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Faces of Learning: 50 Powerful Stories of Defining Moments in Education
Inspirational stories of engaging, real-life educational experiences Everyone has a personal learning story, a time when they became actively engaged in their own education. Maybe it was an especially challenging teacher, or a uniquely supportive environment, or a collaborative classroom. In Faces of Learning, both well-known public figures, such as Arne Duncan and Al Franken, and ordinary Americans recall the moments when they truly learned something.
Includes stories from people of all different backgrounds and from all over the country The stories are grouped into categories by theme like "relevant" and "experiential" to help reveal the common characteristics of what works in education Each chapter ends with five things you can do to improve your own learning, that of your students, and of all Americans Readers can visit the companion website www.facesoflearning.net to share their own stories of educational success and find out what else they can do.
Includes stories from people of all different backgrounds and from all over the country The stories are grouped into categories by theme like "relevant" and "experiential" to help reveal the common characteristics of what works in education Each chapter ends with five things you can do to improve your own learning, that of your students, and of all Americans Readers can visit the companion website www.facesoflearning.net to share their own stories of educational success and find out what else they can do.
- GenresEducationNonfiction
160 pages, ebook
First published January 19, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 3, 2013
Great Idea that Falls Short ...
This book was reviewed as part of Amazon's Vine program which included a free advance copy of the book.
The subject of education will always have personal meaning to me as my wife (former teacher now high school assistant principal), mother (former teacher now elementary school principal), sister (high school guidance counselor) and father-in-law (retired high school teacher) have dedicated their lives to such a noble profession. With this in mind, I took keen interest in reading FACES OF LEARNING ... 50 POWERFUL STORIES OF DEFINING MOMENTS IN EDUCATION. While I found the premise of the book promising and the structure of the book superb, I was ultimately disappointed in the book's narrow scope and overall lack of compelling, powerful stories.
FACES OF LEARNING is an intriguing concept: 50 individuals recounting significant educational moments in their lives. Rather than lumping the 50 stories in a random or alphabetical manner, the book organizes the stories into chapters based on five types of learning experiences: challenging, engaging, supportive, relevant and experiential. The individual stories are also presented in a format that includes a picture of the individual sharing their experience along with some interesting personal highlights (current occupation, personal heroes, current state of mind, memorable quotes, etc.). Additionally, each chapter ends with five "things you can do" to initiate or enhance a learning experience based on the type of learning covered (challenging, supportive, etc.). The aesthetic format of the book is inviting and the stories themselves are told in a succinct manner.
The presentation alone, however, is not enough to compensate for the lack of substantive content in this collection of stories. I felt the book did not live up to its potential and was disappointed than an opportunity to deliver a strong, inspiring message (to all), was missed. To begin with, the stories appear to be responses to a questionnaire which required answering a few biographical and motivational questions before delivering the "defining educational moment". While I like the biographical interlude, I think it could have been more varied, more interesting and maybe more tailored to the individual. Second, most of the stories themselves (the "meat and potatoes" of the book) were not nearly as compelling as I expected and this provided the biggest disappointment for me. There were some powerful and poignant stories that really stood out (the stories of Michelle Durange, R. Dwayne Betts and Patrick Ip were truly inspirational to me), but they were too few and far between. The most un-inspiring story, in my opinion, came from the Secretary of Education himself, Arne Duncan ... which was somewhat shocking. Lastly, backbone of the book, the group of "50 faces" whose stories are being told, is not anywhere near as diverse (politically and socially) as I had expected; I found this both disheartening and a glaring mistake as the message of the book could be interpreted as being one-sided. People who have experienced powerful educational moments in their lives logically cross all political and social boundaries. I am curious as to how and why this particular group of 50 were chosen.
To be honest, I wanted to like this book. The thought presenting a bunch of personal stories regarding memorable educational moments sounded like an exciting read and I couldn't wait to delve into their stories. But, overall, I could not ignore the fact that many of the stories were simply un-inspiring and viewed the book as a missed opportunity. Unfortunately, FACES OF LEARNING is a wonderful concept that simply falls flat.
This book was reviewed as part of Amazon's Vine program which included a free advance copy of the book.
The subject of education will always have personal meaning to me as my wife (former teacher now high school assistant principal), mother (former teacher now elementary school principal), sister (high school guidance counselor) and father-in-law (retired high school teacher) have dedicated their lives to such a noble profession. With this in mind, I took keen interest in reading FACES OF LEARNING ... 50 POWERFUL STORIES OF DEFINING MOMENTS IN EDUCATION. While I found the premise of the book promising and the structure of the book superb, I was ultimately disappointed in the book's narrow scope and overall lack of compelling, powerful stories.
FACES OF LEARNING is an intriguing concept: 50 individuals recounting significant educational moments in their lives. Rather than lumping the 50 stories in a random or alphabetical manner, the book organizes the stories into chapters based on five types of learning experiences: challenging, engaging, supportive, relevant and experiential. The individual stories are also presented in a format that includes a picture of the individual sharing their experience along with some interesting personal highlights (current occupation, personal heroes, current state of mind, memorable quotes, etc.). Additionally, each chapter ends with five "things you can do" to initiate or enhance a learning experience based on the type of learning covered (challenging, supportive, etc.). The aesthetic format of the book is inviting and the stories themselves are told in a succinct manner.
The presentation alone, however, is not enough to compensate for the lack of substantive content in this collection of stories. I felt the book did not live up to its potential and was disappointed than an opportunity to deliver a strong, inspiring message (to all), was missed. To begin with, the stories appear to be responses to a questionnaire which required answering a few biographical and motivational questions before delivering the "defining educational moment". While I like the biographical interlude, I think it could have been more varied, more interesting and maybe more tailored to the individual. Second, most of the stories themselves (the "meat and potatoes" of the book) were not nearly as compelling as I expected and this provided the biggest disappointment for me. There were some powerful and poignant stories that really stood out (the stories of Michelle Durange, R. Dwayne Betts and Patrick Ip were truly inspirational to me), but they were too few and far between. The most un-inspiring story, in my opinion, came from the Secretary of Education himself, Arne Duncan ... which was somewhat shocking. Lastly, backbone of the book, the group of "50 faces" whose stories are being told, is not anywhere near as diverse (politically and socially) as I had expected; I found this both disheartening and a glaring mistake as the message of the book could be interpreted as being one-sided. People who have experienced powerful educational moments in their lives logically cross all political and social boundaries. I am curious as to how and why this particular group of 50 were chosen.
To be honest, I wanted to like this book. The thought presenting a bunch of personal stories regarding memorable educational moments sounded like an exciting read and I couldn't wait to delve into their stories. But, overall, I could not ignore the fact that many of the stories were simply un-inspiring and viewed the book as a missed opportunity. Unfortunately, FACES OF LEARNING is a wonderful concept that simply falls flat.
February 3, 2012
I have always preferred stories of everyday people to those of celebrities or historical figures. For that reason, Studs Terkel was an early favorite author of mine. That's what drew me to this book, the promise of 50 stories recounting defining moments in people's educational development.
For the most part, I liked these stories. Many people recount with affection interactions with their most memorable teachers. The influence and encouragement of these teachers spurred many of the contributors on to academic success. It made me want to seek out and thank my own educational mentors: Here's to you, Mrs. Quigley, Mr. Donnelly, Ms. Finlan!
At the same time, most stories come from people in the educational world. Apparently, this book was compiled from responses to a survey distributed among educational entities. So, academic-entrenched lingo and worldview rob some reflections of their power, or even interest, for the general reader. The book is obviously aimed at an academic audience, as each chapter ends with a section titled "Five Things You Can Do." I was lucky if I understood even one of the suggestions.
Readers will be interested in the few famous names here, although I recognized only Al Franken. (OK, I admit, I've never watched Oprah, so Stedman Graham's name didn't register until I looked it up.)
All in all, the book provides a good hour or two of reading. As a parent, I found the book encouraging. Not a teacher myself, and woefully inadequate as a homework helper, I was pleased to read the many tales of competent and compassionate teachers who enliven the learning process for children.
For the most part, I liked these stories. Many people recount with affection interactions with their most memorable teachers. The influence and encouragement of these teachers spurred many of the contributors on to academic success. It made me want to seek out and thank my own educational mentors: Here's to you, Mrs. Quigley, Mr. Donnelly, Ms. Finlan!
At the same time, most stories come from people in the educational world. Apparently, this book was compiled from responses to a survey distributed among educational entities. So, academic-entrenched lingo and worldview rob some reflections of their power, or even interest, for the general reader. The book is obviously aimed at an academic audience, as each chapter ends with a section titled "Five Things You Can Do." I was lucky if I understood even one of the suggestions.
Readers will be interested in the few famous names here, although I recognized only Al Franken. (OK, I admit, I've never watched Oprah, so Stedman Graham's name didn't register until I looked it up.)
All in all, the book provides a good hour or two of reading. As a parent, I found the book encouraging. Not a teacher myself, and woefully inadequate as a homework helper, I was pleased to read the many tales of competent and compassionate teachers who enliven the learning process for children.
March 7, 2014
I would recommend this book as a quick read for some teaching motivation.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews