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Letters to a Young Teacher | 
 enlarge | Author: Jonathan Kozol
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy New: $6.97
You Save: $5.98 (46%)
New (39) Used (8) from $6.97
Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 13614
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0307393720
Dewey Decimal Number: 371.1
EAN: 9780307393722
ASIN: 0307393720
Publication Date: August 5, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW
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Product Description
“Kozol’s love for his students is as joyful and genuine as his critiques
of the system are severe. He doesn’t pull punches.”
—Washington Post
Jonathan Kozol’s most delightfully personal and revealing work to date takes the form of warm and friendly letters to Francesca, a young classroom teacher, offering encouragement and guidance and survival strategies for teachers of all ages in our nation’s public schools.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
A thoughtful gift for a new teacher September 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
At this writing, this book is averaging four stars in terms of reviews, and I think that's about right. As a high school English teacher, I found some sections--especially those regarding standardized testing and how public education does not address the needs of poor children--quite compelling and validating. However, as another reviewer mentioned, I had difficulty with Kozol's tone at times, which seems just a bit condescending and does not match the acceptance and warmth he alleges to share with children. Well, I suppose there are those of us who get on much better with young people than we do adults. I do appreciate Kozol's wisdom and especially his willingness to toss aside what administrators dictate and teach in a manner that is in the best interest of the children. That is perhaps the most abiding lesson in this book.
Enjoyed By TCNJ'S 2008 Urban Teacher Academy July 12, 2008
Forty-six high school juniors who aspire to become teachers read Letters To A Young Teacher during the 2008 Urban Teacher Academy (UTA) at The College of New Jersey. Our students found many of Jonathan Kozol's insights and experiences very helpful to their understanding of how teachers impact the lives of children. They were inpsired by several heartfelt sentiments and suggestions that Mr. Kozol gave to Francesca, a new teacher confronted by the challenges of the urban classroom. Some of our students reacted that Mr. Kozol rambled in some of his descriptions while others found some of the terminologies in this book complex. On the whole, however, our UTA students enjoyed and highly recommended this book. They plan to read other books by Mr. Kozol who is clearly one of our nation's most accomplished educational authors.
Laurence R. Fieber
Program Coordinator
The Urban Teacher Academy
The College of New Jersey
 Tells it like it is June 27, 2008
As one who works with teachers and visits inner city school classrooms on a regular basis, I can say that Jonathan Kozol accurately describes the problems in our schools today. He convincingly demonstrates that "No Child Left Behind" not only fails to promote real, sustainable school reform, but actually supports the forces driving schools (and society) back to segregation and inequality not so different from the time before Brown vs. the Board of Education. At the same time, his letters celebrate the many ways that innovative teachers instill hope and a love of learning in their young charges, despite these conditions. Every teacher would find some value in this book, because practices like the ones Kozol describes are not taught in many schools of education today.
 The Joy of Looking June 2, 2008
9 out of 29 found this review helpful
Kozol has tapped into the narcissism of modern teachers and their weird regard for themselves. Down at the "Teach for America" farm, the young Ivy Leaguers get the straight talk missing from the likes of Kozol. Teaching is a degraded profession, to be compared to bus driving and custodial work both in pay and in status. In fact, smart administrators now call teachers "education workers," just to take them down a notch or two. They are sick of the uppity types who think their jobs are important. Nobody respects them. Counselors tell it like it is: Get in, treat it like the Peace Corps, don't stay long enough for it to destroy your reputation. Put it on your resume and apply for law school. Spend the rest of your life telling people you miss the kids. Kozol has got all sorts of words of wisdom for the sad sacks who follow him into the playgrounds of the inner cities, but the bottom line is that his words support the status quo, where kids do as they like, while parents and administrators work together to make sure the teachers and not the kids get blamed for every failure. The only schools in America that have ever worked are those that kick out the brats who won't follow directions. Those are the schools to which the Roosevelts, the Bushes and the Clintons send their kids.
Must Read for First Year Teachers May 28, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Jonathan Kozol's Letters to a Young Teacher provides a rare glimpse into the trials and victories faced by a first year teacher in an urban elementary school. Kozol and Francesca have lively dialogue through a series of letters written throughout Francesca's first year as a teacher. Kozol draws on decades of experience to provide hope when Francesca is struggling and cheers her on during times of success. This book is a must read for young teachers venturing into the field of urban education in the United States..
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