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CURRENT EDITION—an Online Magazine for Educators RESOURCE REVIEWS Soul of a Citizen The Impossible Will Take a Little While "My first-year students love the readings. We've had great discussions and their written responses are powerful. They said the book challenged them from different perspectives and helped them figure out what they believe and feel most passionately about."
These five essential supports are: school leadership, professional capacity, parent-community ties, student-centered learning climate, and instructional guidance. In contrast to many current reform efforts that seek to spur progress through one or two of these elements, this book shows that substantial school improvement requires building the social organization within schools and orchestrating initiatives across multiple domains. Moving beyond the schoolhouse, the authors analyze community context to discover the ways internal practices of improving schools are inexorably entwined with the social resources of local neighborhoods. They raise troublesome questions about our society’s capacity to improve schooling in its most neglected communities. For schools in these communities, the task of improvement is much more formidable than most have acknowledged to date. These findings are particularly timely as school districts nationwide launch a new round of efforts to turn around their most troubled schools. Urban education professionals and policy makers alike will learn valuable knowledge from this pioneering undertaking in Chicago. Professor Gail. L. Thompson, PhD, has two new books released which address effective methods for helping African American youth navigate through school and through life. In A Brighter Day: How Parents Can Help African American Youth and The Power of One: How You Can Help or Harm African American Students, Thompson offers a balanced perspective, grounded in research and personal anecdotes, that exposes the myths about educating African American youth and challenges teachers, parents, and other influential adults to incorporate successful strategies into their every day practices. A Brighter Day includes stories, research and strategies that parents can use for raising African American youth. Geared toward mothers, the book stresses the importance of personal growth and emphasizes getting past the issues and baggage of being black in America. Two of the most powerful stories are about Thompson’s brothers, who died under tragic circumstances. Thompson explains why her life turned out so differently from theirs. The book discusses ways to keep black youth from getting caught up in the prison pipeline, and using anecdotes and personal stories as reinforcement, talks to moms about what they can do if their kids are already caught up in the prison system. According to Thompson, there are many reasons why poor parenting decisions are made:· We may have had poor parental role models ourselves; We may have become parents when we were children and never developed good parenting skills; We may put our own needs before those of our children; We may fail to see the long-term consequences of our actions The Power of One is a personal growth book that is designed to help teachers, school administrators, professional development providers, and teacher training faculty increase their efficacy with African American K-12 students. Each chapter contains unforgettable true stories, research, and practical exercises. It contains stories, practical advice, and research for African American parents, teachers, social workers, therapists, counselors, mentors, and anyone else who wants to help African American youth have the best life that they can have. An in-depth study of more than 600 educators uncovered that 92% said teachers don’t know how to effectively work with black students. “Many teachers don’t do well because they don’t see a payoff,” Thompson said. “They ask, ‘Why am I knocking myself out for nothing?’ There are direct and indirect benefits to helping African American students.”
The book’s title comes from a true story of a little boy who was asked to tell his teacher how far New Hampshire is from England. Racing to the map in the front of the room, ruler in hand, he proudly announced, “Six inches!” The teacher didn’t correct him. Instead, for a moment, she remembered those days when distance had no meaning—nor “foreigners” nor “strangers.” The anthology includes stories from Scotland’s loved authors Duncan Williamson and Pippa Stuart, a true story from Sue Hendrickson of her discovery of the most complete tyrannosaurus rex, and from astronaut Rhea Seddon. From India’s famed Ruskin Bond, there is an extraordinary story of a child’s overcoming envy and dishonesty in a community, as well as little known classics by Hans Christian Andersen and Leo Tolstoy. The proceeds from this book continue to be used to buy library books for Russian village schools. The book is obtainable only from the publisher.
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In April 2010, St. Martin's released Paul Rogat Loeb's wholly updated exploration of citizen involvement, Soul Of a Citizen: Living With Conviction In Challenging Times. The new edition is already in its fourth printing. With over 100,000 copies in print, Soul's original version has become a classic handbook for budding social activists, veteran organizers, and anyone who wants to make a difference—large or small. An antidote to powerlessness and despair, it has inspired thousands of citizens to make their voices heard and actions count—and then stay involved for the long haul. Soul explores what leads some people to get involved in larger community issues while others feel overwhelmed or uncertain; what it takes to maintain commitment for the long haul; and how community involvement and citizen activism can give back a sense of connection and purpose rare in purely personal life. It speaks particularly to how citizens can remain engaged despite damped hopes from the euphoria of Obama's election.
Paul's previous book is The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear (Basic Books, 2004), named by The History Channel and The American Book Association as their #3 political book of 2004. A global anthology on political hope, it creates a conversation among some of the most visionary and eloquent voices of our time: Think Nelson Mandela, Maya Angelou, Arundhati Roy, Tony Kushner, Václav Havel, Pablo Neruda, and Howard Zinn. Alice Walker, Jonathan Kozol, Diane Ackerman, Susan Griffin, and Marian Wright Edelman. Cornel West, Terry Tempest Williams, Jim Hightower, and Desmond Tutu. With this book Loeb explores what it's like to go up against Goliath, whether South African apartheid, the iron fist of Eastern European dictatorship, or Mississippi segregation. The stories he collects don't sugarcoat the obstacles. But they inspire hope by showing what keeps us keeping on--even when the odds seem overwhelming. They replenish the wellsprings of our commitment. The Impossible is also a BookSense bestseller with 65,000 in print and won the Nautilus Award for the best social change book.
Organizing Schools for Improvement
Six Inches to England: An Anthology of International Children’s Stories
