books.

Ethnography has much to offer teachers, especially at a time of growing interest in the `teacher-reseacher' and in `action' and `collaborative' research.

A serious but highly accessible look at recent work on the issues of gender and race. Gender and Ethnicity in Schools raises crucial educational and political issues, paying particular attention to the pupils' experience of school.

This book is a follow-up to Inside Schools. It reviews the position of ethnography in educational research in the light of current issues and of the author's own research over the past ten years. Starting from an analysis of teaching as science and as art, Peter Woods goes on to review the general interactionist framework in which his own work is situated, and how this relates to postmodernist trends in qualitative research. The approach is illustrated through reference to the author's own personal history and research career, and his recent research on creative teaching, critical events, and his teachers reactions to school inspections. How to represent such research is a central feature, and includes a consideration of the tools used in that task and how they relate to the ethnographer's self, whatever forms of representation are selected, however, the audiences' own concerns will guide them in their interpretation of the work.Prominent themes include:* the person of the ethnographer in research* the art of teaching and new ways of representing it, while not forgetting the science of teaching and of research* research for educational use, and the uses of educational research* collaborative work between researchers and teachersThe issues covered include such matters as research purposes, research design, research careers, access, data collection, data analysis, truth criteria, the relationship between theory and research methods, writing-up, and dissemination.

This book is a follow-up to Inside Schools. It reviews the position of ethnography in educational research in the light of current issues and of the author's own research over the past ten years. Starting from an analysis of teaching as science and as art, Peter Woods goes on to review the general interactionist framework in which his own work is situated, and how this relates to postmodernist trends in qualitative research. The approach is illustrated through reference to the author's own personal history and research career, and his recent research on creative teaching, critical events, and his teachers reactions to school inspections. How to represent such research is a central feature, and includes a consideration of the tools used in that task and how they relate to the ethnographer's self, whatever forms of representation are selected, however, the audiences' own concerns will guide them in their interpretation of the work.Prominent themes include:* the person of the ethnographer in research* the art of teaching and new ways of representing it, while not forgetting the science of teaching and of research* research for educational use, and the uses of educational research* collaborative work between researchers and teachersThe issues covered include such matters as research purposes, research design, research careers, access, data collection, data analysis, truth criteria, the relationship between theory and research methods, writing-up, and dissemination.

Since the 1988 Education Reform Act, our education system has undergone dramatic changes and this in turn has raised a number of controversial issues and questions. This reader brings together key articles, both recently published and specially commissioned, which address these issues and place them in context. Issues covered include:*the curriculum * teaching and learning*assessment*school effectiveness and improvement.Various themes run throughout the book include, the quest for quality within a social context, the application of theory and research to practice, and the positive roles played by both teachers and students in adapting to recent change.

The single most cited reason for not choosing teaching as a career is stress, which is also the most common reason for leaving the profession. This book looks at the causes of teacher stress, asks why thousands of teachers (after expensive training) are leaving the profession every year due to stress, and suggests ways of coping with, and preventing stress. Issues covered include:*the perceptions and causes of stress *stressed schools*coping strategies and recovery from stress*health and safety issues.The book is based on research of 25 teachers with stress related illness, with case studies of 'low stress' and 'high stress' primary schools and detailed testimony from primary heads and teachers.

This book is about a unique school. It is a school that, despite the increasing pressure put upon it by changes in the curriculum and the organisation of education, has managed to successfully maintain the creative values that have won it international and governmental recognition.Written for teachers and headteachers who want to encourage creativity in their schools and classrooms, the book describes:the school's culture of holismits use and appreciation of its grounds and environment for learningits innovative approaches to curriculum organisationits appropriation of national initiatives such as the literacy and numeracy hoursits creative teaching and learning through the eyes of observers, teachers, children and parents.The success of Coombes School shows that it is possible to combine externally imposed prescription with a set of personal beliefs and values - making a real difference to the quality of teaching and learning. This is a truly inspirational read.

This book is about a unique school. It is a school that, despite the increasing pressure put upon it by changes in the curriculum and the organisation of education, has managed to successfully maintain the creative values that have won it international and governmental recognition.Written for teachers and headteachers who want to encourage creativity in their schools and classrooms, the book describes:the school's culture of holismits use and appreciation of its grounds and environment for learningits innovative approaches to curriculum organisationits appropriation of national initiatives such as the literacy and numeracy hoursits creative teaching and learning through the eyes of observers, teachers, children and parents.The success of Coombes School shows that it is possible to combine externally imposed prescription with a set of personal beliefs and values - making a real difference to the quality of teaching and learning. This is a truly inspirational read.

Creative Learning in the Primary School uses ethnographic research to consider the main features of creative teaching and learning within the context of contemporary policy reforms. In particular, the authors are interested in the clash between two oppositional discourses - creativity and performativity - and how they are resolved in creative teacher practice. The book complements previous work by these authors on creative teaching by giving more consideration to creative learning.The first section of the book explores the nature of creative teaching and learning by examining four key features: relevance, control, ownership and innovation. The authors devote a chapter to each of these aspects, outlining their properties and illustrating them with a wide range of examples, mainly from recent practice in primary schools. The second section presents some instructive examples of schools promoting creative learning, and how creative primary schools have responded to the policy reforms of recent years. The chapters focus specifically on:how pupils act as a powerful resource for creative learning for each other and for their teachers; how teachers have appropriated the reforms to enhance their creativity;and how one school has moved over a period of ten years from heavy constraint to high creativity.The blend of analysis, case-study material and implications for practice will make this book attractive to primary teachers, school managers, policy makers, teacher educators and researchers.

Creative Learning in the Primary School uses ethnographic research to consider the main features of creative teaching and learning within the context of contemporary policy reforms. In particular, the authors are interested in the clash between two oppositional discourses - creativity and performativity - and how they are resolved in creative teacher practice. The book complements previous work by these authors on creative teaching by giving more consideration to creative learning.The first section of the book explores the nature of creative teaching and learning by examining four key features: relevance, control, ownership and innovation. The authors devote a chapter to each of these aspects, outlining their properties and illustrating them with a wide range of examples, mainly from recent practice in primary schools. The second section presents some instructive examples of schools promoting creative learning, and how creative primary schools have responded to the policy reforms of recent years. The chapters focus specifically on:how pupils act as a powerful resource for creative learning for each other and for their teachers; how teachers have appropriated the reforms to enhance their creativity;and how one school has moved over a period of ten years from heavy constraint to high creativity.The blend of analysis, case-study material and implications for practice will make this book attractive to primary teachers, school managers, policy makers, teacher educators and researchers.

In this ethnographic study of a secondary school in the UK, the author presents an incisive account of school life from the various points of view of the pupils, teachers and parents. He describes and analyses major areas of experience and methods of adapting to school for both the children and their teachers; school experience is shown to be widely varying from boredom, despair and humiliation, to gaiety, exultation and comradeship some of it officially and some of it unofficially sponsored. The description reveals a number of marked and interpenetrating divisions within schools: between teachers and pupils, parents and teachers, parents and children and between pupils themselves. These divisions are explored, analysed and related both to institutional factors and to factors outside the school. The study suggests how these factors influence pupil and teacher strategies, and hence how the details of school life relates to wider society.