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Confessions of a Bad Teacher
The Shocking Truth from the Front Lines of American Public Education
$13.99
Published: August 2013
SKU: 9781402281006
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Overview
An explosive new look at the pressures on today's teachers and the pitfalls of school reform, Confessions of a Bad Teacher presents a passionate appeal to save public schools, before it's too late.
When John Owens left a lucrative job to teach English at a public school in New York City's South Bronx, he thought he could do some good. Faced with a flood of struggling students, Owens devised ingenious ways to engage every last one. But as his students began to thrive under his tutelage, Owens found himself increasingly mired in a broken educational system, driven by broken statistics, finances, and administrations undermining their own support system—the teachers.
The situation has gotten to the point where the phrase "Bad Teacher" is almost interchangeable with "Teacher." And Owens found himself labeled just that when the methods he saw inspiring his students didn't meet the reform mandates. With firsthand accounts from teachers across the country and tips for improving public schools, Confessions of a Bad Teacher is an eye-opening call-to-action to embrace our best educators and create real reform for our children's futures.
Product Details
- Paperback
- Case Count: 40
"A heartfelt call-to-action.... [Owens] offers a worthy perspective on the need to change the ways in which teachers are viewed and concludes with useful suggestions to get started." — Kirkus Reviews
"Admirably, Owens portrays himself as an enthusiastic teacher with good intentions rather than a martyr—no small feat given the subject matter. His inclusion of case studies in the form of anecdotes from other public school teacher furthers his argument...will be useful for anyone considering a teaching career. " — Publishers Weekly
"An intelligent, readable, and occasionally eye-opening analysis of the deep flaws in today's educational system...Owens' narrative is punctuated with the voices of teachers from across the country who echo his plight and expose the absurdity of relying on data-driven business principles to try to fix American education. " — Booklist
"This is my school, this is my experience, this is my career. And it's all laid out far more succinctly and calmly that I could ever have done. This book is going into the school library if I have to pay for it with my own money. The teachers (and parents, if any of them pick it up) have got to see that what we are going through isn't just us, it isn't just an isolated situation. God bless John Owens, where ever he is." — Allison Dollar - School Librarian, Gallup McKinley County Schools
"Eye-opening...The author does an excellent job detailing the problems faced by public school teachers in America. He effectively utilizes a mix of statistics, vignettes from public school teachers around the country, and his own personal narrative of his experiences in a Bronx middle school to illustrate how the focus of the school system has changed from students to data. " — Beyond the Stacks
"Owens goes beyond telling war stories to reflect on the big picture of bad policies and politics that drive the school day, and to offer some steps readers can take to preserve and protect the precious gift of democratic public education." — Big Education Ape
"Owens uses vignettes from his teaching experience to introduce problems in the American educational system, most notably how teachers are blamed for today's failing public schools and how the "witch-hunt" for bad teachers is destroying classrooms...His concluding lessons are a heartfelt call to action. " — BookPage
"Owens speaks the hard and not-so-pretty truth, and he includes a chapter on ensuring the health of your child's education. That's extremely helpful and, in some districts, mandatory knowledge." — Bookworm Sez
"Confessions of a Bad Teacher is perhaps the most important book about the American public education system that will be published this year...Owens' writing is honest (at times brutally so), to the point, and looks at the issues surrounding education reform through the lens of those of us on the front lines, those of us who feel lately as though our voices have not been heard." — Mercurial Musings
"This was an eye-opening and fascinating read which would be a great addition to a public or academic library collection. " — Taryn Bush-Librarian
"I think all educators will be able to relate to this book and see they too could be labeled as a "bad" teacher simply because what they see as the best for their students may seem inappropriate by the "powers that be". " — Texas Library Lady
"Owens' book truly exposes what goes on in classrooms across the United States, a view from the trenches. This is a book that parents and policy makers need to read, and then they need to start some long and hard conversations to fix the educational system over time...It's time to change the narrative of blaming and labeling all teachers as bad teachers. Read this book, learn more, and take some action. " — The Itinerant Librarian
"A closely observed, often hilarious and profane new memoir." — USA Today
"I knew our educational system had problems,but reading this book was a serious eye opener. I really had no idea it was as messed up as it is. It also saddens me because I would love to be a teacher, but it sounds like it has become a revolving door system and it wouldn't justify the cost for the education." — White Shark Book Reviews
"Owens gives a readable, personal account of one man's experience in one school." — Library Journal
"With firsthand accounts from teachers across the country and tips for improving public schools, this books is an eye-opening call-to-action to embrace our best educators and real reform for our children's futures" — Carolyn Eubanks - St. Petersburg Public Library
"Challenging, emotional read...Owen's passion for meaningful reform is real." — Choice
"Confessions of a Bad Teacher: The Shocking Truth from the Front Lines of American Public Education daringly addresses a subject few are brave enough to discuss openly...He provides an exemplary reminder of how easily and frequently those on the other side of the classroom door lose sight of what it is that really matters - the students, the whole child." — School Administrator
"I could immediately identify with the reform-promoted, administrative disconnect between the classroom realities (and the teacher's use of his or her own critical thinking and experience on how best to promote learning by identifying where students are and working upward from that point) and the ignorant-yet-demanding push to make students and teachers conform to some inflexible ideal "student achievement."I was sold on Owens' book right then and there." — The Chalk Face
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