This post is a recent piece by Larry Cuban that appeared on his blog. Here's a link to the original. The title tells the story. But they way he tells the story is delightful. Policymakers and Teachers Live in Different Worlds Larry Cuban Here’s a story about the different worlds that U.S policymakers and teachers live in … Continue reading Larry Cuban — Policymakers and Teachers Live in Different Worlds
This post is an essay by Justin Sider, which recently appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Here's a link to the original. The essay is a diatribe against the prolific work of the pedagogy gurus of contemporary academe — the self-styled learning experts whose hectoring books and advice columns have become a familiar feature … Continue reading Justin Sider — The Problem with Pedagogy Gurus
This post is a classic essay by Philip Jackson from his 1974 book, Life in Classrooms. Here's a link to the original. To me, it's the best piece that has ever been written about "the daily grind" that students experience in elementary classrooms, which I often used in my classes. It's all about the hidden … Continue reading Philip Jackson — The Daily Grind
If the greatest joy that comes from retirement is that I no longer have to attend faculty meetings, the second greatest joy is that I no longer have to grade student papers. I know, I know: commenting on student writing is a key component of being a good teacher, and there's a real satisfaction that … Continue reading Robin Lee Mozer — I Would Rather Do Anything Else than Grade Your Final Papers
This post is a reflection on one particular component of the practice of teaching — the need for each teacher to construct an authentic and effective teacher persona. In the first part of the post, I draw on a section from chapter five of my book, Someone Has to Fail. In the second part, I explore the … Continue reading Teacher Persona
This is an essay that is published in my recent book, Being a Scholar: Reflections on Doctoral Study, Scholarly Writing, and Academic Life. For years, I'd been thinking about writing a piece about college teaching and I finally put it down on paper a couple years ago. Everyone complains about the quality of college teaching, … Continue reading College Teaching Is Better than You’d Expect
This post is a classic essay by David Cohen. The version I'm reproducing here comes from a conference paper he prepared for the Benton Center at University of Chicago. Here's a link to the original. An earlier and shorter version was published as a chapter in 1988 in a book edited by Philip Jackson, Contributing … Continue reading David Cohen — Teaching Practice: Plus Ca Change
This post is a piece I wrote for the 1989 book, American Teachers: Histories of a Profession at Work, edited by Don Warren. Here's a link to a PDF of the original. A slightly different version appeared as a chapter in my 1997 book, How to Succeed in School Without Really Learning. I agreed to … Continue reading Career Ladders and the Early School Teacher: A Study on Inequality and Opportunity
This is a piece I wrote as the foreword to a book by J. M. Beach — Can We Measure What Matters Most? Why Educational Accountability Metrics Lower Student Learning and Demoralize Teachers — published in 2021 by Rowman and Littlefield. For me, this was a chance to provide a brief summary of my thoughts about … Continue reading The Problems that Accountability Metrics Pose for Schooling
In this piece, I explore a major problem I have with recent educational policy discourse — the way we have turned teachers from the heroes of the public school story to its villains. If students are failing, we now hear, it is the fault of teachers. This targeting of teachers employs a new form of … Continue reading Targeting Teachers
