Customer Reviews

White Teacher

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In White Teacher, Vivian Gussin Paley describes her experiences as a young teacher. She tells of her reactions when faced with a classroom full of children who are different from her. By recounting her experiences as a child and reflecting upon them, she is able to better understand why certain children behave in certain ways. These reflections, given in a narrative form, inform the reader of the thought processes of Paley. Through these examples, one is able to better understand what the author was experiencing.

Paley's intention is to prepare future readers for the experiences she has had by giving the reader her reactions to them. She tells the reader what worked to make a bad situation better, as well as what did not. Most of the cultural differences Paley describes occur between her, a Jew of European descent and the African-American children in her classes. However, many of the lessons and principles used apply to all children. Her examples include children with different learning styles; comments taken out of context; children who are excluded from a group and those forming the groups based on a singular characteristic. The majority of the classroom settings are in half-day kindergartens.

This is a wonderful book for anyone who has ever had, or will face a multicultural situation - that would include pretty much all of us. There is an added value in this book for potential teachers. Paley shows how to effectively validate children's perceptions of the world and make them feel value and self-worth.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book White Teacher. I would recommended this book to every upcoming teacher. The reason I enjoyed the book so much, because she took you into the classroom with her. Ms. Paley lets her readers know that the role of a teacher goes beyond the classroom walls. She also stress the importance of treating each child equally and not to assume that a child has a learning problem because they don't catch on as fast as others. Ms. Paley also stress that the teacher must have enormous amount of love to be with children every.

I am a 31 year old college student at Macon State College. I am majoring in education. I read the book White Teacher for my Introduction to Education 2000 class.Paley describes her progress in learning to deal more openly with her pupils' -and her own- perceptions of race.Vivian Paley examines a question that concerns teachers on all levels: How do I use my own behavior as a teacher to help my students learn to deal constructively with racial and social differences? I recommend this book to teachers, parents, and anyone else who wishes to understand him or herself better and is willing to continue to grow. The book was very inspiring and motivating.

What struck me about the book is the author's willingess to be open about her lack of understanding about racial barriers. The writing is self-reflective without being self-loathing.It's honest and very engaging.

Hello my name Jocelyn Foster and I read this book summer session 2 for my educ. class at Macon State College. I really I enjoyed the book because it showed how Mrs.Paley interacted with each one of her kids. The book showed the love that Mrs. Paley had for each of the children that would come to class. I also like the book because it shows if we took the time out to read it hard enough it shows how we as a society need to look past color; and, how children don't notice color as much as adults. I was just overwhelmed with the book myself because it inspired my on how to handle certain kids and their problems. The book is very motivational for anybody that has kids not just school teachers. At the end of the book it had one quote that extremely liked, "Children do not ask : Where do you come from? They ask:What role will you play? The children have much to teach us, if we but stop and listen." (Paley) I find this to be very true. Children know more and comprehend more than what we give them credit, so we must stop and listen to them. The book inspired me to let the childern be my teacher sometimes.

Paley developed an understanding about why kids behave the way they do. When I was in pre-school in the early 80's I had teachers who were like her; Jewish women who knew how to make the day enjoyable and constructive at the same time. However, Paley has one talent that most teachers don't have, and that is a vast threshhold of patience. She coaches a little boy away from his bad habits, using praise instead of punishment, and as a teacher I find such tactics superb. But it takes even greater effort not to get angry, and that's why Paley's efforts are sucessful.

Paley (humorously) recounts the parents who didn't trust her. She was a proponent of integration, and when her class was integrated, she had to get used to little kids with upbringings that were opposite of anything she knew. But she certainly practiced what she preached, never blaming the kids' problems on race or their economic status.

I didn't think I was going to like this book, but I had to read it for class. It was an easy read and very educational.

The book, White Teacher, was a wonderful book to read. The book was very well written and it addressed the feelings of a Jewish teacher who for the first time taught African American children and children of a race other than her own. It was the beginning of the era of integration and working with diversity was new to the world.

The author of the book was very sincere in her writing. She told of her feelings and of her curiosity to learn more about children of a different race. She also gave very good interventions for working with kindergarten students. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the promptness in which it was delivered. From the first page to the very last page, the book kept my attention with simple, easy to read writing which also served as good heartfelt advice. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about working with children of another race, culture, or background. The price for the book was exceptional, but the value of the book was priceless.

I have only gotten half way through this book, but so far it is really good. I am studying to be in the education field and this book is an insight to how different children are and how you have to appeal to each one of them. Paley is a wonderful author and is good at describing her situations. I would recommend this book to anyone intereted in teaching children and anyone who wants an insight to how children behave and why. Definately a good book.

Used this for a college class! Great book! Paley was very ahead of her time in dealing with multi-cultural issues in early childhood education settings.