Customer Reviews

The Third Teacher: 79 Ways You Can Use Design to Transform Teaching & Learning (Architecture)

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This is a great book to soak in. After flipping through it in the bookstore, I immediately bought it and spent the weekend forming ideas for my classroom and wishing government, the powers that be, dictating educational practices would do the same.

This comment is directed at Martin Rayala's review. His comments that educators are only concerned with numbers, yada, yada, miss the point of the world's educational value, sadden, or rather - sicken, me. He goes on to say that teachers complain, and that designers don't - they just solve problems. Pompous anyone? Teachers have less and less creative control in the classroom, due to government's mandates; common curriculum, rote instruction, subject timelines / schedules and various programs. If teachers were allowed to use their professional skills, trainings and experiences, both in and out of the classroom, yes, we would be producing lovers of learning, of life and happy individuals with inquisitive minds, all of which procure academically strong students. Federal and state mandates prevent us from doing so. It seems that all on the OUTSIDE of education are the ones concerned with test scores. Teachers know the true meaning of standardized scores and their rather small and invalid assessment of students as a whole. Kids are dropping out, losing interests and opportunities to find out what might inspire them. Get the education coaches, those that have never taught!, out of the classrooms, lay off with the data this and data that, and let us do what we know how to do - inspire the desire to learn, which is THE key. All else follows, including scoring well on a fill in the bubble test. A student with rich experiences and an inquisitive mind will go on to care and live a meaningful life, but a student who only scores well on multiple choice tests, one who can only achieve with an a,b,c or d answer, will not be a "whole" person. It's sad. Please do your research, Martin Rayala. Visit your local schools and talk to the teachers. Don't believe what you read in the papers or what is coming from higher levels. We are in a rock and a hard place and are doing the best we can to continue inspiring amongst all the bull****, and beliefs and attitudes such as yours are ignorant, disrespectful and perpetuate lies.

Just like you, I love this book, and I'm a teacher who plans to squeeze it in as I'm able.

P.S. - Did you go to design "school"?

The book itself has a captivating, web-type presentation that keeps you wanting to read more. Unlike many books, The Third Teacher offers real-life, implementable examples rather than "good ideas." If you want to create a 21st century learning environment that not only engages your students but also the community, you need to buy this book.

The book had some good ideas, but also so some "High in Sky" ideas that just could not be reached with the little resources school districts have.

Snapshots of trends in school design. Full of a wide range of design topics that can be the launching pad for school design forums or brainstorming sessions for planning new schools. Expand your insight into what communities and educators are collaborating on today to make effective and fruitful learning environments for the future. Michael Eichhorn, AIA, LEED-AP-BD+C

As is characteristic of titles designed + published by Bruce Mao and the likes, this book is quite well executed and enjoyable to read. Attention to design really does make the world better. However, more than a pretty book, within are snap-shots of the state of education as we currently know it. From case studies to statistics to thought provoking concepts, it deals out open-ended ideas in a constant, unending stream. Recommended for designers, architects, interior designers, educators and anyone involved with or interested in how we educate.

The Third Teacher, along with its web site, Facebook page, and other resources, is a catalyst for discussion about the role of the environment in learning. By implication this means the designed environment, so the book is really about the role of design in creating environments that enhance learning.

Educators often fail to consider how the images, objects, places and experiences that make up the schooling experience are as important as the words and numbers emphasized in the curriculum. One of the strengths, and possible weaknesses, of this book is that it addresses key issues in education from outside the traditional stable of education writers. The book is a collaborative effort among school architects, school furniture suppliers, and designers.

The strength of this approach is that it brings together ideas of designers experienced in creating the buildings, interiors and environments in which schooling takes place. They are all very familiar with the needs and shortcomings of traditional schooling and provide a wealth of examples of how their ideas are working in real schools.

The weakness is that this outsider perspective opens up the common complaints of teachers in the field that the everyday demands of time, shortness of supplies, over crowded classrooms, troubled students, disenfranchised families, state and national requirements, standardized testing, and so on, are not taken seriously by presenting hot-house examples with extraordinary resources and community support.

The problem is that teachers need to see themselves as designers of the world in which they live, work and teach. The Third Teacher encourages teachers to develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions of designers and understand that we all create the world in which we live. This book shows how even the students can become designers of their learning environments. Designers are by nature, optimists and activists. Designers don't complain about problems - they solve them. Optimism and action are characteristics educators need to transform schools into places of real learning and joy and The Third Teacher is a great way to get started.