Inside Teaching: How Classroom Life Undermines Reform

By: Mary Kennedy

Narrated by: Lynne Ennis

Reform the schools, improve teaching: these battle cries of American education have been echoing for 20 years. So why does teaching change so little?

Arguing that too many would-be reformers know nothing about the conflicting demands of teaching, Mary Kennedy takes us into the controlled commotion of the classroom, revealing how painstakingly teachers plan their lessons, and how many different ways things go awry. Teachers try simultaneously to keep track of materials, time, students, and ideas. In their effort to hold all of these things together, they can inadvertently quash students' enthusiasm and miss valuable teachable moments.

Kennedy argues that pedagogical reform proposals that do not acknowledge all of the things teachers need to do are bound to fail. If reformers want students to learn, they must address all of the problems teachers face, not just those that interest them.

The book is published by Harvard University Press.

©2005 the President and Fellows of Harvard College (P)2012 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

" Inside Teaching is an important read for policy makers and other decision makers; it is a reminder that genuine education is a complex and fragile process that takes into account the idea that every student is a valuable contributor to the world and not a product to be assembled." (Sergio Mora, Childhood Education)

An absolutely outstanding book, and a major contribution to the literature on teaching.” (Richard F. Elmore, Harvard Graduate School of Education)

"A wonderful new book..." ( Teacher's Magazine)