Authors: Sonia Nieto
ISBN-13: 9780807743119, ISBN-10: 0807743119
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Teachers College Press
Date Published: January 2003
Edition: 1st Edition
What helps great public school teachers persevere -- in spite of everything? Sonia Nieto, a renowned teacher educator, takes a close look at what can be learned from veteran teachers who not only continue to teach but also manage to remain enthusiastic about it. This inspirational volume provides much-needed advice on how some urban teachers are solving the everyday challenges of student learning. Nieto collaborates with experienced teachers in urban schools who are especially effective working with students of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds -- students who are among the most marginalized in our public schools. Offering an alternative vision of what's important in teaching and learning, Nieto concludes with an urgent call to advance new national priorities for public education.
Acknowledgments | ||
Introduction | 1 | |
1 | Teaching as Evolution | 9 |
Lessons Learned Along the Way | 10 | |
The Promise of Multicultural Education | 16 | |
The Sociopolitical Context of Education | 18 | |
Teachers Make a Difference | 19 | |
2 | Teaching as Autobiography | 22 |
Remembering What Brought Them to Teaching | 24 | |
Teacher Autobiographies | 26 | |
Sidewalk School | 26 | |
My Journey | 27 | |
I Teach Who I Am | 30 | |
The Power of Connection | 31 | |
The Book Chart | 32 | |
Postscript: A Response from the Editor | 34 | |
3 | Teaching as Love | 37 |
Effective Teachers of Urban Students | 38 | |
Respecting and Affirming Students' Identities | 39 | |
Care and Respect: Beyond Hugs and Other Displays of Affection | 42 | |
Judith Baker's Tough Problem | 43 | |
Educational Reform and Caring | 47 | |
My Persistent Dilemma | 48 | |
On Teaching Metaphors and Caring | 49 | |
Teaching as Gardening | 50 | |
"A Fundamental Belief" in Students | 51 | |
4 | Teaching as Hope and Possibility | 53 |
The Promise of Public Education | 54 | |
Education Was My Way Out | 56 | |
Faith in Their Own Abilities as Teachers | 58 | |
Confidence in Colleagues and the Next Generation of Teachers | 58 | |
"You Heal, You Help, You Love ..." | 61 | |
5 | Teaching as Anger and Desperation | 63 |
When Teachers Are Angry | 63 | |
Bureaucratic Restructuring | 65 | |
The More Things Change ... | 66 | |
The Nature of "The System" | 69 | |
On Homemade Protractors and the Will to Fight | 69 | |
Indignity at the Lack of Respect | 71 | |
Desperation | 72 | |
Considering Retirement at 26 | 73 | |
Moving Beyond the Anger | 73 | |
Postscript | 74 | |
6 | Teaching as Intellectual Work | 76 |
The Need for Adult Conversations | 77 | |
The Call to Write | 79 | |
Understanding Through Writing | 79 | |
Writing to Improve Curriculum | 81 | |
Puerto Rican Arts in a Social Context | 82 | |
Is Teaching Rational? | 86 | |
Obsessed by Mindful Teaching | 88 | |
Sustaining Community in Teaching | 90 | |
7 | Teaching as Democratic Practice | 91 |
The Struggle for Equal Education | 92 | |
Racism in Schools and Society | 94 | |
Teaching as Educational Justice | 96 | |
Letter to a New Teacher | 97 | |
Teaching for Democracy | 99 | |
A Way to Live in the World | 101 | |
Finding Equilibrium | 105 | |
8 | Teaching as Shaping Futures | 107 |
The Power of Their Words | 109 | |
Teachers Change Lives Forever | 112 | |
Teachers Change Lives Forever | 119 | |
9 | Final Thoughts: What Keeps Teachers Going in Spite of Everything? | 121 |
Lessons from the Work of Teachers | 122 | |
Rethinking Professional Development | 124 | |
Restructuring Schools | 126 | |
Developing New National Priorities for Teaching | 128 | |
Notes | 131 | |
References | 145 | |
Index | 153 | |
About the Author | 161 |