Why Don't Students Like School?
Daniel T. Willingham · first published 2009 · ISBN 9781119715665
Willingham, a cognitive psychologist, translates research on how memory, attention, and learning actually work into nine principles teachers can use immediately. He explains why students struggle with abstraction, how to make information stick, why background knowledge matters more than you think, and why effort alone doesn't guarantee learning. The book answers the recurring question teachers ask: why is this so hard to teach?
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The Best Books About Teaching
Understanding how brains work transforms your teaching. This book isn't abstract theory; it's concrete guidance grounded in decades of lab work and classroom observation. It validates your intuitions and fixes your misconceptions in equal measure.