Twenty Teachers

The rare and exceptional teacher--one who could teach absolutely anything to anybody--is what Ken Macrorie set out to find among teachers of many different subjects at many different levels. The result of his search is 20 Teachers, a collection of revealing profiles in which outstanding educators explain what works for them in the classroom and why. Macrorie's interviews with these professionals show an astonishing similarity in their beliefs, methods, and attitudes and the keys to their success with students from first grade to the graduate level. Ranging from a woodworking instructor in a wealthy suburban school to an inner-city history teacher to a professor of space engineering, the teachers profiled here share a fundamental belief in putting choice and responsibility in the hands of their students, no matter what their age. Macrorie includes, in addition to the interviews, a summary chapter listing 43 items these teachers claim help learners to do "good works." Finally, in an "Open Letter About Schools," he explores the notion that schools have developed, often unwittingly, traditions that run counter to the way these educators work; he discusses the obstacles they face, from both within the system and without. Twenty Teachers offers insights that will enable others to inspire learning in their students and voices a new and challenging view of today's educational system.