Customer Reviews

The Students Are Watching: Schools and the Moral Contract

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"To find the core of a school, don't look at its rulebook or even its mission statement. Look at the way the people in it spend their time..." (p. 18). This quotation from The Students are Watching is exactly what the Sizers have done in this book. This book examines how the students, teachers, administrators, and everyone else who is involved in schools spend their time. It is a book wrought with parables about high school life. This book is not meant as a case study, but rather a reflection of what high school is really like. The stories used to illustrate the authors' points are not necessarily factual literal cases, but are realistic and well chosen.

I found this book to be very readable and well organized. The six chapters describe what happens in schools: 1. Modeling 2. Grappling 3. Bluffing 4. Sorting 5. Shoving 6. Fearing Within these chapters, the Sizers reflect on what they have observed in their combined 40+ years in education. Each of the above verbs is done in schools both in positive and negative ways. The Sizers do a wonderful job of explaining what schools do, why they do it, and the consequences for their actions.

This book is not a how to manual for improving academics. Rather, it is a well-written thought provoker that helps those involved with school to think about what students are really learning. Much more important than academics, the Sizers focus on what values our schools are sharing with our young people.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone who is involved with school in any capacity.

Ted and Nancy Sizer write, not with the equivocal opinions of policy makers, but with the authority of their years of experience as teachers and school reformers. I've read a lot of books on education, but this is the only one I've read that truly matters. It persuades us, through its economy and intelligence, that only by building a moral community -- one unique to each school -- can we begin to change our public schools to serve their students, teachers, and our society.

When I first picked up Theodore and Nancy Faust Sizer's book, The Students are Watching: Schools and the Moral Contract something in the word moral made my knee jerk. Maybe it is the way those on the right like to harken back to the days of mom in the kitchen-dad hard at work on the golf course, and Jane and Joe glued to the Howdy Doody Show (no offense to Howdy himself). But knowing Ted and Nancy's previous contributions to progressive education reform I thought better of laying the book down.

In fact, what makes this book so important is its ability to engage reformers on the left in a conversation about moral values, less the archaic symbols of a questionably idyllic past. And it is a moral contract the Sizers are talking about: an agreement between students and school people to fix what is wrong with our schools.

"The Students are Watching", the Sizers warn school officials. They are watching and taking note each time the contract is failed by their teacher who is simply trying to control an out of control class, or their decaying school building, or their less than stimulating curriculum. The students are watching and asking themselves why they should care if no one else does.

This is a well written, very readable book.

As a high school teacher, I had heard a great deal about this book and had high expectations that it would inform my teaching considerably. I was sorely disappointed. The core message of this book--that the students are watching us and that we must strive to set the best example possible by our deeds and not just our words--is undeniable. The discussion of this message, however, is sloppy, unsophisticated, and uninspired. I certainly expected a much more coherent, scholarly approach from such decorated members of the educational community as the Sizers. Instead, I found that the book consisted almost entirely of belabored hypothetical scenarios that were clumsily woven together. What's more, the insights provided barely went beyond the book's basic premise. It is a quick read, so the investment on your part will not be too great, but neither are the benefits. Here, the Sizers extol educators to put forth their best, most thoughtful performances. It is the right standard-- one that the Sizers failed to live up to with this book.

quote from The Students are Watching: "School exists to change young people. The young people should be different--better--for their experience there. They should know some important things, they should know how to learn additional important things, and they should be in the habit of wanting to learn such important things. They should have a reasoned, but individual point of view. They should be judicious, aware of the complexity of the world. They should be thoughtful, respectful of thought and of ideas which are the furniture of thought." The Students are Watching is about teaching morals through example and treating students with respect while delivering education in an ethical manner. I don't really view this as a "how to teach morals" book, but as a guide to running an ethical school.

Mr. & Ms. Sizer do an excellent job of addressing what would be a more effective environment for kids to reach their own potentials. The book is not a panacea of all the issues that do arise in public schools, but hopes to convey to the reader the complexities of educating children and young adults. The book is sincere but, in a large measure, wishful thinking. Smaller class sizes, consistent positive adult role models and addressing each student's individual needs, without a doubt, would produce a better human being. People willing to fork over higher taxes in such a pursuit is an entirely different matter. The American frame-of-mind doesn't seem to be very good at long-range planning. Read the Sizers' book for illumination. It won't take you very long to plow through this easy to read text and you'll be a better person for it.

If ever there are two people who embody morality in education as well as in life, they are Ted and Nancy Sizer. Their candid voice and wealth of experiences contribute to a much-needed commentary on the state of American public schools. In the aftermath of so much school-related violence, a truly American epidemic, it is imperative for adults-- teachers and parents alike-- to heed the Sizers' advice and commit themselves to greater deliberation in their actions.

The Students are Watching is one of the best education books I've ever read! Accessible and passionate, the Sizers use their knowledge and experience to tackle many of the problems in schools today. The book is practical and full of examples--for teachers, students, and parents--describing the true meaning of morality in schools and of how we can create schools that demonstrate a belief in the students; preparing them for the future.

Years ago Russell Baker wrote a column in the New York Times in which he simply described what he saw on his television for one typical day. It was hilarious. Ted and Nancy Sizer have done a similar thing here except that their subject is the American high school, and the effect is serious rather than humorous.
The Sizers use their long experience as teachers to show the moral issues that come up in a high school. They talk about dishonesty, intimidation, discourtesy, hypocrisy, and other vices of the system. They also talk about the good that is often produced by these same institutions. They make no judgments and propose no remedies. Mostly they ask questions. The book's chief virtue is its restraint, which, I think, will make it a valuable record of what the US secondary education system was like at the close of the twentieth century.

This is for those in the field of education. Ted Sizer is now dead, but he did a lot of work in this field and was well-respected. The authors highlight many important points applicable to those working in schools.