What Keeps Teachers Going? / Edition 1

by Sonia Nieto

Overview

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.

• Teaching as Evolution
• Teaching as Autobiography
• Teaching as Love
• Teaching as Hope and Possibility
• Teaching as Anger and Desperation
• Teaching as Intellectual Work
• Teaching as Democratic Practice
• Teaching as Shaping Futures
• Final Thoughts:

What Keeps Teachers Going in Spite of Everything?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807743119
Publisher:	Teachers College Press
Publication date:	02/21/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.44(d)

About the Author

Sonia Nieto is professor emerita of language, literacy, and culture at the College of Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is the bestselling author of The Light in Their Eyes, 10th Anniversary Edition, Why We Teach, and What Keeps Teachers Going? She is the recipient of the 2019 LRA Distinguished Scholar Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2021 Mass Humanities Governor's Award.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	xi
	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

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“This moving and important book has reminded me of why I have stayed in public school teaching for over 40 years. It is an inspiration to experienced educators, beginning teachers, and all of us who care about equity and the importance of every child's life.”
— Herbert Kohl is Director of the Institute for Social Justice and Education at the University of San Francisco and author of The Discipline of Hope and 36 Children.