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A Year Inside America's Most Vulnerable, Important Profession
by Alexandra Robbins
A riveting, must-read, year-in-the-life account of three teachers, combined with reporting that reveals what's really going on behind school doors, by New York Times bestselling author and education expert Alexandra Robbins.
Alexandra Robbins goes behind the scenes to tell the true, sometimes shocking, always inspirational stories of three teachers as they navigate a year in the classroom. She follows Penny, a southern middle school math teacher who grappled with a toxic staff clique at the big school in a small town; Miguel, a special ed teacher in the western United States who fought for his students both as an educator and as an activist; and Rebecca, an East Coast elementary school teacher who struggled to schedule and define a life outside of school. Robbins also interviewed hundreds of other teachers nationwide who share their secrets, dramas, and joys.
Interspersed among the teachers' stories—a seeming scandal, a fourth-grade whodunit, and teacher confessions—are hard-hitting essays featuring cutting-edge reporting on the biggest issues facing teachers today, such as school violence; outrageous parent behavior; inadequate support, staffing, and resources coupled with unrealistic mounting demands; the "myth" of teacher burnout; the COVID-19 pandemic; and ways all of us can help the professionals who are central both to the lives of our children and the heart of our communities.
"This deeply researched and impressive study brings home the fact that America underinvests in the education of its children—and that teachers step in to fill the gaps." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"An important and eye-opening book that all parents, teachers, and educational administrators should read." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"This thoughtful, page-turning work gives insight into the day-to-day lives and concerns of teachers, both inside and outside of their work…This involving look at the teaching profession is recommended for any library with an education collection and where there is community interest." - Library Journal
"A riveting, must-read, year-in-the-life account of three teachers, combined with reporting that reveals what's really going on behind school doors." - Next Big Idea Club
"A remarkable piece of storytelling that weaves together the personal trials (and triumphs) of individual teachers with extraordinary reporting about the real, and often toxic, work conditions facing this critical profession. As the son of a high-school teacher, the stories struck a personal chord. As a parent, they make me want to thank a teacher every day. And as a citizen, they are a call to arms to save the future of our country by lifting up the profession that molds and shapes our most important asset—our children." - Jeffrey Selingo, New York Times bestselling author of Who Gets In and Why
"It was literally thrilling to read The Teachers. I can't remember another book that is so deeply informed about the nobility, the rewards, and the struggles of the teaching profession. It is a beautiful testimony to the men and women who shape the next generation of Americans, usually without the public support and resources they need and deserve." - Diane Ravitch, historian and national bestselling author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System
"As a parent, I wonder about what my child's teachers might be really going through. In The Teachers, the answer is by turns inspiring, heartbreaking and maddening. Robbins pulls back the veil on the lives of the teachers shaping who our kids are becoming — and the system that so often undermines their efforts. This book will not only make you smarter about the state of American teachers, but it will ignite you to act. Through the eyes of the teachers we come to know intimately in this book, The Teachers will change the way you think about American education." - Rachel Simmons, national bestselling author of Odd Girl Out
This information about The Teachers was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Alexandra Robbins, the author of five New York Times bestselling books and a Goodreads Best Nonfiction Book of the Year, is an award-winning investigative reporter who has been honored for "Distinguished Service to Public Education." She has written for several publications, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic, and has appeared on hundreds of television shows, including 60 Minutes, Today, CBS Mornings, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The View, and The Colbert Report.
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