THINKING SCHOOLS
SOUTH AFRICA

James Nottingham’s latest book, TEACH Brilliantly (2024) covers a wide range of strategies to improve student learning and bring joy back into teaching. As Professor Emeritus, Barry Hymer – originally from South Africa – says, “This book is Nottingham’s masterpiece: a wonderful distillation of his decades spent immersed in the science, art and craft of education. I have no doubt that teachers who put just a fraction of the ideas contained in this work into classroom practice will add immense value to their students’ learning as well as enjoy a great sense of vocational satisfaction”.

 

For this webinar series, open to all, the author and renowned keynote speaker will cover many of the topics within Teach Brilliantly.

 

Teach Brilliantly 1: Boosting Student Engagement

9 May 2024

2-3.30pm GMT / 4-5.30pm SAST / CEST

 

Engaging students is one of the most challenging tasks of being a teacher. There are so many influences competing for their attention. Involvement in leisure and peer-group activities, preoccupations with social media, and commitments outside school are the distractions most frequently mentioned in the research. Add in processing challenges for students with ASD and other conditions, and it’s a minor miracle that anyone engages for long! James will show some of the solutions to this issue and how we can think differently and respond more effectively to disengagement in the classroom.

 

 

Teach Brilliantly 2: Enhancing Student Efficacy Through the Learning Pit

16 May 2024

2-3.30pm GMT / 4-5.30pm SAST / CEST

 

Self-efficacy (from Albert Bandura, 1977) is the belief a person has about their abilities to create a new outcome. Students with high self-efficacy approach a task with the sense that they can ‘work it out’; those with low self-efficacy believe there is very little they can do to improve things, particularly if they struggle or fail. Useful synonyms for self-efficacy include potency and influence; it is also closely related to growth mindset.

 

The main source for developing self-efficacy is in overcoming challenges (Ciftci & Yildiz, 2019). It can therefore be useful to begin with the Learning Pit, a model developed by James Nottingham. It encourages students to step out of their comfort zone, to approach obstacles more strategically, to collaborate more effectively, and to articulate their progress accurately.

 

This second webinar will connect with the first but also stand-alone for those who wish to attend one or two in the series rather than all three.

 

 

Teach Brilliantly 3: Celebrating Progress As Well As Achievement

23 May 2024

2-3.30pm GMT / 4-5.30pm SAST / CEST

 

Researchers used to think that intelligence was mostly determined by genetics and that experiences and environment led to only moderate adjustments. A breakthrough in the 1980s, however, showed that IQ scores had been increasing dramatically through the decades across whole populations. With very little change to genetics in the same timeframe but huge advances in medicine, education and living standards, the only explanation was that earlier research was erroneous. Of course, it is still true that some students are further behind than others, but this is now thought to be more to do with what they haven’t learnt yet, their demotivation, their lack of persistence in the face of academic setbacks or a poor self-image rather than the original assumption that they lacked intelligence.

 

In this third webinar, James will identify some of the school practices that should change in light of this new information – and how we can value the progress of ALL students, as well as celebrate their achievements.

​

​

COST:

R1100 per webinar per person

10% discount per person if you register for all three webinars

TSSA Network Schools: 15% discount

​

About James Nottingham

James is creator of the Learning Pit and author of 12 books on teaching and leading. Throughout the 90s and early 2000s, he was a teaching assistant, teacher and then leader in primary and secondary schools in the UK. In 2006, he set up Challenging Learning, an independent consultancy group, growing this into seven companies in seven countries and employing 25 staff. He has also worked closely with professors Carol Dweck (Growth Mindset) and John Hattie (Visible Learning).

 

Since the pandemic, he has returned to what he loves most: giving keynote speeches, leading practical workshops & webinars, and working longer-term with schools. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a member of the Future 500, a ‘definitive list of the UK’s most forward thinking and creative innovators’.

 

More information about James can be found at LearningPit.org