best books on education theory

School's out

A critical take on education and schooling

The 50 great books on education

Professor of Education, University of Derby

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I have often argued that I would not let any teacher into a school unless – as a minimum – they had read, carefully and well, the three great books on education: Plato’s Republic, Rousseau’s Émile and Dewey’s Democracy and Education. There would be no instrumental purpose in this, but the struggle to understand these books and the thinking involved in understanding them would change teachers and ultimately teaching.

These are the three great books because each is sociologically whole. They each present a description and arguments for an education for a particular and better society. You do not have to agree with these authors. Plato’s tripartite education for a just society ruled over by philosopher kings; Rousseau’s education through nature to establish the social contract and Dewey’s relevant, problem-solving democratic education for a democratic society can all be criticised. That is not the point. The point is to understand these great works. They constitute the intellectual background to any informed discussion of education.

What of more modern works? I used to recommend the “blistering indictment” of the flight from traditional liberal education that is Melanie Phillips’s All Must Have Prizes, to be read alongside Tom Bentley’s Learning Beyond the Classroom: Education for a Changing World, which is a defence of a wider view of learning for the “learning age”. These two books defined the debate in the 1990s between traditional education by authoritative teachers and its rejection in favour of a new learning in partnership with students.

Much time and money is spent on teacher training and continuing professional development and much of it is wasted. A cheaper and better way of giving student teachers and in-service teachers an understanding of education would be to get them to read the 50 great works on education.

The books I have identified, with the help of members of the Institute of Ideas’ Education Forum, teachers and colleagues at several universities, constitute an attempt at an education “canon”.

What are “out” of my list are textbooks and guides to classroom practice. What are also “out” are novels and plays. But there are some great literary works that should be read by every teacher: Charles Dicken’s Hard Times – for Gradgrind’s now much-needed celebration of facts; D. H. Lawrence’s The Rainbow – for Ursula Brangwen’s struggle against her early child-centred idealism in the reality of St Philips School; and Alan Bennett’s The History Boys – for Hector’s role as the subversive teacher committed to knowledge.

I hope I have produced a list of books, displayed here in alphabetical order, that are held to be important by today’s teachers. I make no apology for including the book I wrote with Kathryn Ecclestone, The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education because it is an influential critical work that has produced considerable controversy. If you disagree with this, or any other of my choices, please add your alternative “canonical” books on education.

Michael W. Apple – Official Knowledge: Democratic Education in a Conservative Age (1993)

Hannah Arendt – Between Past and Future (1961), for the essay “The Crisis in Education” (1958)

Matthew Arnold – Culture and Anarchy (1867-9)

Robin Barrow – Giving Teaching Back to the Teachers (1984)

Tom Bentley – Learning Beyond The Classroom: Education for a Changing World (1998)

Allan Bloom – The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students (1987)

Pierre Bourdieu and Jean-Claude Passeron – Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture (1977)

Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis – Schooling in Capitalist America: Educational Reform and the Contradictions of Economic Life (1976)

Jerome Bruner – The Process of Education (1960)

John Dewey – Democracy and Education (1916)

Margaret Donaldson – Children’s Minds (1978)

JWB Douglas – The Home and the School (1964)

Kathryn Ecclestone and Dennis Hayes – The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education (2008)

Harold Entwistle – Antonio Gramsci: Conservative Schooling for Radical Politics (1979).

Paulo Freire – Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1968/1970)

Frank Furedi – Wasted: Why Education Isn’t Educating (2009)

Helene Guldberg – Reclaiming Childhood (2009)

ED Hirsch Jnr. – The Schools We Need And Why We Don’t Have Them (1999)

Paul H Hirst – Knowledge and the Curriculum (1974) For the essay which appears as Chapter 3 ‘Liberal Education and the Nature of Knowledge’ (1965)

John Holt – How Children Fail (1964)

Eric Hoyle – The Role of the Teacher (1969)

James Davison Hunter – The Death of Character: Moral Education in an Age without Good or Evil (2000)

Ivan Illich – Deschooling Society (1971)

Nell Keddie (Ed.) – Tinker, Taylor: The Myth of Cultural Deprivation (1973)

John Locke – Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1692)

John Stuart Mill – Autobiography (1873)

Sybil Marshall – An Experiment in Education (1963)

Alexander Sutherland Neil – Summerhill: A Radical Approach to Child Rearing (1960)

John Henry Newman – The Idea of a University (1873)

Michael Oakeshott – The Voice of Liberal Learning (1989) In particular for the essay “Education: The Engagement and Its Frustration” (1972)

Anthony O’ Hear – Education, Society and Human Nature: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education (1981)

Richard Stanley Peters – Ethics and Education (1966)

Melanie Phillips – All Must Have Prizes (1996)

Plato – The Republic (366BC?)

Plato – Protagoras (390BC?) and Meno (387BC?)

Neil Postman – The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School (1995)

Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner – Teaching as a Subversive Activity (1969)

Herbert Read – Education Through Art (1943)

Carl Rogers – Freedom to Learn: A View of What Education Might Become (1969)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau – Émile or “on education” (1762)

Bertrand Russell – On Education (1926)

Israel Scheffler – The Language of Education (1960)

Brian Simon – Does Education Matter? (1985) Particularly for the paper “Why No Pedagogy in England?” (1981)

JW Tibble (Ed.) – The Study of Education (1966)

Lev Vygotsky – Thought and Language (1934/1962)

Alfred North Whitehead – The Aims of Education and other essays (1929)

Paul E. Willis – Learning to Labour: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs (1977)

Alison Wolf – Does Education Matter? Myths about Education and Economic Growth (2002)

Michael FD Young (Ed) – Knowledge and Control: New Directions for the Sociology of Education (1971)

Michael FD Young – Bringing Knowledge Back In: From Social Constructivism to Social Realism in the Sociology of Education (2007)

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Educational Learning Theories: 2nd Edition

Molly Zhou , Dalton State College Follow David Brown , Dalton State College Follow

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Description

This open textbook was the result of a remix of pre-existing open materials collected and reviewed by Molly Zhou and David Brown. Learning theories covered include the theories of Piaget, Bandura, Vygotsky, Kohlberg, Dewey, Bronfenbrenner, Eriksen, Gardner, Bloom, and Maslow. The textbook was revised in 2018 through a Round Ten Revisions and Ancillary Materials Mini-Grant .

• Behaviorism
• Cognitive Development
• Social Cognitive Theory
• Experiential Learning Theory
• Human Motivation Theory
• Information Processing Theory

Course Title

Exploring Teaching and Learning

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Creative commons license.

Publication Date

Spring 2015

education, piaget, vygotsky, maslow, bloom

Disciplines

Educational Psychology

Lecture slides for this textbook are included in Education Ancillary Materials. View Slides

This textbook and its corresponding lecture slides are also included in the Dalton State Repository .

Accessible files with optical character recognition (OCR) and auto-tagging provided by the Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation .

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Zhou, Molly and Brown, David, "Educational Learning Theories: 2nd Edition" (2015). Education Open Textbooks . 1. https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/education-textbooks/1

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Understanding and Using Challenging Educational Theories

• Karl Aubrey - Bishop Grosseteste University, UK
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• Two new chapters on the works of Diane Ravitch and Gloria Ladson-Billings
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Top 35 Educational Psychology Books, Interventions, & Apps

Optimal outcomes typically involve compromise rather than consensus, reached through open inquiry and recognizing everyone’s input, including teachers, parents, policymakers, and students.

Its value is profound. The educational psychologist’s goal is to improve education, teaching, and learning through “psychologizing” educational experiences (Harris, 2018).

While there is a vast selection of literature on the subject, what follows is a round-up of our favorite books. They offer both a broad and in-depth understanding of this fascinating branch of psychology.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download these three Positive Psychology Exercises for free . These science-based exercises explore fundamental aspects of positive psychology, including strengths, values, and self-compassion, and will give you the tools to enhance the wellbeing of your clients, students, or employees.

This Article Contains:

10 best educational psychology books, a reading list for students, useful interventions for your sessions, 4 handy assessment forms, 2 helpful apps to download today, positivepsychology.com’s relevant resources, a take-home message.

Educational psychology is an exciting area of study, and there are many excellent books to guide your understanding as a student, professional, or interested reader.

The following books offer various perspectives on existing knowledge and the latest research in this ever-developing discipline.

1. How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character – Paul Tough

Paul Tough argues that rather than judging children based on test scores, we should explore and develop their character, degree of optimism, self-control, and perseverance.

Such qualities can drive success into adulthood and are ultimately learnable.

There should be no inevitability to some children failing in their education, but rather a recognition that systems and processes are letting them down and must be addressed.

Find the book on Amazon .

2. How the Brain Learns – David A. Sousa

Educational neuroscientist David Sousa takes us on a journey through the neuroscience and psychology of education in this engaging 5th edition of his book.

Sousa takes the latest research and learnings in education and related fields and translates them into a toolkit of effective and practical activities and strategies for use in the classroom.

New insights in this edition include the latest scientific understanding of how our working memory is involved in learning, the effect of art on child development, and the impact of technology.

3. Why Don’t Students Like School? A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom – Dan T. Willingham

Written by cognitive scientist Dan Willingham, this book provides insights into educational psychology’s fascinating field and how to apply its lessons inside and outside the classroom.

Along with exploring the cognitive processes engaged in learning, Willingham lays out nine key principles for student engagement, including emotion, narrative structure, context, memory, and routine.

This is a valuable text for teachers, parents, corporate trainers, marketers, or students wishing to understand the field of educational psychology.

4. Education Psychology: Developing Learners – Jean Ellis Ormrod, Eric M. Anderman, and Lynley H. Anderman

This book is an essential guide for students on how to apply theoretical concepts to their own learning and to the practice of teaching. It seamlessly blends complex subjects and materials and breaks them down into easily digestible chunks.

The 10th edition contains a clear, engaging, and in-depth focus on learning theory and its application along with details on the latest research in motivation, assessment, and learning.

Real-world examples are provided throughout, along with concrete tools to deliver science-led interventions to children in the classroom.

5. How Learning Happens: Seminal Works in Educational Psychology and What They Mean in Practice – Paul A. Kirschner and Carl Hendrick

Paul Kirschner and Carl Hendrick’s recent book offers a collection of some of the best and most impactful research in educational psychology.

The 28 works take the reader on a journey through seminal discoveries and lessons in the field, along with their significance and legacy.

Divided into six sections, chapters explore how the brain works, prerequisites for learning, the support teachers can offer, and the 10 deadly sins of education.

There are many practical and key takeaways for anyone engaged in education or students of educational psychology and the learning sciences.

6. Self-Regulation in Education (Ed Psych Insights) – Jeffrey A. Greene

Jeffrey Greene, Associate Professor in Learning Sciences and Psychological Studies at the University of North Carolina, explores the crucial concept of self-regulation in education.

Familiar to many, this important book guides the reader through the theory and assesses its value to teachers, researchers, and policymakers.

Greene explains the concept of self-regulation while placing it within the broader context of educational psychology. Key chapters include the fundamentals behind the approach, its potential for use within education, and its application in the classroom.

7. How Children Learn – John Holt

The 50th anniversary edition of this classic work within educational psychology provides us with another opportunity to revisit the groundbreaking work of John Holt.

Having sold over a million copies, How Children Learn contains Holt’s observations that changed the conventional way of thinking about learning.

By recognizing that learning is a natural and innate ability in young children, he argued the importance of using approaches specific to the learner’s age. This includes a significant proportion of contextual and physical–spatial activity-based learning for the youngest children to support development of the required neurological hardware.

8. The Absorbent Mind – Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori wrote this timeless classic in response to what she and others regarded as an educational crisis in the United States.

Since its publication, thousands of private schools have adopted the Montessori Method , inspired by her research into a critical stage in child development: the first six years.

This book remains a valuable addition to any student’s knowledge of educational psychology. It is an essential text for those wishing to understand the processes involved in how children learn and the approaches used in many US classrooms today.

9. Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning – Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniel

Based on the latest cognitive psychology research, this insightful text turns established approaches on their head.

According to this book, many of our existing learning strategies – cramming, rereading, and repetition – provide only short-lived mastery.

Instead, we require novel approaches to make the best use of our memory systems’ strengths and weaknesses, including re-studying only once forgetting has begun, combining learning from multiple disciplines, adding complexity, and self-testing.

Such new strategies not only aid the teacher with their students, but also the learner and the policy maker, bypassing time wasted on counterproductive techniques.

10. Essentials of Educational Psychology: Big Ideas to Guide Effective Teaching  – Jeanne Ormrod and Brett Jones

This valuable educational psychology textbook is a practical guide to the core concepts essential to this discipline.

Written in an engaging and conversational style, this relatively slim guide contains a comprehensive overview of the key theories and educational implications behind motivation, learning and cognition, classroom management, and assessment in educational psychology.

The text partnered with MyLab Education to offer online tutorials, exercises, videos, and assessments to encourage learning and develop a deeper, more practical understanding.

The following list includes books valuable as pre-course reading or part of a broad understanding of educational psychology within a doctoral or master’s syllabus.

They cover the subject’s core topics while exploring closely related disciplines within psychology, learning, and development.

1. Handbook of Educational Psychology  – Lyn Corno and Eric M. Anderman

This book is a hugely valuable addition to the library of anyone studying or practicing in education and the learning sciences. While ideal for graduate-level courses , it is essential reading for teachers, policymakers, and those engaged in designing education.

Sponsored by the American Psychological Association, it contains 30 chapters taking the reader through the background of this rich subject before introducing the latest developments in theory and research.

The third edition includes sections on subject matter acquisition, individual differences, sociocultural perspectives on learning, dialogic instruction, and networked learning.

2. The Power of Making Thinking Visible: Practices to Engage and Empower All Learners – Ron Ritchhart and Mark Church

This new book from Ron Ritchhart and Mark Church is based on the learnings from Harvard’s Project Zero – a research center dedicated to exploring deep thinking and understanding, intelligence, and education.

The text contains many helpful and practical practices to improve student thinking and learning. Applicable at all levels of education, the authors explain how to use thinking routines to maximum effect in the classroom, encouraging student development and adopting mindsets that make thinking more visible.

3. Educational Psychology (Topics in Applied Psychology) – Norah Frederickson, Andy Miller, Tony Cline, Andrea Gulliford, and Susan Birch

The second edition of this well-thought-out book provides a comprehensive guide to the impact of social, developmental, and cognitive psychology on the educational psychologist.

Written with students in mind, it encourages a science-led interdisciplinary approach. Each chapter is divided into learning and behavior, and contains stories, examples, activities, and scenarios to enthuse and instruct the reader.

Crucially, the book provides an appreciation of both the potential for educational psychology and its limitations.

4. Frameworks for Practice in Educational Psychology – Barbara Kelly

The second edition of this popular book provides deep insights into new and existing practice frameworks in educational psychology.

New integrated approaches are introduced along with existing models such as the Problem-Solving Framework and the Constructionist Model of Informed and Reasoned Action.

Use this in-depth book to gain practical insight into existing successful approaches and those under development in educational psychology.

5. Understanding Child Development – Rosalind Charlesworth

The 10th edition of this essential book includes an excellent balance of real-life anecdotes, short stories, and examples of recent research.

Rosalind Charlesworth explores the development and educational opportunities for children in relation to their sociocultural environment. Existing standards, accreditation, and educational practices are defined and highlighted in each chapter for clear identification.

Other areas covered include assessment, working across cultures, special needs, and early cognitive development activities , adding to the overall subject matter’s breadth and depth.

There are some noteworthy, high-impact journals that students will also benefit from reading.

Each of the following journals contains valuable articles on educational psychology and report on the latest research findings and theoretical advances.

Access is typically restricted to those with logins available through their educational institutions:

• British Journal of Educational Psychology
• Educational Psychology in Practice
• Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties
• Journal of School Psychology
• Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry  

Download 3 Free Positive Psychology Exercises (PDF)

Enhance wellbeing with these free, science-based exercises that draw on the latest insights from positive psychology.

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By filling out your name and email address below.

Ritchhart and Church (2020) offer many powerful interventions developed from their work into deep thinking at Harvard University.

The following three examples encourage thinking routines to engage others, own the idea, and take necessary follow-up actions (modified from Ritchhart & Church, 2020):

Ladder of feedback

When a student has finished sufficient work on a project, presenting to a group and receiving feedback can be a valuable exercise.

The group listens to the presentation then uses the following headers as a framework to ask questions and provide feedback:

• Clarify Ask questions to clarify what is being shared.
• Value statements State what appears to be working well and is strong and engaging in the presentation.
• Questions and concerns Ask questions about what concerns you, what is confusing, or what appears not to be working well.
• Suggest How could the work be improved, changed, added to?
• Thank The presenter thanks the group for the feedback shared.

Peer-to-peer feedback can be incredibly valuable for the group to provide input and the presenter to finalize the work under review.

Leaderless discussion

The group watches a video or reads a text on a subject being studied. Each person writes one or two questions for group discussion.

• One person at a time reads a question and describes its relevance.
• Other members attempt to answer the question concerning the text or video.
• The person who came up with the question then summarizes the discussion.
• When everyone has had equal opportunity to share their questions, the group discusses how the practice has improved their understanding of the work and how their thoughts have changed.

Having watched a video, listened to a recording, or read a piece of text, the group sits down and individually makes notes on a sheet of paper:

• Recall For two or three minutes, write a list of details, facts, or lessons based on what was seen or read.
• Plus 1 Pass the paper to the right. Taking one or two minutes, the next person adds one new thing to the list. Repeat two or more times.
• Review The paper is returned to the original owner for review. They look through the additions and add any other new points they have identified.

All three interventions provide mechanisms for the individual to challenge their own and others’ thinking and build on their existing knowledge.

Educational psychologists use several tools for assessment and intervention to support children’s learning and development.

• The Wechsler assessment scales provide a range of educational assessments to measure cognitive abilities in children and adults.
• NEPSY II is used to create tailored assessments, accurate diagnoses, and intervention planning at school and at home.
• The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function assesses behavior at home and in the classroom to score a range of children’s abilities, including those with learning difficulties, brain injuries, depression, and medical conditions.
• The British Ability Scales cognitive assessment is used to assess children’s current intellectual functioning, identify potential interventions, and provide personalized learning.

The following apps are useful downloads for your phone or tablet for either reference purposes or as relaxation aids to promote learning.

Breathe2Relax

This app helps the user reduce symptoms of stress and fear and promotes a calm mental state suitable for learning.

Find the app in the Google Play Store . Find the app in the Apple App Store .

Moodkit uses CBT as its foundation, and provides users with access to over 200 different interventions to improve mood. Included in the app are journaling templates, reminders, and mood charts.

Find the app in the Apple App Store .

For further reading, Best Apps for Psychologists provides insight into apps that will improve the client outcome.

17 Top-Rated Positive Psychology Exercises for Practitioners

Expand your arsenal and impact with these 17 Positive Psychology Exercises [PDF] , scientifically designed to promote human flourishing, meaning, and wellbeing.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

Explore some of our many tools and resources to help students manage stress and worry and become better equipped for their education:

• Adopt A Growth Mindset introduces the reader to the concept of neuroplasticity and provides a guide to replace fixed mindset thinking with growth statements.
• G Stands for Goal offers a way to formulate goals for learning, development, and other areas of your life.
• Reflective Questions for Personal Academic Achievement contains questions to prompt students to think about what they are learning, why, and how to improve the process.
• I Love My Classmate is a creative exercise to help students recognize their talents, strengths, and positive traits.
• Learning New Skills encourages learners to reflect on when new skills were learned and help them normalize.
• Learning From My Work helps students learn from their mistakes rather than dwelling on them with feelings of failure.

If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others enhance their wellbeing, this signature collection contains 17 validated positive psychology tools for practitioners. Use them to help others flourish and thrive.

Every child has the right to an excellent positive education and the right not to be failed by their education system (Tough, 2014). To make sure this doesn’t happen, educational psychologists must be fully equipped to provide the support needed to students, teachers, and policymakers.

Therefore, work continues within educational psychology to ensure policies, processes, and training are in place to ensure that each student’s needs are met irrespective of background or ability.

By integrating the discipline with findings from other areas of study, such as neuroscience and cognitive science, it is possible to build environments dedicated to learning and development (Corno & Anderman, 2016).

Programs such as Harvard’s Making Thinking Visible are challenging the field of education. Using the latest research, while engaging with the collective knowledge of hundreds of teachers, they are delivering fresh approaches to support the challenges associated with learning and thinking (Ritchhart & Church, 2020).

The books within this article will help an interested reader gain a deep understanding of educational psychology as an established field and an awareness of the latest advances driven by exciting new research.

Use our excellent tools to guide your learning while working with others to promote their education and development.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download these three Positive Psychology Exercises for free .

• Brown, P. C., Roediger, H. L., III, & McDaniel, M. A. (2014).  Make it stick: The science of successful learning. Belknap Press.
• Burnham, S. & Phillips, N. (2019). What’s happening to education? Five lessons from educational psychology . Solent Psychology.
• Charlesworth, R. (2016).  Understanding child development  (10th ed.). Cengage Learning.
• Corno, L., & Anderman, E. M. (Eds.) (2016). Handbook of educational psychology . Routledge.
• Frederickson, N., Miller, A., Cline, T., Gulliford, A., & Birch, S. (2015).  Educational psychology (Topics in applied psychology) (2nd ed.). Routledge.
• Greene, J. A. (2017). Self-regulation in education (Ed Psych Insights). Routledge.
• Harris, K. R. (2018). Educational psychology: A future retrospective. Journal of Educational Psychology , 110 (2), 163–173.
• Holt, J. (2017).  How children learn  (50th Anniversary ed.). Da Capo Lifelong Books.
• Kelly, B. (2016).  Frameworks for practice in educational psychology  (2nd ed.). Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
• Kirschner, P. A., & Hendrick, C. (2020). How learning happens: Seminal works in educational psychology and what they mean in practice. Routledge.
• Montessori, M. (2009). The absorbent mind . BN Publishing.
• Ormrod, J. E., & Jones, B. (2018).  Essentials of educational psychology: Big ideas to guide effective teaching (5th ed.). Pearson.
• Ormrod, J. E., Anderman, E. M., & Anderman, L. H. (2019).  Educational psychology: Developing learners  (10th ed.). Pearson.
• Ritchhart, R., & Church, M. (2020). The power of making thinking visible: Practices to engage and empower all learners . Jossey-Bass.
• Sousa, D. A. (2016).  How the brain learns  (5th ed.). Corwin.
• Tough, P. (2014). How children succeed: Confidence, curiosity and the hidden power of character . Arrow Books.
• Willingham, D. T. (2009). Why don’t students like school? A cognitive scientist answers questions about how the mind works and what it means for the classroom.  Jossey-Bass.

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Ten books every teacher should read

In the last decade, a wealth of books has brought together ideas to help teachers have the greatest impact on student learning. Here are just a few

P lato’s Republic, Rousseau’s Émile and Dewey’s Democracy and Education – there’s a strong case to be made, as Dennis Hayes has , that these are the only books on education that teachers need to read. But if I was about to enter the classroom as a teacher for the first time or was looking to improve my practice, I would probably want to read something with more practical advice on what I should be doing and, more importantly, on what I shouldn’t.

Much of what happens in a classroom is highly variable and hard to define, but over the last 10 years a wealth of books has sought to draw together evidence from other fields and provide a series of “best bets” on what might have the greatest impact on student learning. Here are just a few of them.

Why Don’t Students Like School? by Daniel Willingham

Understanding is remembering in disguise

In this eminently readable book, Willingham takes findings from cognitive science and applies them to the classroom in a straightforward and practical way. A central claim in this book is that while we are naturally curious, we are not naturally good at thinking and can only truly think about things we know. It also contains one of the best lines ever to feature in a book on education: “Memory is the residue of thought.”

The Hidden Lives of Learners by Graham Nuthall

Learning requires motivation, but motivation does not necessarily lead to learning

For Nuthall, three worlds exist in the classroom. First, the public world that is largely managed by the teacher and features easily-visible lesson activities and routines. Second, there is the “semi-private world of ongoing peer relationships” in which students foster and maintain social roles in the classroom. Last, there is the private world of the student’s own mind where learning actually takes. This book peels back the layers of those worlds and reveals many surprising findings.

Trivium 21c by Martin Robinson

In a true democracy all citizens share responsibility for their community

As a general model of what should happen in schools, this book has it all. Drawing on the classical triumvirate of grammar (knowledge), dialectic (questioning and debate) and rhetoric (expression), Robinson offers a model of education he wishes to see for his daughter and that seeks to draw on the past to anticipate an uncertain future.

Embedded Formative Assessment by Dylan Wiliam

The first fundamental principle of effective classroom feedback is that feedback should be more work for the recipient than the donor

Formative assessment is probably the most influential idea in schools today, and possibly the most misunderstood. In this book, the architect of formative assessment sets out the core principles of effective assessment but crucially applies them to the classroom with highly practical examples based on years of research in the field.

Seven Myths About Education by Daisy Christodoulou

If you only teach pupils using the knowledge they bring to the classroom, then you will reproduce educational inequalities

In this brief but explosive book, Christodoulou challenges several orthodoxies in education such as prioritising skills over knowledge, the claim that teacher-led instruction is passive, and why you can’t just look it up on Google. Whether or not you agree with everything in this book, every teacher should at least be acquainted with its arguments.

Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn by John Hattie and Gregory Yates

Knowing what to do matters more than knowing what your level is

First published in 2009, Hattie’s original book of alchemy, Visible Learning, attempted to illuminate the dark arts of pedagogy through the meta-analysis of hundreds of studies. In this book, Hattie teams up with cognitive psychologist Gregory Yates to provide another highly practical overview of how lessons from cognitive science can be useful in a range of different contexts. An indispensable reference guide for busy teachers.

Bringing Words to Life by Isabel L Beck, Margaret G McKeown and Linda Kucan

It is not the case that one either knows or does not know a word

Simply the best book on teaching vocabulary. The authors offer a three-tier model: tier one words are those that rarely require instruction such as “dog” or “run”, tier two consists of words that have “high utility for mature language users” such as “contradict” or “precede”, and tier three words are domain specific such as “pantheon” or “epidermis”. Tier two words are of vital importance to children’s development and this book provides sage advice on how to expand that vital range, along with a range of different approaches to broaden children’s vocabulary.

Make It Stick by Peter C Brown, Henry L Roediger and Mark A McDaniel

Learning is deeper and more durable when it’s effortful. Learning that’s easy is like writing in sand, here today and gone tomorrow

One of the more concrete findings from cognitive science is that many of the things that engender effective learning are highly counterintuitive. For example, many students will re-read and highlight material leading up to a test, something which the authors of this book show is little more than colouring in. Far more effective are practices such as interleaving, spaced learning and retrieval practice, which are expertly outlined in this easily accessible book.

Urban Myths About Learning and Education by Pedro De Bruyckere, Paul A Kirschner and Casper D Hulshof

It is our prior knowledge and experience that determines how we see the world

Do students really have different learning styles? Do they actually learn better if they discover things for themselves? Do we only use 10% of our brains? Do we need to know facts in an age of Google? If you’ve ever asked questions like these, then this book is for you. The authors draw on a huge body of evidence to address many common classroom myths that we could all do without.

Why Knowledge Matters by ED Hirsch

Thinking skills cannot readily be separated from one subject matter and applied to other subject matters

This important book argues that while students have been taught how to read, they have not been taught what to read and that cultural literacy matters far more than vague notions of 21st century skills. In short, what’s needed is a more serious look at the curriculum and a greater focus on what we are teaching instead of how we teach it.

Carl Hendrick is an English teacher, head of research and the author of What Does This Look Like in the Classroom? He tweets @C_Hendrick .

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The Seven Best Books on the Philosophy of Education

Lennox Johnson January 14, 2019 Books

From beginner-friendly introductions to classic books on the philosophy of education, this page features books to suit any learning style. It’s important to note that there is no single best book on the philosophy of education. The best book for you will depend heavily on your preferred learning style and the amount of time/energy you’re willing to spend reading. For example, if you tend to find classic works of philosophy difficult to understand, you might want to start with a short, beginner-friendly introduction. If you prefer more depth, you can choose a more comprehensive introduction or pick up one of the classics.

It’s also worth noting that it is not a list of personal recommendations. Personal book recommendations tend to be highly subjective, idiosyncratic, and unreliable. This list is part of a collection of over 100 philosophy reading lists which aim to provide a central resource for philosophy book recommendations. These lists were created by searching through hundreds of university course syllabi , internet encyclopedia bibliographies , and community recommendations . Links to the syllabi and other sources used to create this list are at the end of the post. Following these links will help you quickly find a broader range of options if the listed books do not fit what you are looking for.

Here are the best books on the philosophy of education in no particular order.

The Philosophy of Education: An Introduction  – Richard Bailey

Publisher description: The Philosophy of Education: An Introduction encourages the reader to actively engage with the philosophy of education and the carefully selected contributors bring the philosophy of education to life for the reader. Each chapter focuses on a particular area of debate and explains the main concepts includes extracts from philosophical writing, followed by questions that guide the reader to critically and actively engage with the text guides the reader towards further reading and suggests next steps and more challenging sources or counter-pointed arguments.

The Philosophy of Education: An Introduction is essential reading for education students and for trainee teachers on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. It will also appeal to practicing teachers and educationalists who wish to engage with philosophical approaches to contemporary educational issues.

Philosophy of Education – Nel Noddings

Publisher description: The first edition of Nel Noddings’ Philosophy of Education was acclaimed as the ‘best overview in the field’ by the journal Teaching Philosophy and predicted to ‘become the standard textbook in philosophy of education’ by Educational Theory. This classic text, originally designed to give the education student a comprehensive look at philosophical thought in relation to teaching, learning, research, and educational policy, has now been updated to reflect the most current thinking in the field. A revised chapter on Logic and Critical Thinking makes the topic more accessible to students and examines how critical thinking plays a role in light of the new Common Core standards.

Philosophy of Education introduces students to the evolution of educational thought, from the founding fathers to contemporary theorists, with consideration of both analytic and continental traditions. This is an essential text not only for teachers and future teachers, but also for anyone needing a survey of contemporary trends in philosophy of education.

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Education  – Harvey Siegel

Publisher description: Philosophy of education has an honored place in the history of Western philosophical thought. Its questions are as vital now, both philosophically and practically, as they have ever been. In recent decades, however, philosophical thinking about education has largely fallen off the philosophical radar screen. Philosophy of education has lost intimate contact with the parent discipline to a regrettably large extent–to the detriment of both.

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Education is intended to serve as a general introduction to key issues in the field, to further the philosophical pursuit of those issues, and to bring philosophy of education back into closer contact with general philosophy. Distinguished philosophers and philosophers of education, most of whom have made important contributions to core areas of philosophy, turn their attention in these 28 essays to a broad range of philosophical questions concerning education. The chapters are accessible to readers with no prior exposure to philosophy of education, and provide both surveys of the general domain they address, and advance the discussion in those domains in original and fruitful ways…

Classic and Contemporary Readings in the Philosophy of Education – Steven M. Cahn

Publisher description:  Intended for philosophy of education courses, this anthology brings together classic writings on education by leading figures in the history of philosophy and notable contributions to the field by a variety of contemporary thinkers. The first section provides material from a sizable collection of classic writers, enabling students to read the original sources for themselves. The second section includes recent materials that reflect diverse approaches such as feminism, critical theory, and multiculturalism.

Emile: or, On Education  – Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Publisher description: Alan Bloom’s new translation of Emile , Rousseau’s masterpiece on the education and training of the young, is the first in more than seventy years. In it, Bloom, whose magnificent translation of Plato’s Republic has been universally hailed as a virtual rediscovery of that timeless text, again brings together the translator’s gift for journeying between two languages and cultures and the philosopher’s perception of the true meaning and significance of the issues being examined in the work. The result is a clear, readable, and highly engrossing text that at the same time offers a wholly new sense of the importance and relevance of Rousseau’s thought to us.In addition to his translation, Bloom provides a brilliant introduction that relates the structure and themes of the book to the vital preoccupation’s of our own age, particularly in the field of education, but also more generally to the current concerns about the limits and possibilities of human nature. Thus in this translation Emile, long a classic in the history of Western thought and educational theory, becomes something more: a prescription, fresh and dazzling, for the bringing up of autonomous, responsible—that is, truly democratic—human beings.

Democracy and Education  – John Dewey

Publisher description: John Dewey’s Democracy and Education addresses the challenge of providing quality public education in a democratic society. In this classic work Dewey calls for the complete renewal of public education, arguing for the fusion of vocational and contemplative studies in education and for the necessity of universal education for the advancement of self and society. First published in 1916, Democracy and Education is regarded as the seminal work on public education by one of the most important scholars of the century.

Pedagogy of the Oppressed  – Paulo Freire

Publisher description: First published in Portuguese in 1968, Pedagogy of the Oppressed was translated and published in English in 1970. Paulo Freire’s work has helped to empower countless people throughout the world and has taken on special urgency in the United States and Western Europe, where the creation of a permanent underclass among the underprivileged and minorities in cities and urban centers is ongoing.

This 50th anniversary edition includes an updated introduction by Donaldo Macedo, a new afterword by Ira Shor and interviews with Marina Aparicio Barberán, Noam Chomsky, Ramón Flecha, Gustavo Fischman, Ronald David Glass, Valerie Kinloch, Peter Mayo, Peter McLaren and Margo Okazawa-Rey to inspire a new generation of educators, students, and general readers for years to come.

The following sources were used to build this list:

University Course Syllabi:

• Philosophy of Education – Texas A&M University-Commerce
• Philosophy of Education – University of Maryland

Bibliographies:

• Bibliography for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on the Philosophy of Education

Other Recommendations:

• What is the current state of the philosophy of education?
• Book Recommendation: Philosophy of Education
• Philosophy of education?

Additional Resources

You might also be interested in the following reading lists:

• The Best Introductory Philosophy Books
• The Best Books on Critical Thinking
• The Best Books on the Philosophy of Science

The Daily Idea aims to make learning about philosophy as easy as possible by bringing together the best philosophy resources from across the internet.

• Find the best philosophy books on a wide variety of topics with this collection of over 120 philosophy reading lists .
• Find free online philosophy articles, podcasts, and videos with this organised collection of 400+ free philosophy resources .

You can also follow The Daily Idea on Facebook and Twitter for updates.

A History of Western Philosophy in 500 Essential Quotations – Lennox Johnson

Category: Reference | Length: 145 pages | Published: 2019

Publisher’s Description: A History of Western Philosophy in 500 Essential Quotations is a collection of the greatest thoughts from history’s greatest thinkers. Featuring classic quotations by Aristotle, Epicurus, David Hume, Friedrich Nietzsche, Bertrand Russell, Michel Foucault, and many more, A History of Western Philosophy in 500 Essential Quotations is ideal for anyone looking to quickly understand the fundamental ideas that have shaped the modern world.

Howard Gardner

Faculty info, contact information, personal site, faculty coordinator.

Howard Gardner is the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Research Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is also the head of the Steering Committee of Harvard Project Zero . Among numerous honors, Gardner received a MacArthur Prize Fellowship and a Fellowship from the John S. Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in 1981 and 2000, respectively. In 1990, he was the first American to receive the University of Louisville's Grawemeyer Award in Education. He also won  Howard Gardner, recipient of the Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award. In recognition of his contributions to both academic theory and public policy, he has received honorary degrees from thirty-one colleges and universities, including institutions in Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, South Korea, and Spain. He has twice been selected by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines as one of 100 most influential public intellectuals in the world. In 2011, Gardner received the Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences; in 2015, he was chosen as the recipient of the Brock International Prize in Education; and in 2020, he received the Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award from the American Educational Research Association (AERA). He has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the National Academy of Education, and the London-based Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. 

The author of thirty books translated into thirty-two languages, and several hundred articles, Gardner is best known in educational circles for his theory of multiple intelligences, a critique of the notion that there exists but a single human intelligence that can be assessed by standard psychometric instruments (please see Multiple Intelligences Oasis ). Since the middle 1990s, Gardner has directed The Good Project , a group of initiatives, founded in collaboration with psychologists Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and William Damon. 

In 2020, Gardner’s memoir, A Synthesizing Mind was published by MIT Press. He also recently completed The Real World of College with Wendy Fischman, to be published by MIT Press in 2022. This book explores the results of their large-scale national study documenting how different groups think about the goals of college and the value of a course of study emphasizing liberal arts and sciences. He contributes to his personal blog regularly.  

Publications

• Kornhaber, M., & Winner, E. (Eds.). (2014). Mind, Work, and Life: A Festschrift on the Occasion of Howard Gardner’s 70th Birthday, with responses by Howard Gardner (Vols. 1-2). Amazon via CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Available online at: http://howardgardner01.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/festschrift-_-volumes-1-2-_-final.pdf.
• Gardner, H. and Davis, K. (2013). The App Generation: How today's youth navigate identity, intimacy, and imagination in a digital world . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Translated into: Italian, Korean, Spanish, Romanian, and Chinese (simple characters).
• Gardner, H. (2011). Truth, beauty, and goodness reframed: Educating for the virtues in the era of truthiness and twitter . (Paperback edition, with new preface). New York, NY: Basic Books.
• James, C., Davis, K., Flores, A., Francis, J., Pettingill, L., Rundle, M., & Gardner, H. (2009). Young people, ethics, and the new digital media: A synthesis from the GoodPlay Project . Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
• Gardner, H. (2007). Five minds for the future . Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Translated into Korean, Italian, Japanese, Danish Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Romanian.
• Gardner, H., Ed. (2007). Responsibility at work: How leading professionals act (or don't act) responsibly . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Gardner, H. (2006). The development and education of the mind: The collected works of Howard Gardner . London, UK: Routledge. Translated into Italian, Spanish.
• Gardner, H. (2006). Multiple intelligences: New horizons . New York: Basic Books. Translated into: Romanian, Chinese (SC), Vietnamese, Indonesian, Korean, and Bulgarian.
• Gardner, H. (2004). Changing minds: The art and science of changing our own and other people’s minds . Boston MA: Harvard Business School Press. Paperback edition (2006). Translated into French, Spanish, Japanese, Danish, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Greek, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Chinese (CC), Chinese (SC), Chinese (short version), Danish, Romanian, Norwegian, and Croatian. Awarded Strategy + Business's Best Business Books of the Year (2004). 2011 Edition with updated preface and bibliography: New York, NY, Basic Books.
• Fischman, W., Solomon, B., Greenspan, D., Gardner, H. (2004). Making good: How young people cope with moral dilemmas at work . Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Translated into Spanish, Korean, and Chinese.
• Gardner, H. (2002). Howard Gardner in Hong Kong . L.Lo (Ed.). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Institute of Educational Research.
• Gardner, H., Csikszentmihalyi, M. and Damon, W. (2001). Good Work: When excellence and ethics meet . New York: Basic Books. Paperback edition with Afterword (2002). Translated into Korean, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Swedish, Chinese and Romanian. Selected as one of ten most important books in Hong Kong (2003). Chosen as a Book of Distinction by the Templeton Foundation.
• Gardner, H. (1999). The Disciplined mind: What all students should understand . New York: Simon and Schuster. Translated into Portuguese, German, Spanish, Chinese (Taiwan), Italian, Swedish, Korean, Hebrew, Danish, Turkish, Romanian, Croatian. Excerpted in The Futurist , 34, (2), 30-32, (Mar/Apr 2000) . Paperback edition with new afterword, "A Tale of Two Barns": Penguin Putnam, New York, 2000.
• Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligence reframed: Multiple intelligences for the 21st Century . New York, NY: Basic Books. Translated into German, Spanish, Korean, Hebrew, Chinese (SC), Swedish, Portuguese, Japanese, Italian, Bulgarian, Polish, Turkish, Dutch, and Croatian.
• Gardner, H. (1997). Extraordinary minds: Portraits of exceptional individuals and an examination of our extraordinariness . New York: Basic Books. British edition, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1997. Translated into French, Portuguese, Chinese (Taiwan), Chinese (PRC), Polish, Hungarian, Czech, Spanish, Korean, Indonesian, and German.
• Gardner, H., with the collaboration of Laskin, E. (1995). Leading minds: An anatomy of leadership . New York: Basic Books. Translated into German, Italian, Swedish, Portuguese, Chinese (Taiwan), Greek, Korean, Spanish, and Japanese. British Edition: HarperCollins, 1996. Basic Books Paperback.
• Gardner, H. (1993). Multiple intelligences: The theory in practice . New York: Basic Books. Selected by three book clubs. Excerpted in the magazine Behinderte in Familie , Schule und Gesellschaft , vol. 2 , 1997. Abridged, Danish translation, 1997, Copenhagen: Glydendal Undervisning. Translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Chinese (Taiwan), Hebrew, Korean, Polish, Chinese (R.C.), Danish, Ukranian, and Japanese.
• Gardner, H. (1993). Creating minds: An anatomy of creativity seen through the lives of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Gandhi . New York: Basic Books. Quality Paperback Book Club. Translated into Swedish, German, Spanish, Chinese (Taiwan), Portuguese, Italian, Slovenian, Korean, Polish, and French.
• Gardner, H. (1990). Art education and human development . Los Angeles, CA: The Getty Center for Education in the Arts. Translated into Italian and Spanish.
• Gardner, H. (1989). To open minds: Chinese clues to the dilemma of contemporary education . New York, NY: Basic Books. Basic Books Paperback with new introduction, 1991. Translated into Italian and Korean.
• Gardner, H. (1985). The mind's new science: A history of the cognitive revolution . New York: Basic Books. Translated into Spanish, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Chinese, and Portuguese. Adopted by six book clubs. Basic Books Paperback with new Epilogue, 1987.
• Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences . New York: Basic Books. Selected by five book clubs. British Edition, W. Heinemann. Translated into Spanish, Japanese, Italian, Hebrew, Chinese, French, and German. Basic Books Paperback, 1985. Tenth Anniversary Edition with new introduction, New York: Basic Books, 1993. Twentieth Anniversary Edition with new introduction. New York: Basic Books, 2004. Translated into Swedish, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Chinese (Taiwan), French, Norwegian, Hebrew, Slovenian, Korean, and Czech. Selected by three book clubs. Selected by the Museum of Education for Books of the Century exhibit, Columbia, SC, 1999. Tenth Anniversary British Edition, London: HarperCollins (Fontana Press), 1993.
• Gardner, H. (1982). Art, mind, and brain: A cognitive approach to creativity . New York, NY: Basic Books. Basic Books Paperback, 1984. Translated into Spanish, Hebrew, Japanese, Italian, Chinese, and Portuguese.
• Gardner, H. (1980). Artful Scribbles: The significance of children's drawings . New York: Basic Books. Behavioral Sciences book service selection. Basic Books Paperback, 1982. Translated into Japanese, French, Spanish, and Chinese.
• Gardner, H. (1979). Developmental psychology: An introduction . Boston: Little Brown, International Edition. Second Edition, 1982.
• Gardner, H. (1975). The shattered mind . New York: Knopf. Main Selection, Psychology Today Book Club, Jan. 1974; Vintage Paperback, 1976. Quality Paperback Book Club Selection. Routledge and Kegan Paul, British Edition. Translated into Japanese.
• Gardner, H. (1973). The quest for mind: Jean Piaget, Claude Levi-Strauss, and the structuralist movement . New York: NY: Knopf. Vintage paperback, 1974; coventure publication in England, 1975. Second Edition, 1981, University of Chicago Press. Translated into Italian and Japanese.
• Gardner, H. (1973). The arts and human development . New York, NY: Wiley. Translated into Chinese and Portuguese. Second Edition, 1994, New York: Basic Books.
• Brock International Prize in Education (2015)
• Prince of Asturias Award (2011)
• Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Republic, International Scientific Committee of the Pio Manzu Centre (2001)
• Guggenheim Fellowship (2000)
• Grawemeyer Award in Education (1990)
• MacArthur Prize Fellowship (1981)

Associations

• American Philosophical Society, Council Member,(2013-2016)
• Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, England,(2007-)
• American Academy of Political and Social Sciences,(2000-)
• American Academy of Arts and Sciences,(1995-)
• Author's Guild,(1985-)
• American Association for the Advancement of Science, Fellow,(1980-)

Sponsored Projects

Making ethics central in higher education: expanding and disseminating a promising approach (2022-2025) kern family foundation.

This project focuses on expanding and disseminating an intervention that prods college students to think and act beyond the self. It also seek to create a “hub” for similar approaches in higher education. The overarching goal is to help students become more aware of and sensitive to ethical dilemmas. As documented in the researchers’ national study of higher education, students routinely describe these issues in terms of how they are affected personally (the “I”), with little acknowledgement of how these issues affect others, or how the consequences of their own actions may affect a broader community (the “we”). This project seeks to “move the needle” on character and ethics from “I” to “we” in the personal and professional lives of young citizens. In a two-year pilot project supported by the Kern Family Foundation, the researchers developed and tested an intervention (hereafter referred to as “Beyond the Self”) with 150 students at four different colleges. The documentation provides evidence that the intervention helped students to reflect more deeply and more broadly on situations and decisions they face themselves, learn about in class, and observe on campus and beyond. To scale-up this work, this three-year project that has three major objectives: 1. To disseminate the approach to other institutions—to help others implement “Beyond the Self” with students. 2. To network with others engaged in similar work; 3. Drawing on the researchers’ decades of creating powerful syntheses in education, to collate their efforts with others across higher education and produce a coherent integrated account that will prove useful across higher education and perhaps beyond.

• Life-Long Learning Blog (https://howardgardner.com/category/life-long-learning-a-blog-in-education/)
• The Good Project

Phone Number

Featured articles.

Howard Gardner Named 2024 Convocation Speaker

Celebrated psychologist and originator of the theory of multiple intelligences will address HGSE graduates on May 22

The Real World of College

The Questionable Ethics of College Students

Advice to an Aspiring Researcher

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The 21 Best Books on Instructional Design: Classics, Hidden Gems, and the Latest Bestsellers

Books may have lost the leading role in education, but they remain an invaluable source of unique and fundamental knowledge. We have collected the best instructional design books and some other books that don’t guide through the practice of instructional design directly but can be and are used to create eLearning experiences much more effectively:

• The classical books on instructional design
• Not-so-obvious books for instructional designers
• Latest instructional design bestsellers

 Let’s get started.

The Classics

We don’t hesitate to call these books classics because they are most often mentioned by experienced course developers, company leaders, and eLearning pioneers – people who know both sides of instructional design: theory and practice. If you’ve just started in ID or want to deepen your knowledge, these books are exactly what you need.

1. Design for How People Learn (Voices That Matter) , by Julie Dirksen

Perhaps all of us have had some useless learning experiences. A boring book, an endless article, or too much entertainment with too little information. Julie Dirksen wrote a book that helps to create online courses that both hook learners and educate them. Reading it, you’ll be able to find the golden mean between giving knowledge and provoking interest. And you’ll learn how to make people remember new information long after they’ve completed a course.

After reading it, you will:

• Find the golden mean between giving knowledge and provoking interest

Example of a motivation gap in Design for How People Learn

Best for: both beginners and seasoned instructional designers aiming to increase learner engagement.

2. The Accidental Instructional Designer: Learning Design for the Digital Age , by Cammy Bean

This is one of the greatest books for people who have decided to change their profession and become instructional designers quickly. It will guide you through nearly every aspect of the online learning design process and share some insights from the author’s personal experience.

In this book, you’ll discover:

• Best practices
• Real-life case studies
• The most common mistakes to avoid when designing an eLearning program

And, yes, by the end of the book, you’ll know everything you need to know to transition from an accidental instructional designer to an intentional one.

A dream job work cloud from The Accidental Instructional Designer: Learning Design for the Digital Age

Best for: people transitioning to instructional design.

3. Michael Allen’s Guide to e-Learning: Building Interactive, Fun, and Effective Learning Programs for Any Company

As Chandler Bing would say: “Could it BE more classical?” Michael Allen’s Guide to e-Learning is a must-read for every instructional designer. This book is a collection of invaluable insights from one of the most important people in the eLearning industry.

Here, you’ll learn:

• Mr. Allen’s three pillars of online learning
• The importance of applying them to your projects
• The learning results you can expect

Plus, Michael will take you through history, show you common pitfalls, give some tips, and take you to the path that led him and his company to success.

Best for: all eLearning professionals seeking advice from an industry pioneer.

4. Leaving ADDIE for SAM:  An Agile Model for Developing the Best Learning Experiences , by Michael Allen and Richard Sites

Unlike the previous books, this one is intended more for advanced instructional designers rather than beginners. Here, Mr. Allen and Mr. Sites introduce SAM – the Successive Approximation Model. While the title is fairly provocative, Michael himself reassures us that SAM is only an alternative model and if ADDIE works for you, “by all means, use it!” Still, if you’re looking for a new approach to make work more effective, you might want to take a look at SAM. In this case, this book would be just what you need.

You’ll learn:

• Every detail of the working process in SAM
• The concepts that SAM offers
• How to apply SAM to your work process

And when you finish the book, you’ll face the main question: “Will you leave ADDIE for SAM?”

A modification of ADDIE in Leaving ADDIE for SAM: An Agile Model for Developing the Best Learning Experiences

Best for: advanced instructional designers looking to explore alternative models and innovative approaches.

5. Map It: The hands-on guide to strategic training design , by Cathy Moore

Cathy Moore’s Map it is considered to be one of the best instructional design books. It deals with a big issue many instructional designers and developers face sooner or later – online training that doesn’t help people improve their working skills. Moore gives her own solution – action mapping, an approach that allows you to shift the focus to something really important.

After reading her book, you will:

• Learn the soft and hard skills you need to use this approach
• Be able to distinguish between cases that need training and those that need something different
• Know how to make the eLearning content you design more engaging and effective

Action Mapping in Map It: The hands-on guide to strategic training design

Best for: instructional designers of any experience level who want to elevate their design process with action mapping.

6. e-Learning by Design , by William Horton

William Horton doesn’t just guide you through the process of creating eLearning content, he also offers you a range of learning activities that can be included. If you’re a beginner, this might be one of the best books to start with. Here, everything you need to know is explained and presented right from the start. Explanations are simple but not over-simplified. 

After reading this book you will:

• Have a comprehensive understanding of the eLearning industry
• Discover various aspects of eLearning 
• Be able to pick the right eLearning activity for every particular case

An example of a learning objective from e-Learning by Design

Best for: aspiring instructional designers seeking a comprehensive understanding of eLearning in general.

7. e-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning , by Ruth Clark and Richard Mayer

Why do we do things the way we do? Why do we make particular design decisions? These are the main questions that this book answers. Many instructional design resources often come out with their statements on what makes eLearning good and effective but don’t provide solid evidence. All the statements, claims, and conclusions in this book are based on scientific research.

Discover evidence-based practices in instructional design, exploring:

• The application of scientifically proven principles for effective eLearning
• Insights into the scientific basis for digital learning design
• Essential guidance for both beginners and seasoned professionals

Best for: both beginners and professionals who want certainty on how and why eLearning can be productive.

8. The Essentials of Instructional Design: Connecting Fundamental Principles with Process and Practice , by Abbie H. Brown and Timothy D. Green

When you start a new profession, you want to know everything: what you should do, how you should do it, what you do it for, what the basic principles of your industry are, etc. Fortunately, Abbie H. Brown and Timothy D. Green wrote a book that fulfills this need. The information in their book is truly essential.

Read it to explore most aspects of instructional design, particularly:

• Learner, task, and needs analysis
• Developing goals and objectives
• Developing instructional activities
• Assessing learner achievement
• Evaluating the success of the instructional design

Besides, unlike many other ID books, it has assignments at the end of each chapter, which is a useful option when you’re studying on your own.

Best for: beginners aiming to learn the basics of instructional design.

9. The Non-Designer’s Design Book: Design and Typographic Principles for the Visual Novice , by Robin Williams

There are instructional designers who tend to ignore the importance of visual design. Some of them really don’t find it so crucial, yet others just don’t think they are capable of creating it. Well, this is a skill. And as with any other skill, it can be learned. Robin Williams’ book is all about this. It is a great introduction to the visual side of ID. Once you grasp it, you’ll see how much more effective your courses have become.

Start creating visually appealing courses by mastering the four concrete principles of design:

Best for: all instructional designers who want to start creating more visually appealing learning content.

10. Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning , by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, Mark A. McDaniel

Although Make It Stick was written for teachers, professors and psychologists, it also became popular among instructional designers. Designers try their best to make the learning process more effective. And, according to common belief, this is achieved by making everything as simple as possible. The authors of Make It Stick claim the opposite: sometimes it is “desirable difficulties” that can increase effectiveness. And they prove their point by providing the results of discoveries in cognitive psychology.

After reading this book, you will:

• Have techniques to improve learning effectiveness through cognitive strategies
• Make a shift in perspective toward impactful eLearning strategies

Best for: professionals who want to make their courses more effective with techniques from cognitive psychology.

11. The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-based Methods and Strategies for Training and Education , by Karl M. Kapp

This is one of the most famous books on eLearning gamification . Summarizing research and game theory, Karl M. Kapp shares his opinion that gamification can and should be much more than just badges, levels, and points. It is about fundamentally rethinking learning design. 

• Be able to reevaluate the role and the aim of gamification in the eLearning process
• Understand the elements that provide the most positive results for learners
• Learn how to create a successful game design document

Best for: anyone interested in gamifying their learning.

Hidden Gems

If you’ve already read all the classics or wish to learn something less popular but extremely useful, check out these hidden gems.

12. The Mom Test: How to talk to customers and learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you , by Rob Fitzpatrick

It’s useless to ask your mom’s opinion about how to succeed in your job. She loves you. You will always be her best. This lack of real evaluation is true not only for your relatives and friends but also for those you work with. Here, you will learn how to get a person talking, what questions to ask, and how to avoid one-word responses. Although this book is mostly about the work performed with clients, the rules of interview it provides can be applied to working with subject matter experts.

Here, you will learn:

• How to get a person talking
• What questions to ask
• How to avoid one-word responses

Best for: instructional designers looking to enhance their communication with SMEs.

13. Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action , by Simon Sinek

Why do I need online training? Why should I spend my time on courses? Learners need to have answers to such questions in order to be motivated and engaged. This book provides real cases of successful companies that managed to answer “why” questions and became innovative, profitable, and influential. Sinek claims that all great leaders are similar in a way and gives a framework upon which you can build anything you need – such as a learning community or an eLearning company.

After reading this book, you’ll know:

• The importance of “why” for engagement
• What learning goals and objectives you should set to inspire your learners

Best for: those who want to motivate and inspire learners more effectively.

14. The Art of Explanation: Making your Ideas, Products, and Services Easier to Understand , by Lee LeFever

Some issues you face in instructional design are not connected with the essential “why” and “what” issues. Sometimes everything is great. Your idea is brilliant. You know the project will be extremely productive but… you can’t explain that to others. Lee LeFever’s book is all about this.

Read this book to approach effective communication from a practical perspective while exploring:

• How to craft compelling explanations for complex ideas
• Strategies for presenting material in an engaging manner

Best for: aspiring and experienced instructional designers who want to develop their explanation skills.

15. Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace , by Joseph M. Williams and Joseph Bizup

This one should have been listed in the classics, because if anything is classical here, this is it. Somehow this book remains poorly known among instructional designers despite the great importance of its subject. Language and style are the first thing employers and learners pay attention to. If you lose them there, there’s little you can do. Unlike a great many other books on writing, Messrs. Williams and Bizup’s Style is based on research in the psychology of reading and linguistics. It is regularly being updated in accordance with the changing norms of the language. All of this makes this book an up-to-date must-read for everyone.

• How to write better course scripts in terms of style
• Which words to use to make your writing ethical
• How to set the right tone for global audiences

Best for: those who want to elevate their writing and communication skills.

16. Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences , by Nancy Duarte

Storytelling is a skill every instructional designer must have. Nancy Duarte’s book will teach you how to:

• Establish a good structure for your story
• Find inspiration
• Choose the right kind of storytelling 
• Write an engaging story that will resonate with your audience

Every piece of advice and tip Ms. Duarte gives is accompanied by an example from the real lives of such great orators as Steve Jobs, Ronald Reagan, and Martin Luther King.

Business Transformation Path from Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences

Best for: professionals seeking to incorporate storytelling in their learning.

17. Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All , by Tom and David Kelley

Instructional design requires a good amount of creativity. But what should you do if you don’t have that? There’s a widespread misconception that creativity belongs only to “creative types.” Tom and David Kelley prove this wrong. They claim that everyone is creative.

• Know principles and strategies that will allow you to use your creative potential
• Be able to develop innovative approaches to resolve issues and create unique content

Best for: instructional designers who want to innovate their learning approaches creatively.

Latest Bestsellers

The field of instructional design is evolving rapidly. New books are coming out every year and are reshaping the way that eLearning professionals create learning content and accomplish learning goals. Check out some of the latest top additions!

18. Learning Experience Design Essentials , by Cara North

An essential guide for new instructional designers, this book emphasizes the importance of understanding learner contexts and processes. Cara North lays out a learning experience design process that encompasses task analysis, assessments, usability testing, and the crucial aspect of messaging the ‘why’ behind the learning experience.

Read this book to explore:

• Blending content and context to elevate learning experiences
• Mapping out essential skills and capabilities that define an LXD professional
• Cara North’s expert guidance on creating effective learning experiences

Capabilities of LXD in Learning Experience Design Essentials

Best for: beginners in instructional design.

19. Talk to the Elephant: Design Learning for Behavior Change , by Julie Dirksen

Julie Dirksen’s new book answers one of the most crucial questions instructional designers ask themselves: “What do you do when your learners know what to do but still aren’t doing it?” Spoiler alert: you change their behavior. Based on the results of the most recent research in behavioral science, this book provides you with frameworks and strategies that will help you with this challenging task.

After reading Talk to the Elephant: Design Learning for Behavior Change, you’ll be able to:

• Understand where your learners are headed in their change process and figure out their path
• Evaluate and clearly explain why the change you’re proposing matters
• Use models that explore what really motivates your learners
• Apply proven frameworks like the COM-B Model to understand challenges in changing behavior

Best for: eLearning professionals who want to understand and impact learners’ behaviors.

20. Reverse Training Design: Start at the end to revolutionize corporate learning , by Mark Mrohs

Drawing from over 40 years of international training experience and updated learning science research, Mark Mrohs presents an alternative, reverse model to training design, wherein you start with performance assessments and then design content that supports that performance. This might not be among the first books for beginners to read, but it is definitely a fresh perspective for seasoned professionals.

Read this book to:

• Understand the concept of “starting at the end” for improved program design
• Design training around learners’ cognitive processes for practical workplace application
• Utilize insights from learning science and cognitive psychology

Best for: experienced instructional designers seeking a different approach to training design.

21. What I Wish I Knew Before Becoming an Instructional Designer , by Luke Hobson

If you’re just starting out as an instructional designer, this book is definitely worth your attention. It will help you avoid common mistakes and focus your energy on what truly matters in the field, helping you get to the professional level faster.

These are some of the questions the book answers:

• What are the pros and cons of instructional design?
• How do I build a portfolio?
• How do I make connections in the field?
• How do I teach myself a new skill?
• How do I work with SMEs?

Best for: those who are just starting out in instructional design.

Also read: The Interview with Dr. Luke Hobson: From Hating School to Becoming a Senior Instructional Designer

Well, now you know the best instructional design books. We hope you found at least a few of them that you can’t wait to read. Good luck!

Useful Resources

• Instructional Design: The Art of eLearning Architecture
• How to Become an Instructional Designer?
• How to Create an Instructional Design Portfolio that Makes You Shine
• Instructional Designer Salary: 5 Proven Ways to Earn More
• Top 15 Instructional Design Certificate Programs and Courses
• Best Instructional Design Software

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She enjoys combining in-depth research with expert knowledge of the industry. If you have eLearning insights that you’d like to share, please get in touch .

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Best Books to Study Literary Theory and Criticism – List by Alok Mishra

Literary theory and literary criticism are the topics that we (as students) often perceive as difficult passage during our college or university years. Though it might not be accurate to generalise this idea, it largely resembles a collective emotion. 🙂 Well, jokes apart! Let’s get straight to the point. I am writing this article to offer you a list of the very best books that will help you in understanding literary theory and criticism in a comprehensive and comfortable way. All the books that appear on this list are read thoroughly, studied and analysed by me on different parameters. I have included the very best ones among the books that are popular. So, if you are confused about your papers on theory and criticism or you want to widen your understanding in this domain of English literature, you must read this article carefully.

• Beginning Theory by Peter Barry: Can there be a better book for the beginners? No! If you are a beginner who wants to study literary theory and criticism, especially contemporary theories, you need to get this book ASAP and start reading it from the very first page to the last. In the end, believe me, you will be a well-versed person knowing the basics of most of the contemporary and latest literary theories that are popular in the academic circle – Deconstruction, Ecocriticism, Structuralism, Marxist Theory and others. This book will help in many ways. You can read a detailed review of Peter Barry’s book here: Beginning Theory by Peter Barry . For students of graduation and post-graduation, this book will be very useful. You can get a copy from Amazon by clicking the link below: Buy the book from Amazon now – click here
• Literary Criticism: A Short History by Wimsatt Jr & Cleanth Brooks: This is a title that I respect for its comprehensive view of literary theories in symmetry with the development of English literature. By saying this, I want to convey that this book will give you an idea of the practice of literary theory and criticism in the context of English literature. For example, the book tries to offer an overview of the thoughts that Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley, Eliot, Arnold, and others had – their views on literature, the merit of literature, evaluation of literature and many other aspects of literature. So, this book does not list the popular theories as such; however, this book gives an ample idea of what are the elements that go on to the point of establishing a literary theory, per se. You can also get a very broad and clear understanding of the popular critical texts produced by those who also produced some quality literature in the fiction category. This begins from Socrates and comes almost to T. S. Eliot (just there). You can get a copy of this book from Amazon India by clicking the link below: Buy the title from Amazon India now – click here .
• A Contemporary Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory by Raman Seldon & Peter Widdowson: Once you have read the book on critical theories by Peter Barry, this title by Selden and Widdowson will be a hugely beneficial book for you! By reading this bestselling and one of the most comprehensively written books on literary theories, you will surely elevate your understanding of contemporary critical theories. I have gone through this book, word by word, at least three times (just to keep my memories fresh). And I often refer to this book whenever any idea confuses me. It has converted the contemporary and popular literary theories in a very broad manner. By reading this book, I can assure you, not a single popular literary theory will be beyond your intellectual reach. So, after Barry, this is a MUST HAVE book for anyone who wants to understand the literary theories that matter the most. You can get a copy from Amazon India by clicking the link below: Buy this book from Amazon now – click here to go to Amazon .
• Contemporary Critical Theorists: From Lacan to Said by Jon Simmons: This is the book that will guide the readers to learn not only about theories in particular but also about the theorists who matter the most. Edited by Jon Simmons and contributed by different scholars, this is a comprehensive book to understand the general thoughts, tendencies and major contributions of the contemporary literary theorists like Lacan, Derrida, Foucault and others. Yes, it may be advisable to read this book only once the basics are strong, perceptions are clear and there are no confusions like what does reconstruction mean and what is the difference between theory and criticism. Get this title from Amazon online store by clicking the link below: Buy the book now – Amazon India .
• English Critical Texts by Enright and Chickera: This book is very important for the students who have to study critical texts produced by Wordsworth, Eliot, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley, Sidney etc. This title, published by Oxford University Press, contains original texts and also notes at the end of the book. Most of the universities in India prescribe these critical texts and this book can very well cover such instances. By reading this one, a student will also be able to understand the ideas of literary personalities of repute. Producing poetry is one thing; writing about the process of production is another. And by reading the critical writings by Wordsworth, a student of literature can know many things. So, depending upon your syllabus and also upon your urge to understand the process of criticism, this book will be very helpful. You can get a copy from Amazon India by following the link below: Buy the book now – click here to get from Amazon India

Books Suggested for Senior Students:  

You can also get the following books depending upon your requirements.

Literary Theory and Criticism: An Oxford Guide by Patricia Waugh: Well, this book, as it seems from the title, is not exactly a guide per se. This book is a collection of scholarly essays by scholars covering a wide range of issues, ideas, topics and aspects related to literary theories. The book is not ideal for beginners. It may be helpful for those who are advanced students of literary theory. You can get a copy by clicking the link below: Buy from Amazon India now – click here

Modern Criticism and Theory: A Reader by David Lodge: This is an expanded edition of original critical texts (translated into English) by modern figures in the field of literary theory and criticism. Once you have gone through the basics by reading Selden and Barry’s books, you can read the original landmark texts that propagated the theories which became popular. For example, you can read the original landmark speech delivered by Derrida that laid the foundation of Deconstruction. Likewise, you can read the original texts produced by literary scholars in an unaltered form – if you wish. This should be read by those who are comfortable in interpreting texts on their own. Get a copy from Amazon India by clicking the link below: Buy the book now – click to get a copy from Amazon India

Figures of Literary Discourse by Gerard Genette: This is a book by a specialist for those who want to have broad observations on a particular literary theory – Structuralism. In this book, the master figure in contemporary literary discourse has discussed various ingredients of the structuralism theory in very broad details. This book can be very useful for those who are writing a thesis for their Masters or PhD. For curious learners who are eager enough to get into the depths of particular theories, this book will be helpful. You can get a copy from Amazon India by clicking the link shared below: Buy the book now – click here to get from Amazon 

So, friends, this is the list that I have prepared – precise and straightforward. You can get the books as per your requirements and begin your studies now! I hope this article will help you find the best books. I will be bringing more lists like this in the future with a variety of subjects. All the best!

You can also view the video which is based on this article on YouTube. Here is the link:

List by Alok Mishra

Read related articles from this category:

Creative Writing as a Research Method by Jon Cook: Summary and Critical Analysis

Structuralism Theory in English Literature Details of the Structuralist Approach & Key Theorists

Langue and Parole in Structuralism with Examples – Alok Mishra

Have something to say? Add your comments:

4 Comments . Leave new

Wonderful article! I like Peter Barry book very much and I will also suggest the same to anyone beginning studying literature and literary theory the same.

You’re expression on English Literary Criticism is good, but suggest some books on British Literature also, Thank you sir

I will take help from here.

I am a student of post-graduation in English literature, Magadh University. I was having a tough time selecting the best books for literary criticism and theory. There are many books in the market but choosing the right ones is always a tough task for beginners like me in the field of literary theory and literary criticism. This article has helped to develop my sense. Now, I know which book will help in the beginning phase and what I can read for advanced studies. Thanks a lot for sharing such an informative article.

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Can a 50-Year-Old Idea Save Democracy?

The economist and philosopher Daniel Chandler thinks so. In “Free and Equal,” he makes a vigorous case for adopting the liberal political framework laid out by John Rawls in the 1970s.

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By Jennifer Szalai

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FREE AND EQUAL: A Manifesto for a Just Society, by Daniel Chandler

The American political theorist John Rawls may be known for abstractions like “the original position” and “the difference principle,” but any mention of his name puts me in mind of something decidedly more tangible: cake. Consider the potentially combustible situation of two children who have been given a cake to share between them. How do you ensure that the division of the cake is fair and will elicit the least complaint?

The key is to involve both children in the process and to enforce a separation of powers: Assuming they’re old enough to handle a knife, one child can cut the cake and the other can get first pick of the slice. The child tasked with cutting will therefore be extremely motivated to divide the cake as evenly as possible.

Rawls included a version of the cake-cutting scenario in “A Theory of Justice,” his landmark 1971 book that the economist and philosopher Daniel Chandler wants to resurrect for a new era. In “Free and Equal,” Chandler argues that Rawls’s approach, which combines a liberal respect for individual rights and differences with an egalitarian emphasis on fairness, could be “the basis for a progressive politics that is genuinely transformative.”

If this is an opportune moment for Chandler’s book, it’s also a difficult one. At a time when political rancor and mistrust reign supreme, Chandler seeks to present an inspiring case for liberalism that distinguishes it from tepid complacency on the one hand and neoliberal domination on the other. Yet in doing the hard work of spelling out what a Rawlsian program might look like in practice, Chandler ends up illustrating why liberalism has elicited such frustration from its many critics in the first place.

Rawls’s theory was premised on the thought experiment of the “original position,” in which individuals would design a just society from behind a “veil of ignorance.” People couldn’t know whether they would be born rich or poor, gay or straight, Black or white — and so, like the child cutting the cake who doesn’t get to choose the first slice, each would be motivated to realize a society that would be accepted as fair even by the most vulnerable. This is liberalism grounded in reciprocity rather than selfishness or altruism. According to Rawls’s “difference principle,” inequalities would be permitted only as long as they promoted the interests of the least advantaged.

Chandler is a lucid and elegant writer, and there’s an earnest sense of excitement propelling his argument — a belief that Rawls’s framework for thinking through political issues offers a humane way out of the most intractable disputes. People might not agree on much, Chandler says, but the “veil of ignorance” encourages us to find a mutually agreeable starting point. If we don’t know what community we are born into, we should want a “reasonable pluralism.” We should also want the state “to maintain the conditions that are the basis for our freedom and equality as citizens.”

As an example, Chandler raises the thorny issue of free speech. “Political, moral and religious” speech “is integral to developing our sense of what is fair and how to live,” he writes, which is why it deserves robust protection. But since some speech, such as advertising, plays “no meaningful role” in helping us figure out how to live a good life, such speech can be limited. The idea is to balance individual and group freedoms with the need for peaceful coexistence. The state should protect the rights of gay people not to be discriminated against — even though the state cannot force anyone or any group to approve of gay relationships. Chandler, who is gay, suggests that premising gay rights on getting everyone to agree on the question of morality is a waste of energy: “For some people this” — the belief that homosexuality is a sin — “is part of their faith and no reasoned argument will persuade them otherwise.”

Chandler deserves credit for refusing to relegate his book to the airy realm of wistful abstraction. The last two-thirds of “Free and Equal” are given over to specific policy proposals. Some of them sound familiar enough — restricting private money in politics; beefing up civic education — while others are more far-reaching and radical, including the establishment of worker cooperatives, in which “workers decide how things are done,” and the abolition of private schools.

As impressive as his prescriptions are, I found their endless parade to be enervating. Chandler’s unwavering reasonableness made me feel as if I were floating in saline; after he laid out his terms and edged out countervailing arguments, there were no points of friction, no sharp edges that could serve as a goad to thought. He persuasively refutes the conflation of liberal egalitarianism with technocracy, and helpfully points out that an emphasis on technocratic competence “leaves many voters cold.” But despite his valiant efforts, the book enacts both the promise and the limitations of the theory it seeks to promote. It didn’t leave me cold, but it did leave me restless.

And in a way, that’s part of Chandler’s point: A Rawlsian framework encourages people with a variety of deeply held commitments to live together in mutual tolerance, free to figure out questions of individual morality and the good life for themselves. For anyone who venerates consensus in politics, this sounds appealing; given the fissures of our current moment, it also comes across as wildly insufficient.

“Free and Equal” includes a detailed chapter on “Rawls and His Critics,” but mostly navigates around anything that might truly rattle the Rawlsian framework. Regarding Katrina Forrester’s “In the Shadow of Justice” (2019) , a searching and brilliant history of how his ideas presumed a postwar consensus that was already fracturing at the time that “A Theory of Justice” was published, Chandler has little to say. He mentions her work in his endnotes, only in the context of how long it took Rawls to write his book and how it was initially received.

This felt to me like liberal flexibility in action — a form of accommodation that absorbed Forrester’s book by assimilating it into Chandler’s preferred terms. Perhaps Forrester wouldn’t be surprised by this move; as she puts it, “The capaciousness of liberal philosophy squeezed out possibilities for radical critique.”

But no philosophy is capacious enough to squeeze out the endless possibilities thrown up by reality. Among the stellar blurbs on the jacket of Chandler’s book is one that is spectacularly ill timed: It is by Columbia University’s president, Nemat Shafik, who has, in the last few weeks, tried to placate Republican lawmakers by revealing (typically confidential) details of disciplinary procedures against professors and calling in the police to clear out pro-Palestinian campus protests .

Shafik didn’t write this book, and Chandler isn’t responsible for what she does. But her endorsement suggests why even “Free and Equal” — as conscientious a paean to liberalism as one could imagine — feels so unequal to the fury of this moment.

FREE AND EQUAL : A Manifesto for a Just Society | By Daniel Chandler | Knopf | 414 pp. | $32

Jennifer Szalai is the nonfiction book critic for The Times. More about Jennifer Szalai

Explore More in Books

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“The Chocolate War,” published 50 years ago, became one of the most challenged books in the United States. Its author, Robert Cormier, spent years fighting attempts to ban it .

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Are computers or books best for educating children?

C ommentators often pit books against computers as the best learning tools, but both are great in different circumstances. The debate distracts from the real problem in education — poverty.The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates said that writing things down would make people forgetful. Now, thousands of years later, we're in the fortunate position of being able to discuss Socrates' thinking, precisely because it was written down.

Commentators often say the written word -- books -- are best and that computers negatively impact learning, almost for the same reasons that Socrates was against writing things down: forgetfulness, when memory is a cornerstone of learning. You may wonder: What have people got against new technologies?

As more and more classrooms shift from print to digital books and other materials, researchers are looking into the impact on children's learning.

The field is new and the evidence is mixed -- there is no scientific consensus on whether books or digital devices are better for a child's learning.

One studyin elementary schools in Honduras, for example, found that substituting laptops for textbooks did not make a difference in student learning in the end -- it was neither positive nor negative.

But isn't it common sense that both forms of learning -- print and digital -- can be effective, or not, depending on the individual and the situation? Let's dig a little deeper.

Early learning rewires the brain

It's important to consider neuroscience here because it can help educators choose which tools to use at different stages of a child's development.

And neuroscientists have shown us that learning, and the formation of memory, physically rewires the brain.

The brain is "plastic" -- it grows and prunes connections between neurons as we form memories, learn and forget. This is true at all ages, but the brain is particularly plastic during childhood.

The brain's plasticity is massively dependent on our experiences and environment.

Studies have shown that the richer our learning environment is during childhood, we don't just learn more "stuff," but we also change the way our brains learns new things for the rest of our lives.

The best example here is language learning. Children learn a second language very easily compared to adults, because their brain is more plastic.

What's more, adults who learnt two languages in childhood can learn a third language much quicker than adults who learned only one language in childhood -- their brain has been trained to learn languages.

At the other end of the spectrum, sensory deprivation during childhood permanently changes the brain for the worse. Children deprived of different experiences -- less touch and interaction with adults, for instance, fewer sights and sounds, and little access to learning -- can develop smaller brains. These changes often cannot be reversed later in life.

Benefits of richer learning experiences

What does this mean for education? Children need to be exposed to as many different types of learning tools as possible, both digital and physical.

It might mean turning to books and handwriting to form lasting knoweldge on something.

Studiesshow that the act of writing requires the brain to be an active participant in the note-taking process, but that the brain is less active when typing, so writing by hand commits more of the material to memory.

Or using digital learning platforms could mean a much richer experience: a richness of animated movies, reward-based educational apps, virtual classrooms, and AI tools like ChatGPT, to motivate students to learn in interactive ways.

Research shows digital technology is effective in enhancing literacy and numeracy skills, manual dexterity, and visuospatial working memory when used in a learning context.

The beneficial outcomes of this influences all areas of a child's learning, including language, functional literacy, maths, science, general knowledge, creative thinking -- the list goes on.

Computers: Impact on physical and mental health

There are negatives linked to digital technologies, as well. Some studies show computers can have a negative impact on attention, and that children use computers passively instead of as an active learning tool that engages the brain. But it's not yet clear whether these negative impacts are short-term or long-lasting.

Some studies also suggest that over-use of computers affects physical and mental health. But that may have more to do with sitting in one place for a long time, rather than the computers themselves.

That's why running outside or kicking a ball around is vital for children's development, and their academic performance, too.

The real issue in education is poverty

There are many factors at play in a child's education. Their home environment is just as important as the materials and devices they use for learning. One of the biggest problems in education is poverty -- poor access to books and computers.

This issue became apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, when children from disadvantaged backgrounds had less access to computers or books at home during times when schools were closed.

A UK-based survey, for instance, found that a third of students in deprived areas did not have adequate access to home learning tools during the pandemic.

The effect was a decline in their academic performance. Learning outcomes in high school-aged children have fallen in recent years, and it's more due to socioeconomic factors than anything else, according to studies. It's a trend seen around the world and has been associated with poor access to richer educational tools.

Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany

Copyright 2024 DW.COM, Deutsche Welle. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.