How to Survive in Your Native Land (Innovators in Education) (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“[This book] is a literary treasure, simultaneously a Beat novel, a great feat of storytelling, and a storehouse of educational wisdom. Herndon shows us, with great wit and good spirits, how good education can emerge in the most unexpected circumstances and how caring teachers can transform lives.”–Herbert Kohl

Product Description

James Herndon details classroom life and the inescapable realities of a school situation.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Boynton/Cook (April 21, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0867094087
• ISBN-13: 978-0867094084
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #672,973 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A teaching must-read though not a handbook, August 23, 1998

By	Brian G. Fay ([e-mail]) - See all my reviews

The beauty of Herndon's work is that he is both a wonderful writer (he is featured as one of the better writers of nonfiction in William Zinsser's classic _On Writing Well_) and an astute observer of his own and his children's actions. How to Survive presents him at his finest, discussing not how to teach (he almost never does this) but what teaching and learning are like. He does this with humor, honesty, and an edge. No teacher, reading this book, can come away without a more thoughtful consideration of his or her own teaching. It is stunning and does not deserve to have been forgotten in the way that it has.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A modern classic, November 28, 2000

By	Martha H. Garvey "book author" (Hoboken, NJ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Great storytelling is great teaching, and James Herndon is both great teacher and grand storyteller. Though educational theory may have shifted, Herndon's stories about his students are indelible--brimming with humor, love and respect.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars top ten or 20 books I've ever written, January 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Survive in Your Native Land (Hardcover)

Kite vignette was great; my fave part though was transcript of his lecture, "Public School... Or What?" A grrrrrrrreat book overall. Buy 5 copies and give them away. I wish it wasn't so hard to find though... Marco Capelli Frucht