The Myles Horton Reader: Education for Social Change (Paperback)

by Myles Horton (Author), Dale Jacobs (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Cornel West has called Myles Horton as "an indescribably courageous and visionary white brother from Tennessee." Horton (1905–1990) co-founded the Highlander Folk School (now known as the Highlander Research and Education Center), an institution controversial from its beginnings. During the early labor movement, the Highlander School sponsored programs for both union organizers and rank-and-file members; the staff of Highlander saw education as a way to approach and work through problems. Issues of race were always important to the school, which became a beacon for the civil rights movement; its summer institutes included such influential participants as Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and Andrew Young.

Horton’s theory of education as a means for understanding and for driving social change greatly predated its acceptance in the academy, and his work with the labor and civil rights movements provided a model for the "think globally, act locally" motto. Horton thought of learning as a way to change the world collectively, rather than as a means for individual advancement, the way many see the role of education in America today. This commitment to education as an agent of social change allowed Horton to see himself as both a teacher and a student, as one who could learn from others as well as help others learn. For Horton, the equality engendered by a radical love for humanity also underpinned every aspect of education.

The Myles Horton Reader provides the reader with a grounding in the path-breaking work of a man who valued education and service above all.

About the Author
Dale Jacobs is assistant professor of English and director of composition at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada. His work has appeared in Composition Studies, the Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning, the National Writing Project Quarterly, and other publications. He holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Nebraska.

Product Details

• Paperback: 317 pages
• Publisher: University of Tennessee Press; 1st edition (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572332719
• ISBN-13: 978-1572332713
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #403,220 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Myles calls for revolution not reform, June 27, 2007

By	Concepcion "LP" (USA) - See all my reviews

If you are interested in real learning and in education for social change, not in schooling or in maintaining the status quo, then this is a must-read book. Myles is an educational visionary; the education system in this country needs a revolution, not more reforms or patches. If you feel this way read this and other books by Myles Horton and other visionaries like John Dewey, Paulo Friere, to name just a few