The Skillful Teacher: The Comprehensive Resource to Improving Teaching and Learning (8th ed.)

What a masterpiece. This book truly is comprehensive, indispensable, and the ultimate blueprint of evidence-based teaching methods, ways of thinking, evaluation and assessment, and love its focus on turning teaching into learning. A book for the novice and the experienced - this is the definitive resource for professional growth and instructional excellence. It is now my go-to book for methods of teaching and learning.

JOHN HATTIE, Melbourne Laureate Professor Emeritus Melbourne Graduate School of Education

The Skillful Teacher is by far the most important book ever written on how to develop and execute the craft of teaching.  Jon Saphier and his colleagues examine the multiple dimensions of teaching in depth. The Skillful Teacher should be core both to pre-service programs and to the ongoing professional development of anyone who proudly wears the mantle of “teacher.”

SHELDON BERMAN, Retired Superintendent and Author

There is a spirit that animates every page of The Skillful Teacher and always has in all seven editions. It is behind what we write, how we write, and why we write. We hope it comes out as clearly to you as it does in driving our intentions. 

Throughout you will see we value:

EXPERTISE

The work we do is the most demanding anyone can imagine. To be successful, especially with students who are behind, discouraged, or injured emotionally, calls for a range of skills and a depth of knowledge far beyond what our voting public realizes. The knowledge and skill base for good teaching is huge and it is complex. 

REFLECTION

Teaching is decision-making. The most successful teachers reflect deeply on what they do and its impact on students. And they adjust what they are doing (“the match”) if it didn’t work the first time around. 

HUMILITY

All of us can get better. In fact, we need to devote ourselves to that commitment with humility. There is so much to learn, even for the most experienced and competent among us. 

EQUITY AND OBLIGATION

We can reach all students. Family income and neighborhood conditions are not permanent restrictions on children’s academic attainment. Skillful teaching is a democratic leveler of urgency, of necessity, and of fairness.

COMPASSION

We are in the business of growing people, not just teaching content. Therefore, those aspects of teaching expertise that grow interpersonal capacities of our students—empathy, community, agency, and responsibility—are primary in what we aim for. 

TEAMWORK

Improving our effectiveness in reaching all our children must be a deeply collaborative effort. The work is too difficult and too important to function alone.  

SPECIFICITY

To learn anything new and/or complex, it is incredibly valuable to see and hear exactly what it looks and sounds like in action when done well. But in addition, we need someone to explicitly point out what the key attributes or moves in skillful performance are, otherwise we might not notice them amidst the incredible complexity of interactive teaching.