Wounded by School

by Olson, Kirsten

• ISBN13: 9780807749555
• ISBN10: 0807749559
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780807773970
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-05-30
• Publisher: Teachers College Pr
• More Book Details

Summary

While reformers and policymakers focus on achievement gaps, testing, and accountability, millions of students mentally and emotionally disengage from learning and many gifted teachers leave the field. Ironically, today's schooling is damaging the single most essential component to education-the joy of learning.

Author Biography

Kirsten Olson is a writer, an educational consultant, a national-level Courage To Teach facilitator, and principal of Old Sow Consulting. She has been a consultant to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Kennedy School at Harvard University, and many large public school systems and charter schools.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xi
Foreword	p. xv
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
Introduction	p. 1
Big Changes in the Educational Landscape	p. 1
My Own Children Start School	p. 2
Going Deeper	p. 3
So Who Is This Book For?	p. 7
Broken
What Are School Wounds?	p. 11
"I Felt Sick in School"	p. 11
"I Take It Offensive"	p. 15
"I'm in the Middle"	p. 17
The Wounded Parent: "I Feel Helpless About Saving My Son"	p. 19
The Wounded Adult: "School Is Not a Distant Mirror"	p. 22
These Stories Are Emblematic	p. 24
But Aren't Schools Better Than They Were Before?	p. 26
Kinds of Wounds	p. 30
Learning as Pleasure	p. 30
"Completely Filled with the Joy of Learning"	p. 32
"But Please Don't Tell People It Should Be Easy"	p. 34
Wounds of Creativity	p. 36
Wounds of Compliance	p. 39
Wounds of Rebelliousness	p. 42
Wounds That Numb	p. 44
Wounds of Underestimation	p. 45
Wounds of Perfectionism	p. 50
Wounds of the Average	p. 53
Commonalities	p. 55
Why Do Schools Lacerate?	p. 58
Outmoded Institutions: The Legacy of Rip Van Winkle	p. 58
Old-Fashioned Ideas About Knowledge	p. 60
New Skills and Attributes Demanded	p. 63
Outmoded Ideas of Human Ability	p. 64
From Teaching to Learning: We Aren't Good Diagnosticians	p. 66
Schools Are Deliberately Designed to Sort and Track	p. 68
Inculcating the "Hidden Curriculum"	p. 70
New Ideas About Schools	p. 72
Healing
How Do People Heal?	p. 79
"I Needed a String of Successes"	p. 79
School Wounds Are Often Invisible	p. 84
Cultural Denial	p. 85
"My Creativity Is a Large Part of My Intelligence"	p. 89
"I Felt I Was Bad, Almost Morally Defective"	p. 93
"You See What They Think About You When You Act a Fool"	p. 95
A Break in the Clouds	p. 99
Stages of Healing	p. 101
Profound Gifts Nearly Lost	p. 101
The Blame Trap	p. 103
Commonalities of the Healing Process	p. 105
Exercises to Foster Healing	p. 112
Wounded Schools	p. 114
Schools Are Wounded	p. 114
Learning to Change/Changing to Learn	p. 117
Teaching Is a Complex Technical Job	p. 119
A Teacher Prepares	p. 121
New Research on Brains	p. 124
Implications for Productive Learning Environments	p. 127
Vital Variety of Learners	p. 128
Schools of the Future: From Teaching to Learning	p. 131
Parents Who Heal	p. 133
School Is Difficult Terrain: It Was "Educational Malpractice"	p. 133
Parents' Own Ghosts	p. 137
No Bake Sale: Schools Are Designed to Keep Parents Out	p. 138
Parental Involvement Influenced by Class and Culture	p. 140
Effort Versus Ability: "Look Smart, Don't Look Dumb"	p. 142
Demystifying Learning	p. 146
Unmasking the Myths of Schooling	p. 149
Supporting Critical Inquiry	p. 150
"Drawing a Fuller Portrait": Advocating for and Supporting Your Child	p. 153
Reframing Positively	p. 155
"It's Just School"	p. 157
Teachers Who Heal	p. 162
"A Teacher Accepts Children as They Are, Not as He or She Would Like Them to Be": Two Recollections	p. 162
The New Professional	p. 166
Students Healing One Another	p. 183
A Nonconformist's Educational Journey	p. 184
Critical Inquiry About School: Starting a Consciousness-Raising Group	p. 187
Becoming Metacognitive About Learning	p. 191
Students Becoming Active to Change Schools	p. 194
Opting Out of the System: Homeschooling	p. 198
Changes in Thinking About the Nature of Education	p. 201
Notes	p. 204
Index	p. 214
About the Author	p. 222
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