Education Inside

the movie is a total bomb in every way, starring high school dropout hilary swank as a teacher trying to convince kids not to…drop out. the real story is a rehash of stand by me, the substitute, etc. i’m sure you could find 2 dozen previous examples of ‘teacher who believes in at-risk youths’ or ‘teacher who cares when no one else did’. and they’d all be better than this nonsense. in addition, the kids (from all backgrounds) are all so cliched it’s ridiculous. pass on this book.

Rating: 1 / 5

This book is yet another in a series of young idealistic teacher reaches out to kids successfully works. Don’t get me wrong, I think the author does an admirable job of trying to find a curriculum that works for her students. The problem lies in the fact that none of her ideas are all that innovative or compelling. It’s standard practice to attempt to teach children writing through assignments that let them write about themselves.

Furthermore, this book is peppered with the old cliche “all the veteran teachers were resentful and jealous of me but we all know that it’s because I’m better.” Give it a rest. Teaching is NOT a calling. None of us pulled a sword from a stone or took a vow of chastity. Teaching is a profession — a difficult, ever-changing, skilled profession which requires specific training and a lot of hard work. Simple as that. When the author gets all philosophical and refers to her “need” to teach and her inability to do anything else, she gives reason for others to think that teachers should remain underpaid, overworked, and burdened with many responsibilities they never signed on for. Prevailing thought is that teachers are “called” to their profession so they will do it no matter how little you reward them. This book reinforces that intolerable cliche. Teachers will never be treated as the competent, skilled professionals they are until they dump this garbage and demand to be counted as such.

Also, I’m not demeaning teachers who try to shake things up in their first few years. I’ll concede that some of the most innovative and exciting movements in education come from those who are viewing the profession with new eyes and lots of energy. But remember for every plan as the one described in this book, which was quite successful, there are far more new teachers who dismiss pedagogy at the expense of their students’ education. There are reasons behind the traditional methods of teaching.

The follow-up to this book is entitled “Teach from the Heart.” That scares me. Don’t teach from a place of emotion. Teach with compassion in your heart, but teach from your skills. Teach from your learned opinions — those you got in college and those you got in your constant re-certification training (not required in every profession, but required for teachers).

All in all, this book is OK. It’s uplifting when you wade through the pity party the author has about how unfairly she feels she was treated. Listen to the stories of the children involved for a very eye-opening look at what young people in our society face. But let THEM be the authors of what you read. The author’s “notes” are more of the same and can be found in any “new teacher takes on the system” drivel.
Rating: 2 / 5