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What Keeps Teachers Going? » (1st Edition)

Book cover image of What Keeps Teachers Going? by Sonia Nieto

Authors: Sonia Nieto
ISBN-13: 9780807743119, ISBN-10: 0807743119
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Teachers College Press
Date Published: January 2003
Edition: 1st Edition

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Author Biography: Sonia Nieto

Book Synopsis

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.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction1
1Teaching as Evolution9
Lessons Learned Along the Way10
The Promise of Multicultural Education16
The Sociopolitical Context of Education18
Teachers Make a Difference19
2Teaching as Autobiography22
Remembering What Brought Them to Teaching24
Teacher Autobiographies26
Sidewalk School26
My Journey27
I Teach Who I Am30
The Power of Connection31
The Book Chart32
Postscript: A Response from the Editor34
3Teaching as Love37
Effective Teachers of Urban Students38
Respecting and Affirming Students' Identities39
Care and Respect: Beyond Hugs and Other Displays of Affection42
Judith Baker's Tough Problem43
Educational Reform and Caring47
My Persistent Dilemma48
On Teaching Metaphors and Caring49
Teaching as Gardening50
"A Fundamental Belief" in Students51
4Teaching as Hope and Possibility53
The Promise of Public Education54
Education Was My Way Out56
Faith in Their Own Abilities as Teachers58
Confidence in Colleagues and the Next Generation of Teachers58
"You Heal, You Help, You Love ..."61
5Teaching as Anger and Desperation63
When Teachers Are Angry63
Bureaucratic Restructuring65
The More Things Change ...66
The Nature of "The System"69
On Homemade Protractors and the Will to Fight69
Indignity at the Lack of Respect71
Desperation72
Considering Retirement at 2673
Moving Beyond the Anger73
Postscript74
6Teaching as Intellectual Work76
The Need for Adult Conversations77
The Call to Write79
Understanding Through Writing79
Writing to Improve Curriculum81
Puerto Rican Arts in a Social Context82
Is Teaching Rational?86
Obsessed by Mindful Teaching88
Sustaining Community in Teaching90
7Teaching as Democratic Practice91
The Struggle for Equal Education92
Racism in Schools and Society94
Teaching as Educational Justice96
Letter to a New Teacher97
Teaching for Democracy99
A Way to Live in the World101
Finding Equilibrium105
8Teaching as Shaping Futures107
The Power of Their Words109
Teachers Change Lives Forever112
Teachers Change Lives Forever119
9Final Thoughts: What Keeps Teachers Going in Spite of Everything?121
Lessons from the Work of Teachers122
Rethinking Professional Development124
Restructuring Schools126
Developing New National Priorities for Teaching128
Notes131
References145
Index153
About the Author161

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