Learning to Change

At a time when schools are dominated by prescriptive standards, subject-centered coverage, and high-stakes testing, Learning to Change offers us a glimpse of a more hopeful and enriching pedagogy. I highly recommend this book for its pedagogical contribution and its political lessons. ?James Beane, professor, College of Education, National-Louis University In this optimistic and fine-grained study of learning to change, Andy Hargreaves and Lorna Earl graphically illustrate, with a degree of clarity rarely previously achieved, how the professional work of teachers mediates the translation of the new educational orthodoxy into sustained and enhanced levels of student learning. ?David Hopkins, professor and dean of education, University of Nottingham, UK At last we have a book that get beneath the slogans of reform! In a compelling highly readable book the reader learns what supports and hinders teachers' struggle to create higher standards for their students. The authors go way beyond the technical and intellectual work of teaching recognizing the highly emotional cultural aspects of change. But this is no mere academic treatise, but rather a call to intelligent and informed action. ?Ann Lieberman, visiting professor at Stanford University and senior scholar, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Hargreaves and his colleagues have crafted a book that describes the harsh reality of change efforts at the level where true differences are made: the school and classroom levels. But more importantly, they outline the intellectual and emotional work that must be done for these efforts to succeed. Showing that there is no substitute for clear thinking, careful planning, and hard work, they demonstrate what is needed for deep and abiding change in schools. ?Thomas R. Guskey, professor of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation, University of Kentucky