Working Memory and Learning : A Practical Guide for Teachers

by Susan E Gathercole

• ISBN13: 9781412936132
• ISBN10: 1412936136
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-01-30
• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd

Summary

'The topic of working memory nowadays tends to dominate discussions with teachers and parents, and both groups can helpfully be directed to this easy-to-read but serious text ... (it) is likely to prove a turning-point in the management and facilitation of hard-to-teach children. In a situation muddied by ever-multiplying syndromes and disorders, this book delivers a clarifying and reassuring isolation of the major cognitive characteristic that cuts across all the boundaries and leaves the class teacher and SENCO empowered. I think very highly of the book and shall be recommending it steadily' - Martin Turner, Child Center for Evaluation and Teaching, Kuwait Susan Gathercole is winner of the British Psychological Society's President's Award for 2007 A good working memory is crucial to becoming a successful learner, yet there is very little material available in an easy-to-use format that explains the concept and offers practitioners ways to support children with poor working memory in the classroom. This book provides a coherent overview of the role played by working memory in learning during the school years, and uses theory to inform good practice. Topics covered include: - the link between working memory skills and key areas of learning (such as literacy & numeracy) - the relationship between working memory and children with developmental disorders - assessment of children for working memory deficits - strategies for supporting working memory in under-performing children This accessible guide will help SENCOs, teachers, teaching assistants, speech and language therapists and educational psychologists to understand and address working memory in their setting.

Author Biography

Susan E. Gathercole is a cognitive psychologist who has been engaged in research on human memory over the past 25 years, and is currently based at the University of York Tracy Packiam Alloway is Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Education at the University of Durham

Table of Contents

About the authors	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
An introduction to working memory	p. 1
Overview
Introduction
What is working memory?
Is there a limit to what working memory can hold?
Does working memory capacity vary between people?
What causes information to be lost from working memory?
What happens to information when it is lost from working memory?
How does working memory work?
How is short-term memory different from working memory?
Long-term memory?
Working memory and long-term memory can work together
Points to remember
Working memory in childhood	p. 19
Overview
Introduction
Developmental changes in working memory
Measuring working memory
Working memory and IQ
Points to remember
Working memory and learning	p. 33
Overview
Introduction
Working memory and curriculum learning
Using working memory to identify children at risk of poor academic progress
Working memory in children with learning difficulties
Working memory overload impairs learning
Points to remember
Children with poor working memory	p. 49
Overview
Introduction
General characteristics
Poor academic progress
Classroom difficulties
Attentional problems
Points to remember
Classroom support for children with poor working memory	p. 67
Overview
Introduction
Principles of the working memory intervention
Points to remember
Putting the intervention into practice	p. 91
Overview
Introduction
Putting it all together: combining principles and strategies
Intervention practice
Teacher perspectives on the working memory intervention
Frequently asked questions
Points to remember
Concluding remarks
Glossary	p. 111
Bibliography	p. 117
Index	p. 121
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