Rosenshine’s Principles in Action

Overview verdict: ★ ★ ★ ★ 

Why this book?
Barak Rosenshine’s ‘Principles of Instruction’ seem omnipresent in the education world at the moment and rightly so. In this booklet exploring Rosenshine’s work, Tom Sherrington explores how the ten principles of instruction can be applied to the classroom- what they look like in practice. In doing so, he bridges the gap between research and practice in a highly readable and accessible publication. Importantly, Sherrington recognises that each subject is unique and thus the application of these principles will look different within each subject domain. This is apparent throughout the booklet where varied examples are given.

What I loved about this short read is the clarity of writing. This is not a booklet that wastes words; each sentence is informative and explanatory with a no-nonsense approach prevailing throughout. For a busy teacher, this is what makes it so valuable. With the material structured around 4 strands which are integral to successful teaching, it is easy to refer back to when focusing on one particular element of your practice.

 Three key takeaways:
1. It is useful to think of your teaching in terms of four strands: sequencing concepts and modelling, questioning, reviewing material, and the stages of practice.

2. “The more precise we are about the knowledge goals for learners, the more rigorous we can be about the process of ensuring that all students meet them.” (p.13) 

3. We need not discuss whether or not to adopt the principles but rather how to use them within our unique subject domains, how to adapt them for our own context and how to use them in the best possible way.