These
are some of the most inspirational and thought-provoking
books that we have found. Let us know if there is a
book that you really value and want to share
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A
Fifth Discipline Fieldbook for Parents, Educators,
and Everyone Who Cares About Education
by Peter Senge, Nelda Cambron-McCabe, Timothy
Lucas, Bryan Smith, Janis Dutton, and Art Kleiner
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As
concern about education grows throughout the world,
and particularly in North America, schools are increasingly
awash in "quick fixes": measures that range
from tougher curriculum to standardized tests to medication
for non-performers. Most of these measures will not
lead to better performance in the long run, because
they are not based on any in-depth understanding of
the forces that shape schools today.
My
co-authors (Nelda Cambron McCabe, Timothy Lucas, Bryan
Smith, Janis Dutton and Art Kleiner) and I hope that
this book will make a difference by giving people a
way to think about (and act upon) the underlying forces,
including the attitudes and assumptions, which have
shaped schools (and communities) for a very long time.
The world in which children are now growing up differs
dramatically from the world which give rise to the industrial
age school. So, it is no wonder that it is failing.
Efforts to prop it up will not suffice.
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TOXIC
CHILDHOOD
By
Sue Palmer
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Over
the last twenty-five years, huge technological and
cultural changes have transformed the lifestyle of
people in the developed world – largely for the
better. But it's all happened so fast we haven't noticed
that changes which benefit adults aren't always so
good for children. A toxic cocktail of the side-effects
of cultural change is now damaging the social, emotional
and cognitiv development
of a growing number of
children, with knock-on effects on their behaviour.
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I
am a teacher at heart, and there are moments in the
classroom when I can hardly hold the joy. When my students
and I discover uncharted territory to explore, when
the pathway out of a thicket opens up before us, when
our experience is illumined
by
the lightning-life of the mind--then teaching is the
finest work I know. But at other moments, the classroom
is so lifeless or painful or confused--and I am so powerless
to do anything about it--that my claim to be a teacher
seems a transparent sham. then the enemy is everywhere:
in those students from some alien planet, in that subject
I thought I knew, and in the personal pathology that
keeps me earning my living this way. What a fool I was
to imagine that I had mastered this occult art--harder
to divine than tea leaves and impossible for mortals
to do even passably well!
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Not
Quite Burned Out, but Crispy Around the Edges
by
Sharon M Draper
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This
book of inspirational stories and essays is designed
for any teacher who has survived the first week of the
first year of teaching. It offers memories of the joy
of teaching, tells compelling tales of tragedy as well
as survival, and provides opportunities for laughter,
which is sometimes the only remedy for difficult situations.
Faced with low salaries, overcrowded classrooms, and
dwindling public support, teachers are expected to improve
student performance, answer public scrutiny, and solve
society's problems - with just a stroke of chalk across
a blackboard. It is easy to become discouraged, and
many do. Not Quite Burned Out helps remind teachers
of the reasons they entered the
profession in the first place.
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Inspirational
Quotes, Notes and Anecdotes That Honor Teachers
and Teaching (Paperback)
by Robert D. Ramsey
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Today's
educators are overworked and overwhelmed. A little recognition,
affirmation, and support can go a long way. That's where
this book comes in. Best-selling author, Robert D. Ramsey,
offers a far-reaching collection of inspirational quotes,
notes, anecdotes, reflections, testimonials, and tributes
for teachers. The book's uplifting messages include
time-tested traditional material, coupled with fresh
insights from the famous, not-so-famous, and also unknown.
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CHICKEN
SOUP FOR THE TEACHER’S SOUL
By Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
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It's
no secret that teachers are underpaid, overworked,
and undervalued, and bestselling authors Jack Canfield
and Mark Victor Hansen have compiled Chicken Soup
for the Teacher's Soul as both a tribute and encouragement
to those who make a difference in the lives of their
students.
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Happiness
and Education
By
Nel Noddings
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This book explores what we might teach if we were
to take happiness seriously as an aim of education.
It asks, first, what it means to be happy and, second,
how we can help children to understand what happiness
is. It notes that, to be truly happy, we have to develop
a capacity for unhappiness and a willingness to alleviate
the suffering of others. Criticizing the current almost
exclusive emphasis on economic well-being and pleasure,
it discusses the contributions of making a home, parenting,
cherishing a place, the development of character,
interpersonal growth, finding work that one loves,
and participating in a democratic way of life. Finally,
it explores ways in which to make schools and classrooms
happy places.
