ABSTRACT
Life for teachers would be straightforward if they merely had to plan lessons, teach the class, assess the extent of children’s progress and move along in the certain hope that the intended learning goals had all been met. In practice, learning is a much less clinical process, involving sudden bursts of understanding, long periods of uncertainty, perseverance to consolidate knowledge, opportunities to implement ideas and time to ask questions, clarify details and explore implications. The complexity involved in the learning process inevitably means that there is going to be a mixture of encouragement and disappointment. Sometimes, the occasions when children seem least able to grasp what is happening or required of them are important processing times when their brains are organizing information and the establishment of long-term memory. The ability to recall facts and explain concepts are useful strategies for identifying areas of uncertainty in learning (see Chapter 6 for further details).
