As the father of the Open School Movement of the Sixties and Seventies, there are many that have discounted Kohl s role in current reforms, yet it is Kohl s work that helped bring many of Dewey s reforms into practice.
Teaching is no simple matter.
It is hard work, part craft, part art, part technique, part politics, and it takes time to develop ease within such a complex role. This balance does not come easily for any of us, but it is even more difficult for those of us who choose teaching in the city. The politics of race and poverty cause many to give up on the cities or to come to the city with hopes of being its savior. Kohl addresses many of these problematic philosophies in this work. What attracts me to Kohl s work over and over again is that he will seldom touts his successes.