Customer Reviews

The Emergency Teacher

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You will not regret this purchase.

Journalist Christina Asquith gives the reader a gripping behind-the-scenes tour of an underprivileged school and the students trapped inside its decrepit structure.

Asquith's credentials make her a credible source on education. Her bio states she has written education stories for major national newspapers including The New York Times, and she has a master's degree in Educational Philosophy. These experiences factored into the quality of her writing, making "The Emergency Teacher" a solid investigative piece, an entralling story and a perfect training manual for teachers.

The nonfiction storyline highlights her one year as an emergency-certified teacher. Bits of history are integrated with dialogue that reads like a diary. Her writing welcomes you into her living room, offers you a fresh cup of coffee, and makes you feel involved in the plot. As a reader, I felt as if she was speaking to me as her equal, leaving behind the pretensions some authors carry into their writing. The engaging tone will be especially useful for teachers who feel lost and alone; Asquith's prose is the emotional equivalent of chatting with your best friend after a hard day: you immediately feel understood and empowered as you share advice, laughs and tears.

Like any good teacher, she entertained me, held my attention and made me care about the content. Like any good reporter, she candidly exposes the corruption, apathy and useless bureaucracy that infest far too many school districts. Along the way, I became emotionally invested in the book's main characters - the 6th graders. I didn't want to give up hope that they would somehow become "successful" due to her influence. In the end, I not only questioned my definition of "success," but also realized facilitating change in a child's life is neither quick nor easy.

Asquith took a brief recess from journalism to teach in one of the toughest neighborhoods in America. Young and idealistic, her mission was to transform her students' lives. She discovers that idealism is empty without realism, which was one of the primary themes I took away from "The Emergency Teacher."

If you have ever wanted to make a difference, this is the book that shows you how. I learned this "difference" might not always be what we intend or envision, but a child's life can be dramatically improved if we accept the challenge. Those involved in public school education - taxpayers, parents, journalists, teachers and policymakers -should read this book as the first proactive step in saving a struggling system. If the class crisis in America is fueled in part by the deficiencies in our children's classrooms, it is our responsibility to focus on what's going wrong. Social problems such as poverty and racism can be traced back, at least partially, to lack of education; this book shows you why and starts the conversation about solutions.

After the final chapter, you'll see the big picture, while also finding yourself attached to the little people lost in a system that has promised not to abandon them.

If you become angry or depressed by what you read, it is only because you have been shown the truth. If you take that information and act upon it, this book will have served its purpose: inner-city youth finally will receive the education they deserve.

P.S. Be sure to check out the reader's guide at the back of the book. It's useful for personal reflection, book club discussions or teacher training.

Ms. Asquith's book gives a true-to-life glimpse into the teaching profession. This is not your usual "balloons and butterflies" book on teaching. This book takes you through each of Ms. Asquith's experiences in the public school system ranging from culture shock all the way to grading. All teachers, young and old, must read this book! Ms. Asquith's book will prepare you for the most absurd circumstances that all teachers will eventually face throughout their career. The entire time I was reading this book I kept thinking, "wow, that happened to me too!" Ms. Asquith's book touches all your emotions: joy, laughter, and sadness for many of the public school systems in our country. This book is an inspiring tool for educators. After reading it, you can't help being excited about being a teacher!

I finished Christina's book and feel like I just finished the school year myself! It was an amazingly well written, heart felt story and I'd love to see it made into a movie.

Anyone who cares in the least about the future of our country needs to read this book. You want to laugh, and cry, but most of all you want to scream at the wasted minds, wasted money, and wasted lives adrift in a sea of despair. It's an insight you won't get any other way. (As a Pennsylvania taxpayer, I'd like to know why we have scarcely a farthing to really fix this problem, but all the money in the world for prisons?)

Every teacher should read this book, especially if you have ever taught in Philadelphia public schools. Asquith kept me turning the pages to see what the students were going to do next. Thank you, Christina, for writing a book that shows what it is really like in many Philly middle schools.
Buy it, read it, share it!!

This book chronicles the year a young woman spent as an inner-city Philadelphia sixth-grade teacher. She came to this position during a recruiting campaign, which the city began when they realized that it was the middle of the summer and they still had more than 10% vacancies with their qualified candidates already exhausted. Scraping the bottom of the barrel, the school district accepted individuals with no experience or background in education, just trying to get bodies in the classrooms. Asquith is a journalist who would like to change students' lives, but is concerned with the fact that as the year begins she has no training, staff development, or idea what is going on.

Quote: "What happened to the teacher who taught here last year?" "He left. He refused to ask for help. He thought he was Jaime Escalante or something."

This is an excellent work, although I don't know if it would have the same appeal for a non-teacher. Asquith's year has its ups and downs, successes and failures, which makes "The Emergency Teacher" a well-balanced work. It is neither a rainbows and sunshine story, nor a doom and gloom story, but one that seems typical of a new teacher. It also makes some important political points about the use of teachers without the appropriate certification- Asquith makes the point that while these individuals are important to school systems that are in need of help, it is also important for the school and the school system to support these individuals with some training, development, et cetera, instead of just throwing the people into the fire and walking away.

The Emergency Teacher by Christina Asquith (a former reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer, published works in The New York Times, The Economist, and The Chronicle of Higher Education with a master's degree in Educational Philosophy from the London School of Economics and Politics) is an engaging story of the struggle one woman faced when first entering the education field. From a corrupt principle, to the unwarranted approval of student's grades, The Emergency Teacher takes the reader through the many mental and psychological barriers which Asquith needed to overcome when faced with the reality of the inner-city schooling. The Emergency Teacher is very strongly recommended reading for all novice teachers for its ability to relate to them what they might expect when first entering (ore re-entering) the realities of classroom teaching. The Emergency Teacher is also good and informative reading for non-specialist general readers with an interest in contemporary public education.

This book was eye opening, educational, useful, funny, and thought provoking. It should be a must read for politicians, parents, teachers, philosophers, concerned citizens, and economists. The author's experiences helped me understand the cycle of poverty, the concept of a permanent underclass, the problems with our social class structure, and life in the inner city. This book really made me question our priorities as Americans and gave me a philosophic view of the inequality we will contuinue to face in this country. The author is brave, determined, and compassionate, and her writing style makes you feel like you are teacher! Great read, I couldn't put it down!

Asquith's well-written account of her life as an emergency teacher reveals a deplorable situation that is rampant in our inner-city schools. My heart went out to her as she maneuvered through the Philadelphia school system with a strong desire to make a difference in children's lives but no teacher training and little support. Parents, teachers, and administrators MUST read this book and take action!

This is the kind of book you want to give to everyone you know and tell them "Read this!!" It made me angry, it made me sad, and at times I caught myself laughing out loud. Asquith is supremely honest and intelligent, and a skilled storyteller. I still find myself thinking about her students and their setbacks and triumphs, even though it's been weeks since I read the book. The behind-the-scenes dealings of the public education system depressed and fascinated me. You don't have to be a teacher or involved in education to find this a moving account of a struggle to get ahead despite a system that seems designed to do nothing but hold you down. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good and powerful story.