The Teacher You Want to Be: Essays about Children, Learning, and Teaching

This book is about bringing the education we want for our own children to all. It is focused on a set of strongly held beliefs that drive the actions of educators every day. Each chapter of the book is focused on a single belief and invites readers to consider what they can do to help children attend schools based on the true, authentic expressions of their teachers’ beliefs. Contributions include essays by many prominent educators including Sir Ken Robinson, Deborah Meier and Thomas Newkirk. Please click on the contents tab below for a list of all 18 contributors.

In 2012, a diverse group of American educators made a pilgrimage to Italy to observe instruction at a Reggio Emilia school. Their observations resulted in a desire to articulate a set of belief statements about education. This book is based on those beliefs. With this collection, the authors and editors hope to create a space in the current education conversation for teachers to know that they can teach in a way that is aligned to their beliefs.