The Focus Books comprise a series of eight workbooks, seven of which deal with an aspect of classroom teaching. The last in the series - The New Teacher examines the in-school provisions necessary for the optimal development of the student teacher during practice teaching. The workbooks are written by various authors associated with a now-terminated research and development project. The Teacher Education Project, funded by Britain's Department of Education and Science, was charged with conducting research on aspects of teaching, and with developing ideas and materials for use in teacher education. The booklets originally developed for the PGCE course — a post-graduate diploma course for teachers are now being offered for pre-service as well as in-service education.
The advantages of basing training materials on empirical research and the experience of teachers are evident in these workbooks. There are several exercises, examples of teachers’ lesson plans for critique, opinions, and experiences, all of which add an immediate relevance and practicality to the materials. It is heartening to see such value accorded the experiences and observations of teachers. This professional lore is rarely recognized or recorded.