The Students Are Watching: Schools and the Moral Contract (Hardcover)

by Theodore R. Sizer (Author)
Key Phrases: honors track, Students Are Watching, New Deal, Seven Acres Academy

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Written by Theodore and Nancy Sizer, coprincipals of a high school and veterans in the field of education (he was named dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education at age 32, she trains teachers in the same program), The Students Are Watching is a gentle but tough-minded plea for resetting the moral compass of American education and creating academic institutions "which will nurture our humanity." In high schools, which the authors call "one of America's most ubiquitous intentional communities," teachers and administrations can choose to model values they believe in, or they can slip into the same lazy strategies used by their students to avoid work and responsibility. "They watch us all the time," warn the Sizers, who believe in the profound power of the school system to change children's lives, and offer a wealth of ideas for educators and other adults to create the culture of trust and respect that will change their charges for the better. --Maria Dolan

From Publishers Weekly
Teachers play a vital role in shaping the morality of young people, contends Ted Sizer (Horace's School, etc.), founder of the Coalition of Essential Schools, and co-principal with his wife, Nancy Sizer (Making Decisions), of the Francis W. Parker Charter School in Ayer, Mass. In their first endeavor as co-writers, the Sizers maintain that teachers model ways to approach knotty problems and, because they have emotional distance from students, can help them keep their thinking balanced in difficult situations. Acknowledging that some people are concerned by the notion that educators have the right to shape students' minds, they assert that high schools have long had three core tasks: to prepare young people for the world of work, to prepare them to think deeply and in an informed way and to help them become decent human beings. Yet, though schools exist for the benefit of children and adolescents, the Sizers point out that the students are often seen as the school's "clients," as its powerless peopleAthough the authors believe that is a costly, patronizing pretense. Instead, the Sizers call for adults to put stock in the suggestions of children, since they watch and listen to adults all the time and have learned more than we realize. Clearly sympathetic to educators, the Sizers recognize that "serious teaching does not carry an eight-to-four expectation whatever any contract says." For educators and parents concerned about raising thoughtful citizens, this slim book offers the surprisingly weighty insight that if we wish to shape our children's valuesAhow as a matter of habit they treat others and how self-aware they areAwe must first look into the mirror.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 133 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (August 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807031208
• ISBN-13: 978-0807031209
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #401,806 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joe says read this book!, March 17, 2000

By	Joe Burris (Weiser, Idaho) - See all my reviews

"To find the core of a school, don't look at its rulebook or even its mission statement. Look at the way the people in it spend their time..." (p. 18). This quotation from The Students are Watching is exactly what the Sizers have done in this book. This book examines how the students, teachers, administrators, and everyone else who is involved in schools spend their time. It is a book wrought with parables about high school life. This book is not meant as a case study, but rather a reflection of what high school is really like. The stories used to illustrate the authors' points are not necessarily factual literal cases, but are realistic and well chosen.

I found this book to be very readable and well organized. The six chapters describe what happens in schools: 1. Modeling 2. Grappling 3. Bluffing 4. Sorting 5. Shoving 6. Fearing Within these chapters, the Sizers reflect on what they have observed in their combined 40+ years in education. Each of the above verbs is done in schools both in positive and negative ways. The Sizers do a wonderful job of explaining what schools do, why they do it, and the consequences for their actions.

This book is not a how to manual for improving academics. Rather, it is a well-written thought provoker that helps those involved with school to think about what students are really learning. Much more important than academics, the Sizers focus on what values our schools are sharing with our young people.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone who is involved with school in any capacity.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on education I've ever read, June 24, 1999

By A Customer

Ted and Nancy Sizer write, not with the equivocal opinions of policy makers, but with the authority of their years of experience as teachers and school reformers. I've read a lot of books on education, but this is the only one I've read that truly matters. It persuades us, through its economy and intelligence, that only by building a moral community -- one unique to each school -- can we begin to change our public schools to serve their students, teachers, and our society.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Students are Watching, March 25, 2000

By	Jay Gehringer (Van Nuys, California) - See all my reviews

quote from The Students are Watching: "School exists to change young people. The young people should be different--better--for their experience there. They should know some important things, they should know how to learn additional important things, and they should be in the habit of wanting to learn such important things. They should have a reasoned, but individual point of view. They should be judicious, aware of the complexity of the world. They should be thoughtful, respectful of thought and of ideas which are the furniture of thought." The Students are Watching is about teaching morals through example and treating students with respect while delivering education in an ethical manner. I don't really view this as a "how to teach morals" book, but as a guide to running an ethical school.