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Summer reading for teachers and students of education
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(AP Photo/Greg Baker)
Rather than going with the icons in education, this list has more of a contemporary orientation focusing on pieces from the 1990s on. A wide variety of topics is covered within this listing including: curriculum, homeschooling, school reform, and social justice. Therefore, anyone with an interest in education should be able to find a piece that catches the eye. The list is in alphabetical order by the author’s last name.
Short Route to Chaos (Stephen Arons) develops a series of specific suggestions for reform based on the principle that education, like religion, is a matter of conscience in which families should be free to select their children's schools and public funding should be allocated equally for each child, regardless of wealth or geographic location. The author goes on to propose public debate about a possible education amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
A Postmodern Perspective on Curriculum (William E. Doll, Jr.) envisages a curriculum in which the teacher's role is not causal, but transformative.
The Hundred Languages of Children (Carolyn Edwards, Lella Gandini, and George Forman) The city-run early childhood program of Reggio Emilia, Italy, has become recognized and acclaimed as one of the best systems of education in the world. Young children (from birth to age six) are encouraged to explore their environment and express themselves through many "languages," or modes of expression, including words, movement, drawing, painting, sculpture, shadow play, collage, and music.
Dumbing Us Down (John Taylor Gatto) updates on theories about how the U.S. educational system cranks out students as if they were procurs of a factory where students are more programmed to conform to economic and social norms rather than think independently.
Family Matters (David Guterson) is a case for homeschooling.
Natural Learning Rhythms (Josette and Sambhava Luvmour) discusses the patterns of learning akin to sleep patterns.
The Common Vision (David Marshak) reminds educators that our task goes beyond the transmission of information and cultural values to our students. Dr. Marshak provides three inspirational examples in which teaching is about modeling, forming meaningful relationships, and providing an environment where each child can unfold and flourish. In the midst of our elaborate process of educational reform, we need to hold onto this profound message. (Alice Leeds)
The Power of Their Ideas (Deborah Meier) stresses the need for schools that develop human beings and citizens rather than skilled workers or educated academics.
What Are Schools For? (Ron Miller) focuses on the need for holistic education
The Challenge to Care in Schools (Nel Noddings) suggests that if we make the responsiveness characteristic of caring more basic than accountability, we can accommodate both traditional and progressive preferences in one school system to the benefit of all.
Ecological Literacy (David W. Orr) examines environmental awareness and sustainability as a part of education.
To Know As We Are Known (Parker Palmer) explores how mind and heart can work together in the learning process.
The Struggle to Continue (Patrick Shannon) discusses progressive reading instruction in the US.
Insight-Imagination (Douglas Sloan) argues that the modem 'technicist' worldview is responsible for the ecological devastation and pervasive spiritual alienation threatening humanity in our age. He explains in clear, non-technical language how the ideas of physicist David Bohm, philosophers Michael Polanyi and Owen Barfield, and other holistic thinkers portray a way of knowing that engages the whole person in a deeply meaningful relationship with the world (Book jacket).
Schools that Work (George H. Wood) provides cases of positive educational achievements for school programs in contrast to the tendency to focus on what has not worked.
For more information about topics of interest to grad students, check out:
Choosing a cost effective teacher credential program
UC Irvine provides free CSET test prep courses for teachers
Student loan forgiveness programs to consider
Janelle Jalbert is the founder of Edusistance and the creator of the Race to College Success program. She has been an educator and advisor for more than a decade. You can reach Janelle, who welcomes suggestions for topics of interest for future articles, via email.
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