Learning to Change - Hardcover

Hargreaves, Andy; Earl, Lorna; Moore, Shawn; Manning, Susan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0787950270 ISBN 13: 9780787950279

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 2000

Synopsis

The success of school reform measures greatly depends on thesupport and commitment of teachers. This book examines therealities of educational change from the frontline perspective ofreform-minded teachers. It charts the perceptions and experiencesof twenty-nine teachers in grades 7 and 8 from four schooldistricts--showing how they grappled with such initiatives asintegrated curriculum, common learning standards, and alternativemodes of assessment.

This book moves beyond the bandwagons of rhetorical change andexamines how these changes work in practice for better and forworse. Authors Andy Hargreaves and Lorna Earl focus on how reformproposals have brought new complexities to teaching practice andwhy major investments of time and support are required if teachinginnovations are to become lasting and effective. Most importantly,they highlight the intense emotional demands that school changeimposes on teachers, and they outline practical strategies forhelping teachers through the difficult transition process--thusensuring that worthwhile reforms flourish and endure.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"At a time when schools are dominated by prescriptive standards, subject-centered coverage, and high-stakes testing, Learning to Change offers us a glimpse of a more hopeful and enriching pedagogy. I highly recommend this book for its pedagogical contribution and its political lessons." ?James Beane, professor, College of Education, National-Louis University

"In this optimistic and fine-grained study of learning to change, Andy Hargreaves and Lorna Earl graphically illustrate, with a degree of clarity rarely previously achieved, how the professional work of teachers mediates the translation of the new educational orthodoxy into sustained and enhanced levels of student learning." ?David Hopkins, professor and dean of education, University of Nottingham, UK

"At last we have a book that get beneath the slogans of reform! In a compelling highly readable book the reader learns what supports and hinders teachers' struggle to create higher standards for their students. The authors go way beyond the technical and intellectual work of teaching recognizing the highly emotional cultural aspects of change. But this is no mere academic treatise, but rather a call to intelligent and informed action." ?Ann Lieberman, visiting professor at Stanford University and senior scholar, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

"Hargreaves and his colleagues have crafted a book that describes the harsh reality of change efforts at the level where true differences are made: the school and classroom levels. But more importantly, they outline the intellectual and emotional work that must be done for these efforts to succeed. Showing that there is no substitute for clear thinking, careful planning, and hard work, they demonstrate what is needed for deep and abiding change in schools." ?Thomas R. Guskey, professor of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation, University of Kentucky

About the Author:

ANDY HARGREAVES is professor of education in the Department of Theory and Policy Studies and codirector of the International Centre for Educational Change at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. LORNA EARL is associate professor in the Department of Theory and Policy Studies and codirector of the International Centre for Educational Change at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. SHAWN MOORE is a senior research officer at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. He also works in the International Centre for Educational Change. SUSAN MANNING Susan Manning is a project manager in Student and Community Services for the Toronto District School Board. She is a former research manager for the Scarborough Board of Education.

About this edition

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0787950270
• ISBN 13: 9780787950279
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224