Teaching for Understanding: Linking Research with Practice

This book presents an innovative approach to teaching that develops understanding. Based on a six-year collaborative research project of school teachers and researchers from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the book describes what teaching for understanding looks like in the classroom and examines how teachers have learned to design and enact such practices. At the heart of the book is a framework that transforms traditional teaching by providing clear and coherent guidance on choosing curriculum topics, defining explicit goals, designing learning activities, fostering student understanding, and assessing students performance. Most important, it offers a model to support the ongoing learning of teachers and students.