Education has become much more than reading, writing and arithmetic. these days, educators feel more responsibilities weigh heavily on their shoulders, whether they belong there or not. they must teach the basics, but also raise socially and emotionally healthy children while curing (or at least helping students understand) all of our social ills. Teaching certainly isn’t easy, but many of us wouldn’t choose anything else because we truly value our students and our communities.
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You are reading: Best books for teachers 2018
To support this work, we’ve selected our favorite books of 2018 that offer educators new insights and research-based strategies to cultivate a kinder, more equitable world through education. they focus on qualities like “civic empathy,” purpose, and compassion.
Also, a critical part of our job as educators is to be fully present to our students every day, and that can certainly be a challenge. Several of the books below also present tools that support your personal growth, prompting you to reflect on who you are as an educator, what you believe about the purpose of education, and all the ways you can bolster your emotional reserves so you can do this job. so crucial and very human every day.
Teaching with a Purpose: Preparing Students for Meaningful Lives, by Heather Malin
purpose is quickly becoming a hot topic in high schools. purpose is not only good for teens’ well-being, it can also help boost their motivation to learn. But how do educators help teens discover their purpose?
purpose expert heather malin takes this daunting task and breaks it down into digestible, research-based processes that teachers can integrate into their academic content and classroom environment. She also provides school leaders with ideas for creating schools that support the development of purpose, including a focus on school belonging, student voice, mentorship, and compassionate classrooms. To bring this process to life, Malin uses examples of purpose-driven educational programs and philosophies such as Project Wayfinder, The Future Project, and Reggio Emilia.
However, Malin argues that the task of developing a purpose is not relegated only to adolescents and the adults who work with them. Using findings from developmental science, Malin shows how children engage in meaning making from infancy and how tasks such as play and storytelling are vitally important to development for future purpose.
Fundamentally, the purpose is about creating a cohesive story about who we are, where we’ve been, and where we’re going, and then connecting that story to something bigger than ourselves.
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“By telling their stories, children learn to contribute to social narratives and become adults who can use this skill to shape the invisible structures of society, such as politics and culture,” Malin writes, a powerful use of purpose, indeed.
forward: cultivating emotional resilience in educators, by elena aguilar
Educators looking for an emotional “reset” this winter break can enjoy a practical, easy-to-use guide to personal growth for teachers. Author Elena Aguilar draws on research in mindfulness, neurobiology, positive psychology, change management, and systems thinking to package a cohesive year-long program to build resilience.
She describes the 12 Habits of Emotionally Resilient Educators, such as building community, being here now, and taking care of yourself. the companion workbook reinforces each habit through daily activities and practices, all doable when you focus on developing one habit per month.
according to aguilar, to become emotionally resilient, you must begin by exploring yourself: your values, personality, aptitudes, and abilities. “When you know yourself well, you gain clarity about your purpose in life and work,” Aguilar writes. once you have a better idea of ”who you are”, it is important to understand “what you are like”, what kind of emotions influence your daily life. By spending time observing your emotions, you can begin to understand how they work.
Perhaps what we appreciate most about Forward is that it doesn’t shy away from linking educators’ personal growth to broader questions, such as transforming complex organizational and systemic problems in schools. “To create the just and equitable society that I know so many of us yearn for, we need huge reservoirs of resilience,” Aguilar writes. “And to do that, we’re going to need all the physical and emotional resources we can muster.”
educating for empathy: literacy and civic engagement, by nicole mirra
what is the purpose of our empathy? If we are able to “feel with” another person or understand their perspective, is that enough?
in empathy education, nicole mirra introduces the concept of “critical civic empathy”, a way of “feeling” or putting ourselves in the shoes of our fellow citizens while acknowledging the forces that “differentiate our experiences”. this type of empathy calls us to acknowledge and question our social position in the world when we empathize, and to take note of how our power or privilege can influence what we see and feel.
Based on her experiences in the classroom and her collaborative research with teachers, mirra proposes several key literacy practices as tools to foster empathy and civic engagement in students. These include 1) imaginatively responding to literature, 2) practicing civic communication through discussion, 3) conducting student-driven research, and 4) cultivating digital literacy. each chapter presents case studies, reflection questions for discussion, and specific teaching strategies for English language arts teachers and secondary school teacher educators.
mirra’s experiences working with students from underserved communities in new york and los angeles inform her focus on empathy and civic engagement while reminding us that critical literacy is not just about understanding texts, but about using texts for “social transformation”. Her book raises timely questions about the role of education in a democratic society, and may challenge him to think more deeply about his identity, power, and sense of civic purpose as a teacher-citizen.
teach with compassion: an educator’s oath to teach from the heart, by peter kaufman and janine schipper
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many of us go into teaching because we care so much about students and the fate of humanity. But this lofty, heart-centered purpose is often lost in an educational system where the focus is almost entirely on cognitive development and academic achievement.
enter this book by professors peter kaufman and janine schipper on compassionate teaching. reading it feels like a warm blanket and a hot cup of tea on a cold winter night. they invite readers to “contemplate the two most important and interconnected relationships in the educational process: our relationship with ourselves and our relationship with students,” gently reminding us that we are teaching human beings, and that we are human beings ourselves. /p>
With numerous stories and practical exercises on topics such as listening with intent, practicing self-compassion, leaving the ego at the door, and maintaining a safe space for students, the authors offer a research-based guide to discovering compassion innate in everyone. U.S. the most beautiful part of the book, however, is the humility with which they offer this guidance. Acknowledging how difficult teaching really is, they don’t hesitate to share their own fallibilities as educators, making the reader realize that becoming a compassionate teacher is not only doable, but also a lifelong journey.
the guide for white women teaching black children, edited by eddie moore jr., ali michael and marguerite w. penick-parks
Black children face inconceivable barriers in the United States, such as educators’ negative perceptions of them, harmful disciplinary policies directed at them, and lack of access to gifted, honors, and AP classes. today’s educational system sets black kids up for failure, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. To change the system, white educators, the majority of the teaching force, must do the hard work of understanding race and the impact it has on their students of color.
This is where the guide for white women teaching black children can help.
This excellent book, edited by race and education experts, includes essays by black and white writers on topics such as unconscious bias, black children’s behavior, and classroom strategies, as well as very practical exercises that Individual teachers can easily perform. or in professional development environments.
Most essays are also paired with short vignettes, which bring the content to life and help increase teacher empathy by describing what it’s like to live with racism on a daily basis.
Ultimately, the guide lets white female teachers know that not understanding racism is not a matter of character, but of skills and competencies that can be developed. The authors write, “We believe that with the right tools, many teachers will be able to build classrooms and schools that recognize and honor the brilliance of Black children, their potential for excellence, and their ability to produce and create.”
the trauma sensitive classroom: building resilience with compassionate teaching, by patricia jennings
As a longtime educator and researcher, Patricia Jennings introduces her book The Trauma Sensitive Classroom by sharing her personal struggle as a girl who lost her parents at the age of 15. “My intent is to provide the knowledge and skills educators need to create a compassionate learning environment in which all children and adolescents feel respected and understood and receive the support they need to thrive,” she writes.
In the book, Jennings draws on extensive research to explain how trauma and chronic stress affect learning. however, her book focuses primarily on how to address trauma in your classroom or school with “three keys to compassionate teaching”: building supportive relationships, creating safe spaces, and nurturing student strengths by fostering self-regulation. .
Of course, Jennings reminds us that the practical strategies he highlights really need to be combined with teachers’ ongoing care for their own well-being. Because our students regulate their nervous systems with ours, the final chapters of her book focus on developing teachers’ personal strategies to foster resilience, mindfulness, and a sense of compassion.
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