For the Love of Teaching: And Other Reasons Teachers Do What They Do

Multicultural perspectives abound in these interview portraits of teachers from every state and setting. Any stereotypes readers may have about teachers will go right out the window as they enjoy these anecdotes that reveal the real reasons teachers teach.Seven themes emerge: life work, connection, change, surprise, adventure, fulfillment, and love. Represented in fifty-four interviews with teachers are all fifty states plus Puerto Rico as a U.S. commonwealth; all grades; urban, suburban, and rural areas; private and public schools; and alternative settings such as military and prison classrooms. The author's questions remain hidden as the teachers, in their own separate voices, reflect on their work. The author notes By listening to the voices of those who would teach us, we come to understand not only what learning means but what living means. For it is through our teachers that we begin to discover who we are as human beings, and what we want to be as a society. The Foreword was written by Eric Oddleifson, a successful businessman who is also active in efforts to improve American schools. He writes, This book describes the type of person we need to attract to the teaching profession, as it gives voice to the enthusiasm, the passion, the commitment that invades his or her being. There can be no finer calling, requiring the clearest demonstration or moral and ethical behavior.