The Influence of Teachers: Reflections on Teaching and Leadership [Paperback]

John Merrow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 14, 2011

How can schools and teachers change to keep up with the current educational landscape, a world in which young people must learn how to ask the right questions, not merely parrot back the 'right' answers? In this urgent and insightful book, John Merrow draws on his experience as a reporter for PBS and NPR to examine this question and others, and offer possibilities and solutions for a new education system. Told through warm storytelling and compelling case studies, Merrow paints a vibrant and inspiring picture of why and how we must transform - not reform - our schools.

Praise for The Influence of Teachers

"This is a book that will move you to tears and to action."
--Anthony Marx, President, Amherst College and incoming President, New York Public
Library

"Nobody reports on the treasures and traumas of public education better than John Merrow. He is, quite simply, the leading education journalist in America. Anybody who doubts that should read this book. John gets it."
--Jim Lehrer, Anchor, PBS NewsHour

 "In The Influence of Teachers, John Merrow explores the complex, ever-changing relationship between the teachers in our classrooms and the officials who lead them.  What he describes is fundamental to changing the face of public education in this country."
--Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin, Co-founders of KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program)

"Invaluable for anyone concerned about children and the future of American education."
--Marian Wright Edelman, President, Children's Defense Fund

"No one knows our schools and understands the fierce debates over them better than John Merrow, and no one parses those controversies with more humaneness and perceptiveness."
--E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Founder, Core Knowledge, and author of Cultural Literacy

"The Influence of Teachers is both important and enjoyable."
--Richard C. Riley, U.S. Secretary of Education (1992-2000)

"The Influence of Teachers rejects the finger pointing and noise-making of the policymakers and calls for a focus on the real challenge - the need for education to catch up with the changes in student needs that science and technology have wrought. Concise, clear, rare, and most important!"
--Dr. James Comer, MD, Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Anyone seriously interested in school reform should read this book."
--Christopher Cerf, co-creator, Between the Lions (PBS), & 2010 McGraw Prize in Education recipient

"'Must' reading for policymakers and practitioners alike."
 --Tony Wagner, Innovation Education Fellow, Technology & Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard, and author of The Global Achievement Gap

"A stunningly balanced and penetrating analysis of our schools and the challenges we face in fixing them."
--John Seely Brown, author of A New Culture of Learning & former Director of Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)

"A truly interesting and thought-provoking book that raises all the important questions and also points to some answers."  
--Dorothy Stoneman, Founder of Youthbuild

"No one has tracked [public education's] decline and the struggle to reverse it with more zeal or a clearer mind than John Merrow." 
--Robert MacNeil, author of Wordstruck & former anchor, The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour

About the Author

In September 2012, John Merrow became the first journalist to receive education's highest honor, the McGraw Prize in Education. He began his career as an education reporter with National Public Radio nearly 40 years ago with the weekly series, "Options in Education," for which he received the George Polk Award in 1982. He is currently Education Correspondent for PBS NewsHour and President of Learning Matters, an independent production company based in New York City. Since 1984, he has worked in public television as a NewsHour Correspondent and as host of his own series of documentaries. His work has been recognized with Peabody Awards in 2000 and 2006, Emmy nominations in 1984, 2005, and 2007, four CINE Golden Eagles and other reporting awards. An occasional contributor to USA Today, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and Education Week, he is the author of The Influence of Teachers (2011) and Choosing Excellence (2001) and co-editor of Declining by Degrees (2005). Merrow earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College, an M.A. in American Studies from Indiana University, and a doctorate in Education and Social Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Among his awards are a Lifetime Achievement Award From the Academy Of Education Arts And Sciences in 2012, the James L. Fisher Award for Distinguished Service to Education in 2000, the HGSE Alumni Council Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education in 2006, The Horace Dutton Taft Medal in 2010, and honorary doctorates from Richard Stockton College (NJ) and Paul Smith's College (NY). He lives in New York City with his wife, Joan Lonergan, the Head of the Hewitt School. John Merrow blogs regularly at Taking Note: Thoughts on Education.

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: LM Books (January 14, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0615431720
• ISBN-13: 978-0615431727
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #612,571 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Merrow began his career as an education reporter with National Public Radio nearly 40 years ago with the weekly series, "Options in Education," for which he received the George Polk Award in 1982. He is currently Education Correspondent for PBS NewsHour and President of Learning Matters, an independent production company based in New York City.

Since 1984 he has worked in public television as a NewsHour Correspondent and as host of his own series of documentaries. His work has been recognized with Peabody Awards in 2000 and 2006, Emmy nominations in 1984, 2005, and 2007, four CINE Golden Eagles and other reporting awards. An occasional contributor to USA Today, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and Education Week, he is the author of The Influence of Teachers (2011), Choosing Excellence (2001) and co-editor of Declining by Degrees (2005).

Merrow earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College, an M.A. in American Studies from Indiana University, and a doctorate in Education and Social Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He received the McGraw Prize in Education in 2012, a Lifetime Achievement Award From the Academy Of Education Arts And Sciences in 2012, the James L. Fisher Award for Distinguished Service to Education in 2000, the HGSE Alumni Council Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education in 2006, The Horace Dutton Taft Medal in 2010, and honorary doctorates from Richard Stockton College (NJ) and Paul Smith's College (NY).

He lives in New York City with his wife, Joan Lonergan, the Head of the Hewitt School. John Merrow blogs regularly at Taking Note: Thoughts on Education.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Concise Review of Current Educational Debates June 4, 2011

By Mark R. Anderson

Format:Paperback

John Merrow's The Influence of Teachers: Reflections on Teaching and Leadership is a valuable resource for anyone interested or involved in the great endeavor of public education. His writing is concise and unapologetically incisive, in addition to covering the most salient and controversial topics within education today. This little book, therefore, is a great primer for those new to the field, as well as an essential review for those embedded already within it.

Merrow has a way of getting right to the heart of the matter while also revealing nuance, and nailing it down in as few words as possible. He is remarkably clear-eyed, and even when on rocky ground, presents his perspective and material in a well-balanced manner. He is able to synthesize his perspective on education through different complementary lenses: that of a teacher (he taught briefly early in his career), a parent, and a reporter who has worked in many classrooms and alongside different education leaders. He therefore consistently infuses and grounds his perspectives on education reform with an awareness of what nurturing, caring, and educating children is really about.

What I most appreciate about Merrow's book is that he does not fall into the trap of allowing his perspectives to become polarized in simplistic ways, which few commentators on education seem to be able to resist. He holds the union, teachers, and reform leaders' feet to the fire in equal measure, and they all do better in its stead.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Critically Important and Timely February 26, 2011

By John Seely Brown

Format:Paperback

A stunningly balanced and penetrating analysis of our schools and the challenges we face in fixing them by one of the greatest commentators on education our country has. We must move beyond simplistic slams about who is to blame and understand the complex set of constraints we face in transforming our schools and honoring and unleashing our teachers. Merrow takes us on a most important journey toward that end. And it is a great read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Source March 13, 2011

By Karen

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

John Merrow is THE source for in depth analysis of education in America. He helps us understand the
forces (hidden and apparent) that shape the learning environment for kids and teachers. This volume speaks volumes about his depth and breadth in understanding and communicating about teaching and leadersip.