The Elements of Teaching

Rating:
Summary: Great teaching is walking a tightrope
Review: Having cataloged the personal, moral and intellectual qualities of great teachers, the authors of 'The Elements of Teaching' acknowledge that many readers 'may be wondering by now whether achieving these standards is not beyond the reach of all but the rarest paragon.' And yet most teachers, myself included, entered the profession with the goal of becoming just such a rare paragon. In reading this entertaining and well-written work (the opening paragraph to the chapter entitled Learning is exquisite)I feel I gained a better apppreciation of how my personal idiosyncracies enhance my effectiveness as an educator, and at times detract from it. Likewise, this book reinforced to me how fine the deviding line is between exemplary and egregious teacherly conduct. A very worthwhile read - warmly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Zen and the Art of the Elements of Teaching
Review: I recommend this book to new teachers, administrators, parents, anyone who gives a hoot about educating children in this country. Written simply with terrific examples, it should be required reading for educators. This is a serious work of writing, but when you are finished, it will be well worth the time. The writing is calm and well thought out. There is nothing hysterical or pleading in this book. Just good old common sense with a touch of experience thrown in to make the points all the more convincing. The chapter on a teacher's authority in the classroom, and how most teachers abuse that authority, is very revealing. The book can be easily read in a single evening (unless you have kids of your own, but that's another story!).

Rating:
Summary: A "livre de chevet"
Review: This is a golden little book that all teachers should read. It would be very useful also for those administrators who look at teachers as no more than talking machines, only needed to cover as many classes as possible.
The Authors are both educators and administrators. They know wery well what they are talking about, and, under an apparently old fashioned way of writing, they offer a very modern way to look at teaching, a mission as old as the human species, that evolved and continously evolves according to the social development.
The list of the basic elements-authority, ethics, imagination, patience, ...-is long, and all of the entries are analyzed in depth, using appropriate examples. Anyhow, the volume is no cookbook. Although it gives prescriptions and examples, these are intended to be internalized, not to be used as such. They are just a starting point for a personal elaboration.
When the book is finished, the reader is forced to reappraise his teaching methodology, and I imagine that he will also enjoy reading the companion book by the same Authors: The Elements of Learning.