The Learning Pit

James Nottingham (2020)

“Profound, practical and precise: James Nottingham tells you how to make your classroom a place where young people would love to be.”
Professor Guy Claxton, Author of Building Learning Power

Highlights of the book include:
  • A full description, analysis, and justification for using the Learning Pit® – direct from its creator, James Nottingham
  • The Top Ten ‘Pit Tools’ – proven strategies for guiding students into and out of the Learning Pit
  • Guidance as to when to support, when to challenge, and when to engage in cognitive conflict so that all students move from surface to deep learning
  • Ways to choose relevant concepts to take students into the Learning Pit, including multiple examples across all subject areas
  • The ways in which the Learning Pit helps participants develop resilience, determination, learning strategies and metacognitive thinking
  • Questioning techniques to engage and extend participants’ thinking
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"The Learning Pit has become one of the most powerful and popular heuristics of learning over the past 10-20 years and Nottingham's new book will become the go-to resource for its fullest explication and application for years to come."
Barry J. Hymer, Professor of Psychology in Education University of Cumbria in Lancaster, UK

“The Learning Pit has become one of the most powerful and popular heuristics of learning over the past 10-20 years and Nottingham’s new book will become the go-to resource for its fullest explication and application for years to come.””

Barry J. Hymer, Professor of Psychology in Education University of Cumbria in Lancaster, UK

What makes this book different?

The Learning Challenge is by far the best and most comprehensive guide to guiding students through the Learning Pit. Written by the creator of the Learning Pit®, James Nottingham, the book shows you how to create a culture of challenge, curiosity, reflection and resilience. Its popularity amongst educators and parents is testament to the significant contribution it has made in enhancing questioning, reflection and metacognition.

Book Features

As Arthur Schopenhauer once said, “Buying books would be a good thing if one could also buy the time to read them in: but as a rule the purchase of books is mistaken for the appropriation of their contents.” With that in mind, The Learning Challenge has several features to help navigate the book, including:

  • Margin notes with summaries of content and key points
  • Section numbers to support navigation and cross-referencing (they also remain constant – unlike page numbers – when the book is translated into other languages)
  • ‘Now Try This’ sections to guide and support professional learning

Intended Audience

Suitable for teachers, leaders and support staff working with students between the ages of 7-19. For those working with 3-7-year-old children, you would be better reading ‘Challenging Early Learning’ by James Nottingham and Jill Nottingham (2017).

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"Nottingham’s Learning Pit is a seminal piece and should be considered mandatory reading for every educator. The examples included throughout help to paint a clear picture of how teachers can create the conditions to encourage and support students’ deep understanding of complex concepts."
Jenni Donohoo, Author of Collective Efficacy, Ontario, Canada
"An inspirational guide to creating lessons that are thought-provoking and meaningful, and at the same time theoretically sound."
Carol S. Dweck, Author of Mindset, and the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University.

“Nottingham’s Learning Pit is a seminal piece and should be considered mandatory reading for every educator. The examples included throughout help to paint a clear picture of how teachers can create the conditions to encourage and support students’ deep understanding of complex concepts.”

Jenni Donohoo, Author of Collective Efficacy, Ontario, Canada

“An inspirational guide to creating lessons that are thought-provoking and meaningful, and at the same time theoretically sound.””

Carol S Dweck, Author of Mindset, and the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University
 

Related Links

An Introduction to the Learning Pit®

The Learning Pit® – Animated!

Consultancy to Show You How Best to Use the Learning Pit®

Using the Learning Pit with 3-7-year-olds

Related Links

An Introduction to the Learning Pit®

Why Isn’t Growth Mindset Working (Yet)?

Consultancy to Show You How Best to Use the Learning Pit®

Blog Post: On Tour with Carol Dweck

International Versions of This Book…

Related Links