Overview

The sturm-und-drang quality of educational reforms in the United States and England has prompted educators to ask how curriculum changes will affect teaching and learning. Central government in England and state agencies in the United States increasingly control curriculum development by writing the standards, monitoring teaching, and assessing standards' impact on students' achievements. But how does increasing government regulation of education impact teachers' professionalism and morale? In arguing that teachers need to retain significant control over what and how they teach, Quiet Wisdom addresses this question for elementary- and secondary-level English teaching. Quiet Wisdom should be read by every preservice and inservice English teacher in graduate-level teacher education courses. This book is also written for a wider audience of administrators, curriculum planners and policy makers.

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9780820470511

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« In this well-crafted example of ethnographic interviewing we recognize John S. Lofty's own quiet wisdom as he amplifies the voices of those dedicated teachers on both sides of the Atlantic who have been silenced by the onslaught of national curricula and standards-based education. Hear teachers speak out as they struggle against the deprofessionalization of their calling. All concerned for the future of the teaching profession for students' learning should heed their message. -- Richard Blot

John S. Lofty uses the title 'Quiet Wisdom' to describe the insights of teachers who must confront often oppressive and misguided mandates from on high. But it also describes his own thoughtful and temperate insights into contemporary education. In this age of polemics it is refreshing to hear the lowered voice of reason. (Thomas Newkirk, Director of the New Hampshire Literacy Institutes; Author of 'Misreading Masculinity: Boys, Reading, and Popular Culture') In this well-crafted example of ethnographic interviewing we recognize John S. Lofty's own quiet wisdom as he amplifies the voices of those dedicated teachers on both sides of the Atlantic who have been silenced by the onslaught of national curricula and standards-based education. Hear teachers speak out as they struggle against the deprofessionalization of their calling. All concerned for the future of the teaching profession for students' learning should heed their message. (Richard Blot, Anthropologist; Associate Professor, Department of Journalism, Communication & Theatre, Lehman College of the City University of New York; Co-author (with James Collins) of 'Literacy and Literacies: Texts, Power, and Identity' (2003))

Author Information

The Author: John S. Lofty, originally from England, is a former middle- and secondary-level English teacher. He received his doctorate in English and education from the University of Michigan and is the author of Time to Write: The Influence of Time and Culture on Learning to Write (1992). He is Professor of English and Coordinator for the English teaching major program at the University of New Hampshire, Durham.

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