We Don't Need Another Hero: Struggle, Hope and Possibility in the Age of High-Stakes Schooling: Struggle, Hope, and Possibility in the Age of High-Stakes Schooling

by Gregory Michie

In his latest book, bestselling author Gregory Michie critiques high-stakes schooling and provides a powerful alternative vision of teaching as a humanistic enterprise, students as multidimensional beings, and schools as spaces where young people can imagine and become, not just achieve. Drawing on his experiences over the past two decades as a classroom teacher, community volunteer, researcher, and teacher educator in Chicago's public schools, Michie offers compelling accounts of teaching and learning in urban America. Mindful of the complex realities educators face, he portrays urban schools as they really are: sites of struggle, hope, and possibility.

At a time when others relentlessly trumpet a competitive, data-driven, corporatized notion of education, the essays in We Don't Need Another Hero challenge the dominant images of failing urban schools and bad teachers. Like Michie's now classic Holler If You Hear Me, this book gives much-needed hope to new and seasoned teachers alike. It is also an important resource for school administrators, policymakers, parents, and anyone who wants to better understand what is really happening in American schools.

Gregory Michie teaches in the Department of Foundations and Social Policy at Concordia University Chicago. He is the bestselling author of Holler If You Hear Me: The Education of a Teacher and His Students, Second Edition, and See You When We Get There: Teaching for Change in Urban Schools.

“Greg Michie is right: we don't need another hero. The heroes are already there: they are our students, as well as the teachers and administrators who have a passion for justice.Those are the voices we must heed.”
—From the Foreword by Sonia Nieto, professor emerita, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

“There is no writer working today who captures the excruciating complexity of a life in teaching with as much grace and clarity as Gregory Michie. These everyday heroes are the heart of teaching and the soul of democracy.”
—William Ayers, educator and bestselling author of To Teach, Third Edition and Teaching the Taboo

“Gregory Michie's experiences in the classroom and his purview post-teaching make this a good peek into the thoughts of a man willing to challenge the current notions of education reform. Rather than sit in frustration over the current tenor surrounding these so-called reforms, Michie seeks meaningful progress and solutions.”
—Jose Luis Vilson, NYC Public School lead teacher and writer at TheJoseVilson.com

Genres: Education

168 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 19, 2012

About the author

Gregory Michie is a public school teacher in Chicago and senior research associate at the Center for Policy Studies and Social Justice at Concordia University Chicago. He is the bestselling author of Holler If You Hear Me (2nd ed.), See You When We Get There, and We Don’t Need Another Hero.

Reviews

[Antonia Simmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must read for educators!

[Chea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michie puts into words a lot of what I have thought about social justice and education. I realize that his focus for the project is education in urban settings, but much of what he discusses is pertinent for the oft-ignored rural setting. It was an accessible and enjoyable read, even if heartbreaking at times.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

good book about urban education

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

More people should read Michie's writings. He's the next Kozol, presenting the failings and triumphs of urban education in this country.

[Mills College Library]

371.82694 M6241 2012

[Faith Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read for educators.