A Conception of Teaching (PDF)

After everything else has been done and provided-the money raised; the schools erected; the curricula developed; the administrators, supervisors, and teachers trained; the parents and other citizens consulted-we come to teaching, where all of it makes contact with students, and the teacher influences students' knowledge, understanding, appreciations, and attitudes in what we hope will be desirable ways. Teaching is well-nigh the point of the whole educational enterprise and establishment aimed at producing student learning.

The literature of the behavioral and social sciences is full of theory and research on learning and memory. Teaching is comparatively a stepchild, neglected by those who have built a formidable body of theories of learning and memory. However, teaching is where learning and memory theory should pay off.

A Conception of Teaching dedicates a chapter to each of the following important components: the need for a theory; the possibility of a theory; the evolution of a paradigm for the study of teaching; a conception of the process of teaching; a conception of the content of teaching; a conception of students' cognitive capabilities and motivations; a conception of classroom management; and the integration of these conceptions.

Written in a highly accessible style and bringing together decades of research, Dr. Nathaniel L. Gage presents A Conception of Teaching with clarity and well situated within current educational debates.

Until now, no theory of teaching has existed and "A Conception of Teaching" is a important and great step forward, offering an important and original contribution to the literature. This is a unique work from a pre-eminent figure in the field of education and is certain to stimulate debate.

I would recommend this new book, written by the father of the field of research on teaching, to all those involved in the research of teaching and teacher education.

-Dr. David C.Berliner

The work of N.L. Gage offers exceptional insight and breadth of scholarship, brings considerations of theory to research on teaching, integrates the research in this area, and changes how one summarizes research on the topic.

Expanding his original 1963 paradigm for teaching to include the 40 years of research, one of the most important figures in the field offers profound insight into student thought processes, content of teaching, teacher thought processes. Gage brings all this work together, with scholarship, and with care, which only Gage could have written.

I believe this work should be read by all those who are involved in the practice, research, and study of teaching.

-Dr. Barak Rosenshine

This is an exciting book and no one is better qualified to write on the theory of teaching. Nate Gage, a pre-eminent figure in the field, provides a comprehensive treatment of the topic and accomplishes a very significant task.

The book will be of interest to all college teachers, and especially those working in the fields of educational psychology and teacher education.

This is a major work from an outstanding scholar at the pinnacle of his career.

-Dr. W.J. McKeachie