Teaching One Moment At A Time: Disruption And Repair In The Classroom (Hardcover)

by Dawn M. Skorczewski (Author) "I INVITE YOU TO JOURNEY BACK EIGHTEEN YEARS WITH ME AS I walk into a classroom for the very first time as the teacher..." (more)
Key Phrases: American Dream, Adrienne Rich, Bruce Springsteen (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Teaching One Moment at a Time explores the relational implications of teaching, including the teacher's countertransference, a phenomenon that is well known in psychotherapy but largely ignored in education. The book is the most sophisticated study of the ways in which writing teachers are centrally involved with their students.... To the question, 'What do students want?' the answer must be, 'A teacher like Dawn Skorczewski.'" - Jeffrey Berman, author of Empathic Teaching: Education for Life"

Product Description
Based on the author's longtime experience as an instructor of composition, this book explores the "delicate negotiation" between teacher and student that determines success or failure in writing courses. Dawn Skorczewski's focus is on the role of the teacher in shaping this classroom dynamic, particularly the ways in which theoretical presup-positions and personal expectations influence the responses elicited from students. Drawing on the insights of psychoanalysis as well as recent infant research, Skorczewski argues that the teacher who recognizes the beliefs she brings to the classroom is equipped to listen to her students more carefully than the teacher who holds her beliefs so closely that she can no longer see them as beliefs. To show how these unconscious assumptions come into play and to explain their effects, Skorczewski looks at a series of key "moments" in the life of a writing class. She examines what it means to enter a classroom and take on the role of a teacher; the challenge of leading a discussion; the art of designing effective writing assignments; the difficulties involved in evaluating student writing; the negotiation of issues of authority; and the pros and cons of self-revelation. In each case the author offers not only an analysis of the disruptions that characterize these pedagogical moments but also practical advice for dealing with them. Although informed by theory, the emphasis throughout is on real issues faced by real teachers in their writing courses.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 152 pages
• Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press (June 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558494952
• ISBN-13: 978-1558494954
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #680,553 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Book For New Teachers, January 24, 2008

By	Benjamin J. Reynolds (baltimore, md) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Disclaimer: Skorczewski was my student when she was high school age. She was a gifted kid in the Center for Talented Youth at Johns Hopkins.

It's about how to BE in the classroom. Insecure new teachers (isn't that redundant?) will find it very useful. Lots of anecdotal experience backed up with reference to psych research.