Read more
Drawing on illuminating stories from thirteen years as a public school teacher, Ms. Coolidge challenges cultural assumptions about effecting learning and change, making a compelling case for a bigger-picture perspective in the classroom and in society at large. She shares personal insights about learning as an innate gift, similar to healing, which is fed by responsive interactions. Learning is at the core of all human endeavors and is essential for individual well-being, democracy, and social progress. Although rigid separation is our cultural habit, good teaching is embodied, integrated with the arts and play, and engaged with diverse perspectives. Ms. Coolidge offers food for thought on how 21st-century federal education reforms, by elevating the status of words and right answers at the expense of connection and meaning, have played a key role in a reactionary cultural backlash.
About the author
Rebecca Coolidge lives in San Francisco with her husband, two children, and dog. She divides her time between parenting, substitute teaching, working as a massage therapist, hiking, and playing jazz piano for fun. Ms. Coolidge taught the primary grades in public schools for 13 years.
Summary
Drawing on illuminating stories from thirteen years as a public school teacher, Ms. Coolidge challenges cultural assumptions about effecting learning and change, making a compelling case for a bigger-picture perspective in the classroom and in society at large. She shares personal insights about learning as an innate gift, similar to healing, which is fed by responsive interactions. Learning is at the core of all human endeavors and is essential for individual well-being, democracy, and social progress. Although rigid separation is our cultural habit, good teaching is embodied, integrated with the arts and play, and engaged with diverse perspectives. Ms. Coolidge offers food for thought on how 21st-century federal education reforms, by elevating the status of words and right answers at the expense of connection and meaning, have played a key role in a reactionary cultural backlash.
