Teachers: Talking Out of School - Hardcover

Collins, Catherine; Frantz, Douglas

9780316292665: Teachers: Talking Out of School

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316292664 ISBN 13: 9780316292665

Publisher: Little Brown & Co, 1993

Teachers from across the country speak out on the state of education in the U.S. today, in this collection of voices from the heart of the education system

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From Kirkus Reviews:

Are teachers resourceful, industrious, and dedicated--or uninspired, pessimistic, and unwilling to be held accountable? All of the above, of course, as this balanced collection of impressions from Los Angeles Times writers Collins and Frantz (From the Ground Up, 1991, etc.) makes clear. The authors interviewed close to 150 teachers in 70 schools around the country on a variety of pertinent subjects--''Children,'' ``Parents,'' ``Discipline,'' ``Respect,'' ``Trade Secrets''--and have come up with insightful, if unsurprising, conclusions. Teachers in general, Collins and Frantz find, are committed and hard-working but stymied--by unresponsive bureaucracies, large class size, diminished school budgets, and changes in society that add other jobs to the teaching load. Many feel a sense of mission (``I believe in the sun, even when it doesn't shine'') and work despite constant hurdles and the prospect--or experience--of violence (a particularly chilling chapter). In addition, most regret how little they're consulted, not only about school policies but also on academic issues like bilingual education and curriculum content. Collins and Frantz, as well as many teachers, believe that the top-to-bottom management style, based on the 19th-century factory model, no longer applies, and that teachers must assume new roles and renegotiate the school scenario, turning education into a ``shared enterprise,'' with parents and other staff included in the decision-making process. Candid observations, presented in a satisfying and serviceable format. -- Copyright �1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

"The professionals who spend their days on the front line of battle" speak out in this compilation of teachers' views of their work. More than 150 of them across the country were interviewed by Collins and Frantz ( Selling Out ), husband-and-wife journalists, who found a wide variety in the stories and experiences recorded here. While expressing the sadly familiar complaints about the lot of underappreciated teachers--low salaries, oppressive administrators and intractable discipline problems--most of them remain generally idealistic and convinced that they can make a difference in their students' lives. Their suggestions for improving our schools underscore the need for teachers to have an influence on education reform programs.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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