Failing Up: A Professor's Odyssey of Flunking, Determination, and Hope - Softcover

Hong, Ph.D., Barbara

Softcover

ISBN 10: 097465390X ISBN 13: 9780974653907

Publisher: Columbia Publishing House, 2018

Synopsis

When people first meet Barbara Hong, they often conclude that her life must have always been enriched. They assume she had loving, successful parents and all the support she needed to reach her goals. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Hong’s path to an Ivy League university and beyond started in a filthy tenement in Singapore where she lived with an abusive father and an illiterate mother. Even as a child of six, she worked in her sweatshop home to help with extra money, which her father often wasted on alcohol. As she endured his drinking and abuse, she feared that the pain she internalized could shatter her.

But instead of falling apart, Hong managed to escape her misery, thanks to a teacher who believed in her. Once she knew she wasn’t the brainless “cabbage head” her mother called her, she began excelling as a student, eventually finding the courage to leave her home and discover her true calling as a knowledge seeker, educator, and advocate.

Hong’s inspirational journey from a sweatshop home upbringing to influential professor movingly illustrates the true strength of the human spirit and the power of teachers.

Failing UP was recognized as one of only 2% of books reviewed to earn a Kirkus STAR—the most prestigious designation in the book industry in awarding books of exceptional merit. To Read the Kirkus Review, visit: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/barbara-hong/failing-up/

About this title

From the Author:

For everyone who has ever failed or who are failing now in any capacity of your life, I hope Failing UP will help you to shake off the shame and embrace failures as a way of finding out who you are and what you are really made of. Perhaps in time, you will discover, like me, that failures can be some of life's most rewarding blessings.To schedule a book talk and signing, visit barbarahong.com or failingupbook.com. Email: contact@barbarahong.com

About the Author:

Barbara Hong received her doctorate from Columbia University in Special Education in addition to three master's degrees in Instructional Practices, Policy & Leadership, and as a Learning Specialist from the same institution. She was a three-time recipient of the prestigious Senior Fulbright Scholar award, and the First Honorable Visiting Scholar to Taiwan Municipal University of Education.

Hong has been a professor for more than sixteen years at the time of this publication and has taught in New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Hawaii. In 2014, Hong was appointed by the US State Department, Bureau of International and Information Programs, as a Speaker Specialist and Expert on Disability where she consults with governmental agencies around the globe.

Hong's research examines the cognitive science of teaching and learning, particularly for students with disabilities, and the development of self-determination through the ethics of caring. Thus far, Hong's research has been cited in the Handbook of Adult Learning, Wiley Library of Higher Education, Vanderbilt University's Peabody Recommended Readings, British Library, and the Hong Kong Institute of Education Library.

Hong is a recipient of the National Teacher-of-Honor award by the international honor society in education and her University Exemplary Faculty Award. She serves on the Advisory Council for Oxford Education Research Symposium, Board of Directors for the Council for Exceptional Children, President of BYU-Hawaii Honor Society, and is the Founder of PACE(TM)-Parents As Advocates for Change in Education. She is a licensed special educator, school principal, and district administrator. Currently, Hong is a Professor and Program Coordinator of Special Education at Brigham Young University-Hawaii.

For more information, visit barbarahong.com or email contact@barbarahong.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: Columbia Publishing House
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 097465390X
• ISBN 13: 9780974653907
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 284