Additional Info:
Contextual teaching and learning (CTL) is a system for teaching that is grounded in brain research. Brain research indicates that we learn best when we see meaning in new tasks and material, and we discover meaning when we are able to connect new information with our existing knowledge and experiences. Students learn best, according to neuroscience, when they can connect the content of academic lessons with the context of their own daily lives.

Johnson discusses the elements of the brain-compatible contextual teaching and learning system: making meaningful connections; investing school work with significance; self-regulated learning; collaboration; critical and creating thinking; nurturing the individual; reaching high standards; and using authentic assessment. Drawing on the practices of teachers in kindergarten through university, Johnson provides numerous examples of how to use each part of the CTL system.

Contextual Teaching and Learning: What it Is and Why It's Here to Stay is more than a handbook on precise steps to follow to help children of all abilities achieve high standards by joining academic lessons with their immediate context. This book also explains how the brain works, discusses why teachers need to pay attention to context, and makes a strong case for the need to teach students to think critically and creatively. This inspirational book urges educators to eliminate the student question: "Why do we have to learn this?" If the educators invest learning with meaning by relying on context, that question won't have to be asked. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author

ch. 1 Why Contextual Teaching and Learning (CTL)?
CTL: Rooted in a New Worldview
A Response to the Limitations of Traditional Education
Rejecting Dualism: Unifying Thought and Action
CTL: A Brain-Compatible System
Conclusion: The Challenge of Context

ch. 2 A Definition: Why CTL Works
Psychology, Neuroscience, and a Definition of CTL
CTL Defined
The CTL System: Eight Components
The Significance for CTL of Three Scientific Principles
Conclusion: The Challenge of Interdependence, Differentiation, and Self-Organization for Educators

ch. 3 Making Connections to Find Meaning
CTL and TAG: One System for Everyone
It's the Connection That Counts
Ways to Connect Teaching and Learning, With Examples
Conclusion: Making Connections - A Natural Human Activity

ch. 4 Self-Regulated Learning and Collaboration
The Importance of Process
Self-Regulated Learning: A Definition
The Knowledge and Skills Essential to Self-Regulated Learning
The Self-Regulated Learning Process
Self-Regulated Learning and the Teacher's Responsibility
Conclusion: The Transforming Power of Self-Regulated Learning

ch. 5 Critical and Creative Thinking
Introduction: The Need for Critical and Creative Thinking
Critical Thinking Defined
Eight Steps for Critical Thinkers
Critical Thinking Used to Solve Problems
Critical Thinking Used to Make Decisions
Critical Thinking Applied to Ethical Deliberation and Action
Mental Activities That Aid Creativity
Barriers to Creativity
Creative and Critical Thinking: Two Sides of One Coin

ch. 6 No One Is Ordinary: Nurturing the Individual
Introduction: The Versatile CTL Teacher
Teaching and the Learning Environment
The Influence of Relationships
Examples of Reaching Out
Nurturing Eight Kinds of Intelligence
Emotion, Learning, and Memory
Conclusion: To Make the Heart Sing

ch. 7 Reaching High Standards and Using Authentic Assessment
Introduction: Standards Worth Reaching
Creating Demanding Objectives
Objectives That Hold Meaning
Using External Standards
Service Learning and CTL Objectives
Standards and Standardized Tests
Four Kinds of Authentic Assessment
Examples of Projects
Evaluating a Performance Task
Conclusion: Authentic Assessment and High Standards

ch. 8 CTL: A Pathway to Excellence for Everyone

References
Index