Letters to a Young Teacher

Jonathan Kozol is the author of Death at an Early Age, The Shame of the Nation, and Savage Inequalities, which won the National Book Award. For more than 40 years, he has worked with students in inner-city schools.

The mania of high-stakes testing that turns many classrooms into test-prep factories where spontaneity and critical intelligence are no longer valued, the invasion of our public schools by predatory private corporations, and the inequalities of urban schools that are once again almost as segregated as they were in Jonathan's bestselling The Shame of the Nation and On Being a Teacher resurface in "Letters to a Young Teacher". Most importantly, these letters are filled with the joy of teaching children, the curiosity and joyous excitement that children bring to the classroom at such a young age, and their capacity to overcome their insecurities when they are in the hands of an adoring and hardworking teacher.

Jonathan Kozol's advice to Francesca exemplifies all of the qualities that have made him the nation's wisest, boldest, and most clear-headed education writer: his love of teaching, his respect for students, and his refusal to submit to the suffocating demands of educational bureaucrats in and out of government. He portrays the thrill and joy of teaching a new generation to transform the world by telling personal classroom anecdotes with surprising honesty. This book will inspire teachers, students, and parents alike.

Author: Jonathan Kozol

Publisher: Three Rivers Press; Reprint edition (January 1, 2007)
Language: English
Link to buy: amazon.com/Letters-Young-Teacher-Jonathan-Kozol/dp/0307393720