Letters to a Young Teacher [Paperback]

Jonathan Kozol (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2008

“Kozol’s love for his students is as joyful and genuine as his critiques
of the system are severe. He doesn’t pull punches.”
—Washington Post

Jonathan Kozol’s most delightfully personal and revealing work to date takes the form of warm and friendly letters to Francesca, a young classroom teacher, offering encouragement and guidance and survival strategies for teachers of all ages in our nation’s public schools.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Kozol provides another tract on the politics of education, slightly disguised as an ongoing (albeit one-way) dialogue with a young teacher named Francesca from Boston. Each letter provides long, extensive discussions about public education as well as the specifics of Francesca's classroom and his own classes in the past. Drawing upon a lifetime of experience and research, Kozol addresses a wide range of issues, including standardized testing, voucher programs, school segregation, student creativity, objective outcomes and recess. Drummond performs the role of doting and inspiring senior quite well. His elderly voice brims with hope and concern for the next generation of teachers and the battles they will have to face inside and outside the classroom. However, the sound editing for this audiobook is particularly poor, with Drummond's voice shifting abruptly every couple of tracks. Drummond's voice sounds audibly different on these rerecorded tracks, which significantly disrupts the listener's experience. Simultaneous release with the Crown hardcover (Reviews, June 4).
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Acclaimed author Kozol began a correspondence with Francesca, a young first-year teacher at an inner-city school in Boston. His letters offer a revealing, heartfelt look at the state of education and his own joy and agony in reporting on it. The letters provoke recollections of his early days as a teacher and, as a reporter, the humbling experience of visiting classes and maintaining relationships with the people on the frontlines of teaching, while he observes and writes. Kozol offers encouragement, advice, reflection, and admiration for all the teachers like Francesca, who pour their souls into their jobs. The letters explore the challenges of teaching in the inner cities: bureaucracies and standardized tests that take the creativity out of teaching; distrustful, defiant children who take away time and attention from those who want to learn; the heartbreaking irony of teaching diversity in schools that are clearly racially segregated. A beautiful book that offers an intimate look at the challenges and joys of teaching and one that will inspire and inform teachers and all those interested in public education. Bush, Vanessa --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; Reprint edition (August 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307393720
• ISBN-13: 978-0307393722
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,220 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jonathan Kozol has been awarded the National Book Award and the Robert F. Kennedy Award. His book Savage Inequalities was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and became a national bestseller.