Pertinent info before summarizing

Greetings!

Before I begin posted chapter reviews, I thought it would be beneficial to summarize the foreword and some basic observations. The author of this book, Donald L. Finkel, taught at The Evergreen State College from 1976 until his death in 1999. Evergreen is a unique school in that “you often find yourself studying across several academic disciplines – all at once – and all in the same class. Imagine exploring psychology, environmental studies, math, history and economics and how they all interrelate”. In addition, students are “evaluated in detailed narratives…instead of letter grades (Curriculum Overview, n.d.). For this reason, the author’s recommendations for teaching are nontraditional and he attempts to design activities that produce experiential learning and teaching. He also wants to challenge the traditional view of “Great Teaching” as well as explore basic structures such as; power vs. authority, the psychoanalytic view of learning, the teacher as a silent observer, democratic classrooms, and the inclusion of lectures. Each of the chapters are presented as a case study or a story to illustrate his ideas and to help the reader investigate the experience of learning and teaching. 

Personally, I found his point of view refreshing, enlightening, sometimes perplexing, and worthy of investigation and trial. But this book might not appeal to traditionalists or people who subscribe to a strict behavioral or liberal arts philosophy (i.e. the teacher is the "expert" /transmitter of knowledge/controller). For anyone teaching in the field of language arts, Finkel does provide in-depth conceptual workshops and lessons that are ready to use in the classroom. Even though I do not teach in this subject area, I found myself making side notes for future classes, reflections of my classroom presentations, and essential questions. Nevertheless, I think you will discover he has some original thoughts that might change your perception of teaching.

Dawn