Teach Boldly!: Letters to Teachers about Contemporary Issues in Education(356 Counterpoints)

In today’s public schools, teachers are often discouraged by the restrictions placed on them by the education system: federal mandates such as No Child Left Behind, excessive emphasis on standardized testing, pre-packaged curricula, inadequate funding, overcrowded classrooms, cultural incongruence, and social injustices. Teachers feel thwarted from meeting the unique needs of each student, and students continue to fall between the cracks in the system. This book encourages educators to teach boldly, using wisdom and courage to do what they know is best for their students despite the obstacles. A collection of letters from leading educators and scholars to practicing and future teachers, Teach Boldly! offers advice, encouragement, and inspiration in the form of bold, innovative ideas to ignite teachers’ passion for their work in the midst of a range of discouraging situations. The book can be used as a resource for practicing teachers or as a textbook in teacher education programs. It is relevant to courses in foundations of education, curriculum studies, issues in education, education policy, critical pedagogy, ethics in education, school reform, and educational leadership.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Dennis Earl Fehr/Mary Cain Fehr: Foreword – Christine E. Sleeter: Transgressing Boundaries for Socially Just Teaching – Mary Frances Agnello: Excelling through «E»-Teaching – Pixie Holbrook: Many Sizes for All: A Comprehensive Assessment of Our Students – Patty Bode/Nora Elton/Rachel I. Shuman: Ask and Listen with High Expectations – Geneva Gay: Teaching Authentically – Barbara Morgan-Fleming: Dewey, Aristotle, and You – Paul Chamness Reece-Miller: An Elephant in the Classroom: LGBTQ Students and the Silent Minority – Angela Valenzuela: Uncovering Internalized Oppression – Mary Cain Fehr: The Power of Water – Sheng Kuan Chung: Aesthetics of Confrontation: From the Streets to the Classroom – George Wood: The Limits of Schooling – Carolyn Erler/Susan L. Allen: Nonviolence: A Philosophy and Method for Teaching Boldly – Linda Darling-Hammond: A Marshall Plan for Teaching: What It Will Really Take to Leave No Child Behind – Linda McSpadden McNeil: Teaching Boldly in Timid Schools: Reflecting on Knowledge Access and Knowledge Control – Donalyn Heise: Dare to be Positive! – Kara Mitchell: Teach Outside the Classroom – Hidehiro Endo: Recognizing Diversity in Asian Students – Dennis Earl Fehr: Loving the Thugs – Etta R. Hollins: Contextualizing Teaching and Learning – Gary Howard: Dispositions for Good Teaching – Sandy Grande: Red Pedagogy – Úrsula Casanova: Teaching Boldly: A Principal Who Has Touched the Future – Sonia Nieto: Letter to My Daughter, a Teacher – Shirley R. Steinberg: Afterword.

About the Author :
The Editors: Mary Cain Fehr is Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at Texas Tech University. A former classroom teacher, art teacher, and school district administrator, she holds a B.S. in elementary education, an M.Ed. in instructional technology, and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction. Dr. Fehr’s mission as a teacher educator is to increase pre-service teachers’ global and cultural understanding and prepare them to teach effectively in diverse classrooms. Dennis Earl Fehr is School of Art faculty at Texas Tech University. He taught English, reading, and art in the public schools for ten years prior to entering the University of Illinois’ doctoral program in art education. He then accepted a position at the University of Houston, where he taught for ten more years before moving to Texas Tech. Dr. Fehr also directs the National Education Taskforce, a group of educators who advocate for children in schools.

Review :
"Emerging from the hearts and experience of some of America's most knowledgeable and compassionate teachers, this book shows how pedagogies of social justice often mean teaching boldly, against the grain, sometimes in spite of administrative and policy limitations. 'Teach Boldly!' is a call for greater moral, creative, and intellectually stimulating teaching at a time when these characteristics are terribly under-valued. A better educational system would surely emerge were many of the ideas in this book enacted. A wonderful gift for new or veteran teachers!" (David Berliner, Arizona State University) "'Teach Boldly!' is one of those rare books that is an absorbing read, not only for practicing and aspiring P-12 educators, but for educators in many types of educational institutions. The issues discussed are significant, the writing is lucid, the arguments are stimulating, and the conclusions are far-reaching. I highly recommend the volume to anyone interested in teaching courageously in challenging settings." (Douglas J. Simpson, Texas Tech University)