An Ethic of Excellence: Building a Culture of Craftsmanship with Students
“. . . an important book for our time, for teachers, teacher educators, and policymakers.”–Ann Lieberman, Senior Scholar, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching“Stop everything youre doing and take the time to really read this. Not once. Not even twice, but over and over. Make your colleagues read it . . . every legislator and policymaker ought to too, so they can see when and where their favorite, best-designed, top-down mandates may actually hinder this kind of culture of high standards. But, of course, what in the end makes it such a good read is in the details, those precious and well-told stories of what the real stuff looks like.”–Deborah Meier, Coprincipal, Mission Hill School, Boston“Ron Berger is one of the most remarkable teachers in America today. He sets incredibly high standards in his classes and his students measure up to those standards. Yet Ron Bergers authentic standards bear little resemblance to what passes for standards in todays test-obsessed America. For a reminder of what education can and should be, read this passionate book - and give it to every policymaker whom you know.”–Howard Gardner, Harvard Graduate School of Education“. . . passionate stories from an inspiring, ever imaginative teacher whose demands on his students are high and those on himself even higher. He writes of teaching as an ethic . . . a way of thinking . . . that is built carefully by hand, a craft that defies "scaling up" in mechanistic ways and that requires powerful, autonomous work close to the students.”–Theodore R. Sizer, Founder, Coalition of Essential Schools