Permission to Forget: And Nine Other Root Causes of America's Frustration with Education

by Lee Jenkins

When a successful organization experiences a problem, it will use root-cause analysis to determine why the problem happened, and identify the steps need to correct and ultimately prevent it from happening again. You cannot fix it until you know where it is broken, but you cannot find out what is broken until you ask the right questions. But within the American education system, the prevailing attitude is to say ‘that’s just how the system works,’ or to issue a general blame to the bureaucrats in Washington and the state capitol. Many people see that it is wrong, but few are asking the right questions to figure out why. Best-selling author Lee Jenkins has spent his entire career working in and with schools, beginning as a teacher, principal, superintendent, and now a consultant helping schools tackle difficult problems. Jenkins believes that the problem with the American school system lies with the poor management system in place at all levels, including the classroom, school, and district. In Permission to Forget, Jenkins has identified ten critical root-cause problems and offers concise solutions to help change them. This book is the companion for Jenkins’ best-selling guide Improving Student Learning which provides in-depth answers to these ten problems.

Genres: Education

162 pages, Paperback

First published June 18, 2004

About the author

Lee Jenkins is a psychoanalyst in private practice and a professor emeritus at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY.

He received his PhD in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University and his psychoanalytic training at the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis (NPAP).

He is currently a supervisor and training analyst at NPAP and other psychoanalytic institutes. He has written on literature, psychology and race relations and is a published poet.

Reviews

[Beth Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I heard Lee Jenkins speak at a miserable New Mexico Public Ed. Dept. conference. He was the ONLY presenter who actually told it like it is AND -imagine- offered real life tools for educators. This book is a long version of the presentation. If you work in any school setting this book offers some super tips!