The Complex World of Teaching: Perspectives from Theory and Practice(HER Reprint Series)

Geologists study volcanoes for years yet cannot predict exactly which will be the next to erupt. Meteorologists use highly advanced technology to study weather patterns but cannot forecast the weather with certainty. Teachers can present the same lesson to two classes, only to have it succeed one time and fail the next. Why is there such uncertainty in these situations? Because these are all complex systems. In the complex world of teaching, teachers face numerous unpredictable challenges from the dynamic interactions of teacher, student, curriculum, school, community, and culture. How do teachers manage to teach in such a complex world? To answer this question, the Editors of the Harvard Educational Review have collected the best writings on teaching published in the Review in The Complex World of Teaching. Part One, ""Inner Worlds,"" explores the private aspects of teachers' and students' lives that, although hidden, have a great impact on teaching and learning. Part Two, ""Outer Worlds,"" focuses on how powerful economic, social, political, and cultural forces from outside the classroom shape the work of teachers and students. Part Three, ""The Complex World of Teaching,"" illuminates how the intersection of the inner and outer worlds creates the dynamic complexity that is both the joy and the frustration of teaching. The Complex World of Teaching refuses to reduce teaching to a set of recipes, or to talk about teaching abstracted from practice. The Editors have combined theoretical chapters with studies from individual classrooms written by teachers themselves to capture the true complexity of teaching. Readers can join teachers as they recount their struggles and triumphs in the classroom pieces, and then move to the theoretical pieces to analyze the larger forces that shape those moments.

About the Author :
Ethan Mintz, a doctoral candidate in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, was cochair of the Editorial Board of the Harvard Educational Review in 1997-1998.John T. Yun is a doctoral candidate in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Review :
There are those who imagine we can reach a better future by simplifying our understanding of who we teach and what we teach. By contrast, the authors of this collection believe that complexity is the name of the game in describing who we are as human beings, both as teachers and as learners. This wonderful collection of essays is about why complexity is important, and why it must remain so. These are voices worth listening to, and also fun to read. Deborah Meier, Principal, Mission Hill School, Roxbury, MA, and author of"The Power of Their Ideas: Lessons from a Small School in Harlem"" A remarkable mixture of theory and practice This work is vital for teachers exploring themes from everyday life and connections between the inside and outside worlds of teaching and learning. It also reflects the tensions between these two worlds, and how schools provide the place where these tensions play out "The Complex World of Teaching"is a fascinating contribution to the conversation on teaching and learning. Betty Rosa, Superintendent, New York City Community School District 8 " A valuable and surprisingly vivid portrayal of the actual experience of teachers and students, both in the classroom and beyond it. The mystery and joy that are at the heart of classroom teaching, and which seldom come across in academic writings, are presented here with a tenacious energy that I especially appreciate. Teachers everywhere will be grateful. Jonathan Kozol, author of"Savage Inequalities: Children in America s Schools"and"Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation" " It is a rare volume on teaching that begins with the perspectives, experiences, and voices of children and adolescents. Student experience, in school and out, serves as an anchor for this ambitious compendium. It underscores the urgency that compels us to understand more fully what teaching requires, how it succeeds or fails, and what conditions enhance or diminish its promise. Schoolteaching is a complex practice in any time and place, as these authors attest. Its complexities multiply when teachers and their students do not share cultural histories, economic circumstances, or language. In juxtaposing these pieces, this book will no doubt provoke debate and suggest new possibilities for practice and research. Judith Warren Little, Professor, University of California-Berkeley "