Building a Better Teacher

Let me begin this review with a bit of transparency. I am a new teacher who is certified to teach high school students, and I am always on the lookout for what I can read that will help me become a better teacher. So, when I saw this book, I jumped at the chance to buy it. Then, I saw that it was written by a journalist, and this gave me pause, since I have not had a great experience with their writing on education in the past. Yet, I forged ahead, taking the chance to see what Elizabeth Green had in store with this text. As I kept on reading, I found that the book's title was misleading, as it is more an exploration of ideas about teaching, rather than explaining any sound pedagogical advice.

Let's begin with one of the ideas explored in this book: the history of how higher education prepared teachers to enter the workforce. This section, while interesting on its own, seems to be completely useless, and I do not say that about history that often. What does this have to do with how one can become a better teacher? All the reader learns about this is how teachers in the 60's were not prepared for the workforce, with their professors seeing schools of ed as little more than stopping points to the departments they really wanted to attend. Little if anything is revealed that can help the teacher in the classroom, which can make it frustrating to read. More to the point, there is another book that does a better job talking about this: The Teacher Wars: A History of America's Most Embattled Profession by Dana Goldstein. There, the reader sees the development of teaching as a profession in the US in its entirety, not just from the 1960's onward, which gives it a far more comprehensive look than what Green presents.

Another point explored is the development of discipline, from Zero Tolerance policies to Restorative Justice. Zero Tolerance Policy was taking discipline to the hardest measure possible, expelling students for having drugs in the classroom, or suspending them for too many tardies to class, and even in one example, making a student walk home in 95 degree heat so that he could get a belt to go with his uniform. Restorative Justice is swinging the pendulum in the other direction, where the student tries to spend as much time in school as possible, regardless of the disruptive behavior. Instead of expelling a student for their tardies, one would have them write an essay about ways to make sure they arrive to class on time. Instead of expelling students for fighting, they would talk out their problems, and try to come to an agreeable solution. Green presents glowing examples of both approaches, never drawing any conclusions overall, with the result that the uninformed reader may not know what to think. Those that are in Education need to use a discerning eye to cut through the shining examples to understand why both approaches have their positives and negatives.

Then there is Green's presentation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the Common Core State Standards. Green describes some of the ways that NCLB came into being, and how the Common Core supersedes it. To the uninitiated, the way Green presents the latest Common Core standards can seem like the holy grail of education, but to teachers, they are just another set of standards to adhere to that will be replaced by something ‘better' in another 20 years. Besides, Green's treatment of the subject feels short, compared to what has been done in other books. If you want to hear more about NCLB, then I'd recommend The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education by Diane Ravitch. For a more comprehensive look at the positives and negatives of the Common Core English standards, pick up In the Best Interest of Students: Staying True to What Works in the ELA Classroom by Kelly Gallagher. Both texts present each of these education acts in a fair light, without any of Green's biases.

This all culminates into my initial impressions of the book. I thought that I would find descriptions of proven pedagogical ideas on how to improve my classroom, but what I got instead was an amalgamation of ideas that are better explored by more experienced authors. Green does not mention many ideas that one does not already know to use in their classroom, and when they are mentioned, they are so few and far between as to not make it worth my time. This leads me to ask who this book is for. Teacher's won't learn anything new, and there is little for a parent to apply at their child's school, leaving me sure that I am not the only one who will be left disappointed.

Still, I'll say this, Green does try to understand education. The Prologue and Epilogue are some of the best writing from the viewpoint of an outsider trying to sympathize with teachers that I have ever read. Still, these two parts do not make my experience worthwhile. I give this book a two out of five. Pick up anything I mentioned above. They are all vastly superior to this.