NOTES FROM A SCHOOL TEACHER

by James Herndon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 20, 1985

An irreverent, breezy discussion of the classroom, children and the system by a veteran public-school teacher. Author of How to Survive in Your Native Land, The Way It Spozed to Be and other trenchant books, Herndon's light touch is joined by a deep concern for kids and what is happening to them. You will enjoy him and, more, you will trust him. Starting in June, at the end of the year, he is amusing about the tedium of school and the accomplishments (or lack of them) of some of his students. He covers other topics from merit pay and lesson plans to school boards and tax policies. Wherever he takes us, Herndon's style is felicitous even as he discusses some of the key issues in the nation's debate on education. The author is without cant and free of the suffocating, so-called objectivity of ""educators"" less involved in the day-to-day life of a public school. He is an idealist who gets his hands dirty, one very aware of his own and his students' fallibilities, but not depressed by them. His anecdotal style lends itself to a wide-ranging review of his own life and travels; all is held together by a central concern--what is a good school or a bad one and where we find them. His definition of a school is typical of his attitude a kid cleaning fish on a boat is in a good school, while a more traditional setting may be a bad school no matter what is being studied. The author is wise, humorous, practical and weary of phonies. He knows what's happening and isn't afraid to call a spade a spade. He is refreshing because he is not angry or wild-eyed or a pedantic reformer, but a teacher who sees and questions and lets us in the back door to peek over his shoulder and share his world.

Pub Date: Aug. 20, 1985

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1985

Categories: NONFICTION