What do you think?
Rate this book
A Teacher's Guide to Instructional Resistance
252 pages, Paperback
Published March 2, 2026
About the author
Paul Sutton
72 books5 followersPaul Sutton is a writer who has written for Big Finish Productions audio and collected novella range. He has written for the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors in Big Finish's audio story range and also a novella part of A Life in Pieces a Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield series.
Sutton also wrote two linked audio stories Arrangements for War and Thicker than Water which introduced the planet Világ and were part of the exit stories for Evelyn Smythe.
Sutton also wrote two linked audio stories Arrangements for War and Thicker than Water which introduced the planet Világ and were part of the exit stories for Evelyn Smythe.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 6, 2026
Disclosure: I know the author of this book. He was my key instructor and mentor while I was working for my Masters in Education.
This book, like the education I received from its author, is eye-opening, grounding, and inspiring. As I entered the field of teaching a few years ago, one thing was clear immediately: hopelessness is a real problem. Teachers feel beat down, kids' learning levels are slipping, and the mainstream diagnosis of our educational state is very doom and gloom.
Dr. Sutton's approach to teaching is a well-grounded and persuasive counterargument to that tide of despair. This book pulls no punches in diagnosing the problems and shortcomings in our current system. There is no rose-colored glasses, pollyanna demand to just believe things will be better. Instead, there's an incisive diagnosing of the current problems, based on their historical roots; and then a simple and effective handbook for teacher-driven solutions.
Here's the gist of Dr. Sutton's argument: trust excellent teachers. Get out of our way, and let us do the job we love with the passion and creativity we are capable of bringing to it.
If you are a teacher that feels your sanity slipping because your admin keeps demanding you use some expensive, irrelevant, and confusing worksheet created by a national curriculum company; if you are screaming into the void because none of the endless staff meetings you attend speak to the goals you have in YOUR practice; if your heart is aching because you see the immense needs of your students and how ill-prepared the system is to meet those needs -- this book is for you.
And here’s why I think this is a book for any teacher: it will help you find a way to teach that is rooted in joy.
One of my favorite quotes: “In classrooms, relationships with students are an outgrowth of a pedagogy of care. They’re an unconditional investment in the inherent dignity of our students as people.”
That’s what it’s about. Because beneath all the bureaucracy and shiny new district initiatives and school board meetings and mandatory tools and gradebook “upgrades”—our students are the best. I am obsessed with how cool my students are. They are funny and rebellious and hard working and good. And when THAT feeling is driving me, I do my best teaching.
This book will do wonders at giving you permission to ignore the bullshit, trust your gut, and trust your students, so you can fall back in love with this crazy job we do.
This book, like the education I received from its author, is eye-opening, grounding, and inspiring. As I entered the field of teaching a few years ago, one thing was clear immediately: hopelessness is a real problem. Teachers feel beat down, kids' learning levels are slipping, and the mainstream diagnosis of our educational state is very doom and gloom.
Dr. Sutton's approach to teaching is a well-grounded and persuasive counterargument to that tide of despair. This book pulls no punches in diagnosing the problems and shortcomings in our current system. There is no rose-colored glasses, pollyanna demand to just believe things will be better. Instead, there's an incisive diagnosing of the current problems, based on their historical roots; and then a simple and effective handbook for teacher-driven solutions.
Here's the gist of Dr. Sutton's argument: trust excellent teachers. Get out of our way, and let us do the job we love with the passion and creativity we are capable of bringing to it.
If you are a teacher that feels your sanity slipping because your admin keeps demanding you use some expensive, irrelevant, and confusing worksheet created by a national curriculum company; if you are screaming into the void because none of the endless staff meetings you attend speak to the goals you have in YOUR practice; if your heart is aching because you see the immense needs of your students and how ill-prepared the system is to meet those needs -- this book is for you.
And here’s why I think this is a book for any teacher: it will help you find a way to teach that is rooted in joy.
One of my favorite quotes: “In classrooms, relationships with students are an outgrowth of a pedagogy of care. They’re an unconditional investment in the inherent dignity of our students as people.”
That’s what it’s about. Because beneath all the bureaucracy and shiny new district initiatives and school board meetings and mandatory tools and gradebook “upgrades”—our students are the best. I am obsessed with how cool my students are. They are funny and rebellious and hard working and good. And when THAT feeling is driving me, I do my best teaching.
This book will do wonders at giving you permission to ignore the bullshit, trust your gut, and trust your students, so you can fall back in love with this crazy job we do.
March 30, 2026
Excellent book of empowerment and challenge for educators to do what is right for students even if it means being “creatively insubordinate” Paul’s book was a wonderful reminder of his class, empowering, challenging, supportive and understanding.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews