The Learning Game
The Learning Game: A Teacher's Inspirational Story, by Jonathan Smith. London: Little, Brown & Company, 2000.
Jonathan Smith, an educator and playwright, invites readers to witness the journey of his life in and around teaching. His experiences as the son of teachers, a teacher himself, and a school administrator, result in a heartfelt book.
The author shares that a colleague once told him that he was "reactive rather than proactive" (p. 206). Indeed, Smith shows that before we can act well, we must take the time to understand what we are acting upon. For example, he describes how he might handle a group of rambunctious students:I could avoid any individual eye-contact, allowing my sight line to settle just above your heads, as an actor does with his audience. This would be friendly. . . . I could then glance down at my notes, giving you a little latitude, and so allow each and every one of you a chance to settle down in your own time. (p. 37)
Whereas Smith is indirect with the students, he is more direct during meetings with parents: "Most parents . . . want to hear something close to the truth, preferably the near-truth kindly put." Smith suggests that teachers be "friendly and direct, stress the good things and suggest one area in which as parents and teachers, you can work together to improve the child's performance" (p. 231, 233).
Published by Little, Brown & Company, UK Ltd., Brettenham House, Lancaster Place, London, England WC2E 7EN. Price: $27.50 hardcover.
—Reviewed by Marty Kirschen, founder and editor, caringteachers.com, Los Angeles, California
Privatizing Education
Privatizing Education: Can the Marketplace Deliver Choice, Efficiency, Equity, and Social Cohesion? Henry M. Levin, Editor. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2001
In April 1999, a group of educators, economists, and social scientists came together at Teachers College, Columbia University, to create the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education. In Privatizing Education: Can the Marketplace Deliver Choice, Efficiency, Equity, and Social Cohesion?, Henry M. Levin, director of the Center, brings together a collection of essays that grew out of that conference. The book's contributors—including Arthur Levine, Martin Carnoy, Caroline Persell, and Peter Cookson—lay out an exciting range of essential questions on such issues as vouchers, for-profit school firms, and charters.
The book is most revealing in looking at little-known research, such as studies of the South Pointe Elementary School in the Dade County (Florida) Public Schools, which was run by a private firm, Educational Alternatives. The book also includes comments on the same firm's work in Baltimore, Maryland, and Hartford, Connecticut.
For the most part, the various authors are fair and even-handed in their treatment of these hot topics in education. The only exception is the chapter on charter schools, which betrayed a considerable bias. Nonetheless, I highly recommend this book to educators, who will be deeply affected by the privatization movement and need to know about these crucial topics.
Published by Westview Press, 5500 Central Ave., Boulder, CO 80301. Price: $35 paperback.
—Reviewed by Wayne Jennings, Chairman, Designs for Learning, St. Paul, Minnesota.
