The rare and exceptional teacher--one who could teach absolutely anything to anybody--is what Ken Macrorie set out to find among teachers of many different subjects at many different levels. The result of his search is 20 Teachers, a collection of revealing profiles in which outstanding educators explain what works for them in the classroom and why. Macrorie's interviews with these professionals show an astonishing similarity in their beliefs, methods, and attitudes and the keys to their success with students from first grade to the graduate level. Ranging from a woodworking instructor in a wealthy suburban school to an inner-city history teacher to a professor of space engineering, the teachers profiled here share a fundamental belief in putting choice and responsibility in the hands of their students, no matter what their age. Macrorie includes, in addition to the interviews, a summary chapter listing 43 items these teachers claim help learners to do "good works." Finally, in an "Open Letter About Schools," he explores the notion that schools have developed, often unwittingly, traditions that run counter to the way these educators work; he discusses the obstacles they face, from both within the system and without. Twenty Teachers offers insights that will enable others to inspire learning in their students and voices a new and challenging view of today's educational system.

About the Author
About the Author: Ken Macrorie is Emeritus Professor of English at Western Michigan University and a staff member at the Bread Loaf School of English, Middlebury, Vermont. He is author of Uptaught and Telling Writing and a number of other books.

Reviews
"Excellent book for providing insight into the field of education and how outstanding educators view their profession. My students will be using this book as the impetus to writing their own philosophy on teaching."--Laura Labenberg, Hofstra University
"Outstanding book! Most helpful for my beginning teachers who are now doing their practice teaching!"--Lottie Phillips, Olinet University
"Twenty Teachers describes 'education' at its best."--Educational Studies
"A worthy addition to the expanding body of work on teaching."--New York Times Book Review
"Take this sojourn back to the heart of education."--American School Board Journal
"As a parent reading Macrorie's interviews, my response was, 'I want people like that teaching my kids.'"--Washington Post
"A refreshing book which answers a wealth of questions and allows us as educators to stop recreating the educational wheel."--Donald C. Royal, Olivet Nazarene University
"Anyone who has been teaching more than a few years should read this book. It brings a healthy perspective to bear on one's teaching and one's institution."--Peg Levine, Keuka College



Book Information
ISBN 9780195049824
Author Ken Macrorie
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 345g
Dimensions(mm) 140mm * 216mm * 17mm