Getting schooled

Keizer is my brother in education. He, like me, started teaching long, long ago. He, like me, is a hearty proponent of a rigorous education. He, like me, left education for many years to pursue other things. He, like me, returned to education after a long hiatus to find things had both changed and remained the same.


I loved this little memoir of the year he spent back in the classroom. It was lovely and painful to see his clear look at students today. The images and quotes he put up on the walls of his classroom that were never commented on by the students. Disturbing and yet something that I, too, have observed, something that I, too, don't quite understand. The strength of students in light of the troubles they face at home. The disappointments of a teacher who hopes for more from his students and the occasional unexpected triumphs of a teacher with a lesson that resonates with the classes.


(I have only one criticism; had I been his editor, I'd have asked Keizer to soften his diatribes against American capitalism as I found these to be a little annoying in light of his subject.)


Recommended.