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The Teachers: A Year Inside America's Most Vulnerable, Important Profession
***A National Bestseller***
A riveting, must-read, year-in-the-life account of three teachers, combined with reporting that reveals what’s really going on behind school doors, by New York Times bestselling author and education expert Alexandra Robbins.
Alexandra Robbins goes behind the scenes to tell the true, sometimes shocking, always inspirational stories of three teachers as they navigate a year in the classroom. She follows Penny, a southern middle school math teacher who grappled with a toxic staff clique at the big school in a small town; Miguel, a special ed teacher in the western United States who fought for his students both as an educator and as an activist; and Rebecca, an East Coast elementary school teacher who struggled to schedule and define a life outside of school. Robbins also interviewed hundreds of other teachers nationwide who share their secrets, dramas, and joys.
Interspersed among the teachers’ stories—a seeming scandal, a fourth-grade whodunit, and teacher confessions—are hard-hitting essays featuring cutting-edge reporting on the biggest issues facing teachers today, such as school violence; outrageous parent behavior; inadequate support, staffing, and resources coupled with unrealistic mounting demands; the “myth” of teacher burnout; the COVID-19 pandemic; and ways all of us can help the professionals who are central both to the lives of our children and the heart of our communities.
A riveting, must-read, year-in-the-life account of three teachers, combined with reporting that reveals what’s really going on behind school doors, by New York Times bestselling author and education expert Alexandra Robbins.
Alexandra Robbins goes behind the scenes to tell the true, sometimes shocking, always inspirational stories of three teachers as they navigate a year in the classroom. She follows Penny, a southern middle school math teacher who grappled with a toxic staff clique at the big school in a small town; Miguel, a special ed teacher in the western United States who fought for his students both as an educator and as an activist; and Rebecca, an East Coast elementary school teacher who struggled to schedule and define a life outside of school. Robbins also interviewed hundreds of other teachers nationwide who share their secrets, dramas, and joys.
Interspersed among the teachers’ stories—a seeming scandal, a fourth-grade whodunit, and teacher confessions—are hard-hitting essays featuring cutting-edge reporting on the biggest issues facing teachers today, such as school violence; outrageous parent behavior; inadequate support, staffing, and resources coupled with unrealistic mounting demands; the “myth” of teacher burnout; the COVID-19 pandemic; and ways all of us can help the professionals who are central both to the lives of our children and the heart of our communities.
382 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 14, 2023
625 people are currently reading
11193 people want to read
About the author
Alexandra Robbins
18 books583 followers* 2023: New book! THE TEACHERS: A Year Inside America's Most Vulnerable, Important Profession *
The author of five New York Times bestselling books and a Goodreads Best Nonfiction Book of the Year, Alexandra Robbins is an award-winning journalist and speaker who writes nonfiction books in the style of fast-paced beach reads. Reviewers have called her smart, entertaining prose "poolside nonfiction."
Her latest book, THE TEACHERS, follows three teachers behind-the-scenes for a year and includes investigations based on interviews with hundreds of teachers across the country. THE TEACHERS has received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, is one of Yahoo!'s and The Week's "6 Highly Anticipated Books" for Spring 2023, a "Must Read of 2023" according to the Next Big Idea Club, one of Kirkus's "8 Most Buzzworthy Books Right Now," and a “Most Anticipated Book of 2023” by Literary Hub, The Next Big Idea Club, Kirkus, Zibby Books, and Professional Book Nerds.
Robbins is “an excellent stylist and a first-rate mind” (Houston Chronicle) whose writing style is “highly addictive” (Philadelphia Inquirer) and who “has a gift for writing fact like fiction” (Kirkus Reviews). She has also been honored with a "Distinguished Service to Public Education" award.
Robbins' books have been a New York Times Editors' Choice, People Magazine's Critic's Choice, a Books for a Better Life Award winner, and a Goodreads Best Nonfiction Book of the Year. She writes for publications such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and Forbes. She has appeared on a wide variety of national television shows such as "60 Minutes," "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "The Today Show," "The View," "The Colbert Report" and "Anderson Cooper 360."
You can find her on Twitter at @AlexndraRobbins, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAlexan..., on Instagram and TikTok at @authorAlexandraRobbins, and visit her website alexandrarobbins.com for more information.”
The author of five New York Times bestselling books and a Goodreads Best Nonfiction Book of the Year, Alexandra Robbins is an award-winning journalist and speaker who writes nonfiction books in the style of fast-paced beach reads. Reviewers have called her smart, entertaining prose "poolside nonfiction."
Her latest book, THE TEACHERS, follows three teachers behind-the-scenes for a year and includes investigations based on interviews with hundreds of teachers across the country. THE TEACHERS has received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, is one of Yahoo!'s and The Week's "6 Highly Anticipated Books" for Spring 2023, a "Must Read of 2023" according to the Next Big Idea Club, one of Kirkus's "8 Most Buzzworthy Books Right Now," and a “Most Anticipated Book of 2023” by Literary Hub, The Next Big Idea Club, Kirkus, Zibby Books, and Professional Book Nerds.
Robbins is “an excellent stylist and a first-rate mind” (Houston Chronicle) whose writing style is “highly addictive” (Philadelphia Inquirer) and who “has a gift for writing fact like fiction” (Kirkus Reviews). She has also been honored with a "Distinguished Service to Public Education" award.
Robbins' books have been a New York Times Editors' Choice, People Magazine's Critic's Choice, a Books for a Better Life Award winner, and a Goodreads Best Nonfiction Book of the Year. She writes for publications such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and Forbes. She has appeared on a wide variety of national television shows such as "60 Minutes," "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "The Today Show," "The View," "The Colbert Report" and "Anderson Cooper 360."
You can find her on Twitter at @AlexndraRobbins, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAlexan..., on Instagram and TikTok at @authorAlexandraRobbins, and visit her website alexandrarobbins.com for more information.”
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 761 reviews
January 2, 2023
THE TEACHERS is the most important book of my career. Written in my usual fiction style so that readers can lose themselves in the characters' stories, THE TEACHERS takes you behind the scenes (behind the desks, behind the staffroom door, behind the principal's door, behind the parent/teacher conference door...) in elementary, middle, and high schools. I followed three teachers - Rebecca, Penny, and Miguel - for a year and interviewed hundreds of other teachers across the country to present the full picture the public doesn't see: the realities, secrets, challenges, and joys. These are real teachers' voices - urgent, vital, and strong. Hear them roar.
Preorders available at bit.ly/teachersbook
Preorders available at bit.ly/teachersbook
April 6, 2023
As much as I hate to, I HAVE to dock at least a star for this despite the important and interesting content because the audiobook was practically unlistenable. The author reads the book in various attempted “regional accents” and put-on character voices that were cartoonish, distracting, irritating, and borderline offensive. It legitimately comes across like she is making fun of the people whose words she is reading, even though I know that cannot be true. (They sound like SNL skit character accents or something - over the top, ridiculous, and horrible!) It all seems like such poor judgement to me that I can’t grasp how it was ever possibly green-lit. And, as someone else commented in their Audible review, this choice threatens to undermine the credibility of the whole project. I get the author’s desire to bring to life the teachers she portrays, but this isn’t the first time at the rodeo for this author in creating these sociological portraits of various professional or institutional environments and by now she can rely on her reporting alone to do this - the teachers’ own words speak for themselves. I honestly can’t believe I made it through this whole thing - I was looking forward to the book, but it was torture and the voices never got better.
January 14, 2024
American Philosopher Sidney Hook once said, “Everyone who remembers his own education remembers teachers, not methods and techniques. The teacher is the heart of the educational system.”
I totally agree with that statement. Teachers are so important in the lives of our children; teach and learning the things they have to deal with in order to show up for our kids, day in and day out, is truly eye opening. Alexandra Robbins has done a masterful job of highlighting what it means to be a teacher now. Told mainly through the experience of three educators working in different regions, subject areas, and grade levels, we see the commonalities that exist in the teacher experience and the wide array of increasingly extreme challenges they face in order to succeed in their work with students. While Robbins’ book is a clarion call for change and support for both educators and students, it also makes sure to share the daily joys of the teaching experience. The three educators spotlighted share warm, touching, and frequently hilarious daily exchanges that occur in their classrooms. The notion that classrooms are like families is a common thread throughout the book. Whether helping them with their homework, showing compassion, supporting goals, believing in them, or just being a great listener when going through a difficult time, students often remember the little things that a teacher once did for them. Teaching is the easy part; it’s all of the other roles they are expected to play because of all the needs of our students that make this job difficult and overwhelming many days.
"The Teachers" is a fascinating, and often harrowing, must read for anyone in our society who values the education of children. Still, so many teachers I know sojourn on, giving their utmost to kid's day in and day out. What Robbins has done is open our eyes so that we do not perceive Teacher's as undervalued and unappreciated. They are the profession that should be given a gold star every day for their profession.
I totally agree with that statement. Teachers are so important in the lives of our children; teach and learning the things they have to deal with in order to show up for our kids, day in and day out, is truly eye opening. Alexandra Robbins has done a masterful job of highlighting what it means to be a teacher now. Told mainly through the experience of three educators working in different regions, subject areas, and grade levels, we see the commonalities that exist in the teacher experience and the wide array of increasingly extreme challenges they face in order to succeed in their work with students. While Robbins’ book is a clarion call for change and support for both educators and students, it also makes sure to share the daily joys of the teaching experience. The three educators spotlighted share warm, touching, and frequently hilarious daily exchanges that occur in their classrooms. The notion that classrooms are like families is a common thread throughout the book. Whether helping them with their homework, showing compassion, supporting goals, believing in them, or just being a great listener when going through a difficult time, students often remember the little things that a teacher once did for them. Teaching is the easy part; it’s all of the other roles they are expected to play because of all the needs of our students that make this job difficult and overwhelming many days.
"The Teachers" is a fascinating, and often harrowing, must read for anyone in our society who values the education of children. Still, so many teachers I know sojourn on, giving their utmost to kid's day in and day out. What Robbins has done is open our eyes so that we do not perceive Teacher's as undervalued and unappreciated. They are the profession that should be given a gold star every day for their profession.
December 19, 2022
Are you a teacher? Do you know a teacher or do you have children in school? Then this is a book for you.
As a teacher (25 years) I believe this book is an accurate representation of what teachers across the country face. I personally am friendly with many teachers nationally via some awards programs and of course due to my own role, subscribed to multiple outlets for help and support during covid.
The picture painted by NYTimes bestselling author Robbins is unflinchingly true. As teachers, our lives are completely entwined with our job, all day, every day, even in the summer. I like it best when it's referred to as a calling as it is certainly an underfunded job.
I loved reading about the experiences of these diverse teachers and also appreciated the tips and tricks. Meeting with parents is never easy and I felt it in my own gut when a teacher mentioned her trepidation with opening her work email. I hope this book is well read and passed along to all parents and adults who are friends with or supporting teachers. I'd love that because Alexandra manages to explain the unexplainable - the obstacles, the fears and the hopes and the feats that we all face every day as teachers
#PenguinGroup #Dutton #TheTeachers #AlexandraRobbins
As a teacher (25 years) I believe this book is an accurate representation of what teachers across the country face. I personally am friendly with many teachers nationally via some awards programs and of course due to my own role, subscribed to multiple outlets for help and support during covid.
The picture painted by NYTimes bestselling author Robbins is unflinchingly true. As teachers, our lives are completely entwined with our job, all day, every day, even in the summer. I like it best when it's referred to as a calling as it is certainly an underfunded job.
I loved reading about the experiences of these diverse teachers and also appreciated the tips and tricks. Meeting with parents is never easy and I felt it in my own gut when a teacher mentioned her trepidation with opening her work email. I hope this book is well read and passed along to all parents and adults who are friends with or supporting teachers. I'd love that because Alexandra manages to explain the unexplainable - the obstacles, the fears and the hopes and the feats that we all face every day as teachers
#PenguinGroup #Dutton #TheTeachers #AlexandraRobbins
March 17, 2023
Robbins provides a mesmerizing inside look at the world of teaching rarely represented in nonfiction text. Told mainly through the experience of three educators working in different regions, subject areas, and grade levels, we see the commonalities that exist in the teacher experience and the wide array of increasingly extreme challenges they face in order to succeed in their work with students. As Robbins relays the stories of these three dedicated and talented teachers, she provides key research and anecdotes from educators across the country to contextualize their experience and those of their students. We become privy to bits of their outside life, which both helps humanize them and make clear the challenge teachers face to maintain any semblance of a personal life outside of the classroom.
It becomes evident to the reader that teachers, more than workers in almost any profession, cannot leave their work at the office. Home simply becomes an extension of the workplace, where teachers must prepare lessons, secure materials, correspond with parents, and process the emotional and mental effects of a vocation that faces immense disrespect and wild misconceptions. Robbins details the mounting pressures that educators faced leading up to the pandemic and the spiraling that occurred over the past few years resulting in massive resignations and a seeping general malaise amongst educators. Prior to the pandemic educators already faced issues including workplace and parent bullying, constantly shifting curriculums, understaffing, decaying classrooms, a lack of basic supplies and planning time, and low pay. It is made clear that the pandemic did not cause these issues, it merely amplified them and made them increasingly impossible to ignore.
While Robbins’ book is a clarion call for change and support for both educators and students, it also makes sure to share the daily joys of the teaching experience. The three educators spotlighted share warm, touching, and frequently hilarious daily exchanges that occur in their classrooms. The notion that classrooms are like families is a common thread throughout the book. Despite the aforementioned challenges, these amazing educators are able to connect with and inspire their students on a daily basis, even if the effects take weeks or months to reveal themselves. By the end of the school year, we have been on a roller coaster of emotions with these educators but we, like they, get to experience the incredible progress many students have made, the immense pride and love that they feel for their students, and the sorrow of saying goodbye to a family that has grown together over the course of a year.
The Teachers is a fascinating, and often harrowing, must read for anyone in our society who values the education of children. Robbins emphasizes that currently there is a dearth of educators in the profession and those who remain are overworked, both mentally and physically exhausted, with many on the brink of leaving the profession. Her practical advice for supporting educators reads as a manual for how to rescue the educational system. And, most notably, her own experience as a long term substitute teacher and parent, gives Robbins the street cred to truly understand and relate to her subject from the inside out.
It becomes evident to the reader that teachers, more than workers in almost any profession, cannot leave their work at the office. Home simply becomes an extension of the workplace, where teachers must prepare lessons, secure materials, correspond with parents, and process the emotional and mental effects of a vocation that faces immense disrespect and wild misconceptions. Robbins details the mounting pressures that educators faced leading up to the pandemic and the spiraling that occurred over the past few years resulting in massive resignations and a seeping general malaise amongst educators. Prior to the pandemic educators already faced issues including workplace and parent bullying, constantly shifting curriculums, understaffing, decaying classrooms, a lack of basic supplies and planning time, and low pay. It is made clear that the pandemic did not cause these issues, it merely amplified them and made them increasingly impossible to ignore.
While Robbins’ book is a clarion call for change and support for both educators and students, it also makes sure to share the daily joys of the teaching experience. The three educators spotlighted share warm, touching, and frequently hilarious daily exchanges that occur in their classrooms. The notion that classrooms are like families is a common thread throughout the book. Despite the aforementioned challenges, these amazing educators are able to connect with and inspire their students on a daily basis, even if the effects take weeks or months to reveal themselves. By the end of the school year, we have been on a roller coaster of emotions with these educators but we, like they, get to experience the incredible progress many students have made, the immense pride and love that they feel for their students, and the sorrow of saying goodbye to a family that has grown together over the course of a year.
The Teachers is a fascinating, and often harrowing, must read for anyone in our society who values the education of children. Robbins emphasizes that currently there is a dearth of educators in the profession and those who remain are overworked, both mentally and physically exhausted, with many on the brink of leaving the profession. Her practical advice for supporting educators reads as a manual for how to rescue the educational system. And, most notably, her own experience as a long term substitute teacher and parent, gives Robbins the street cred to truly understand and relate to her subject from the inside out.
April 21, 2023
This was a really hard read for a couple of reasons. First, a lot of the struggles faced by teachers felt miserably familiar, which made it incredibly discouraging. The historical notes about how long this has been going on makes it seem like it's never going to get better. It seems as though the public is just going to keep taking advantage of teachers, who will keep martyring themselves, and the cycle of misery and blame will just continue.
Second, I really, REALLY despised the way the author re-drew the "characters" into stereotypical roles. The teachers in Robbins' narrative are either martyrs or monsters, and this creative choice reinforces and entrenches the EXACT problems that she's supposedly trying to point out and resolve. This was what earned the book a low rating. It's just so gut-wrenchingly disappointing.
I can't help wondering how much editorial pressure there is to exaggerate those sorts of characteristics. The story is an easier "sell" when the "heroes" and "villains" are clearly defined, instead of being more authentically layered and complicated.
What pulls this up from a one-star rating are two factors. First, the smooth clarity of the writing makes it a comfortable read. Second, it's well-supported with lots of good research. The notes were extensive and provided me with some great additional reading.
I am SO disappointed with this book. I really wanted it to be better than it is.
ETA: Oops! Forgot this bit. I read a digital copy provided through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is my very first one!
Second, I really, REALLY despised the way the author re-drew the "characters" into stereotypical roles. The teachers in Robbins' narrative are either martyrs or monsters, and this creative choice reinforces and entrenches the EXACT problems that she's supposedly trying to point out and resolve. This was what earned the book a low rating. It's just so gut-wrenchingly disappointing.
I can't help wondering how much editorial pressure there is to exaggerate those sorts of characteristics. The story is an easier "sell" when the "heroes" and "villains" are clearly defined, instead of being more authentically layered and complicated.
What pulls this up from a one-star rating are two factors. First, the smooth clarity of the writing makes it a comfortable read. Second, it's well-supported with lots of good research. The notes were extensive and provided me with some great additional reading.
I am SO disappointed with this book. I really wanted it to be better than it is.
ETA: Oops! Forgot this bit. I read a digital copy provided through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is my very first one!
December 17, 2024
I've been teaching for over twenty years. I've taught at a literacy center, a homeless shelter and three public schools. This book is filled with moments and emotions that resonate deeply. I will now type all of the quotes I marked in the book.
"Too often it felt like teaching involved a precarious balance between keeping administrators happy and parents content."
"'If we're just going to let kids get good grades without effort, why should I stand up and waste my breath? But at the same time, I stand up here and waste my breath because I love what I do and I love my kids.'" (Penny - middle school math teacher)
"The public stimatizes the teaching profession, yet also expects teachers to solve all problems and blames them when they can't. Whereas once educators were expected simply to teach, now they are expected to cater."
"'The teacher is now viewed by a small, loud contingent not as a public servant but as a public enemy.'" (NBC News reported in 2021)
"When teachers leave the profession, it's rarely because of the students."
"'There's a lot of fear in schools. Teachers don't want to piss anyone off.'" (Miguel - special ed teacher)
"While grand gestures make the headlines, the truth is that most teachers do something extra for students, from working after hours to simply being accessible as a trusted adult, seemingly little things with big impacts that the public and sometimes even their own administrators don't know about."
"While employees in some other sectors contnued to work in person, they had more safeguards than teachers: Doctors and grocery store workers, for example, could attend to one patient or patron at a time, and managers of those and other workplaces could remove people who refused to abide by COVID protocols."
"...teachers are first responders to our future, if they cannot handle the risk, seek a new career." (Delaware School Board Associations email to fellow school board members during COVID)
"Teachers, as experts in learning, understood that there were inevitable knowledge gaps about the new virus -- and that districts were obligating them to be guinea pigs."
"Instead of treating teachers like other American professionals, society has long blamed them for the failings of schools and worked to constrain them through bureaucracy and regulations" (education reform historian Diana D'Amico Pawlewicz in The Washington Post).
"In the U.S. the same year [2014], a Gallup poll found that teachers ranked last among surveyed professional groups in believeing that their opinions at work were heard."
"'Thinking back on how you made students happy helps you keep oging when those really tough days happen, and there are a lot more tough days than there are old student visits.'" (Rebecca - elementary school teacher)
"70% to 80% of teachers had witnessed a principal bullying staff."
"...many teachers bear heavy workloads with a significant pay gap and are expected to cater to students, parents, administrators, and district officials with a smile."
"Teachers are denied opportunities to spend time together during the day. There's a sense of mistrust and paranoia instead of the camaraderie that once made our difficult professions less stressful and more creative, energizing, and gratifying."
"'For teachers to do their job well now, you have to not have anything or anyone else in your life'" (Miguel)
"Social pscychologists define burnout more specifically as a syndrome consisting of three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization (disconnection from or cynicism toward the workplace and colleagues), and diminished feelsing of workplace accomplishment."
"No Child Left Behind, which mandated rigorous standardized testing and penalized schools and teachers based on students' scores, remains 'the worst federal education legislation ever passed by Congress. It was punitive, harsh, stupid, ignorant about pedagogy and motivation, and ultimately a dismal failure'" (NYU research professor of education Diana Ravitch)
"Every Student Succeeds Act continued to require annual testing of every 3rd to 8th grade student, 'a practice not found in any high-performing nation in the world'" (Ravitch)
"I can't teach students as they deserve to be taught, and I won't do wrong by the students."
"' Teachers are social scientists. We see what goes on in people's homes, parenting styles, abuse and neglect, we know who's on drugs and who has been to jail. We have a lot of privileged information and much of the time we don't want it. We actually would love to come in and just teach.'" (Kentucky middle school English teacher)
"And on the first day of school the following fall, as excited as I am to get to know new students, I feel a little pang of nostalgia for last year's kids."
"When a 6th grader hit Michelle, a New Jersey teacher, in the face so hard she sustained permanent nerve damage in her neck, administrators suspended the student for one week and then sent him right back into Michelle's classroom."
"The Sun Sentinel reported that when educators complained about violence, sometimes their bosses blamed them for not controlling the student."
"As usual, school districts put the onus on teachers to make up for the districts' failures--in this case, their short-sightedness in not hiring more substitutes or making substitute teaching a more attractive job."
"'Overall, I get infuriated by the culture of low expectations because it not only puts all students at a disadvantage heading into the next level, it cripples children of color, the group of students who have historically had academic disadvantages.'" (Texas high school English teacher)
"'While teaching is stressful, hard, and often overwhelming, you also get nuggest that signal you're making an impact ... What's wonderful about being a teacher is knowing that even after I'm gone, my life will have meant something.'" (Miguel)
"He realized that his frustrations with teaching involved testing, unncessary paperwork, and obstructive bureaucracy..."
"Teaching is a hard job, but it is harder to step away."
"'I can't think of another industry where you can have two degrees and a master's and still make less than 50K a year.'" (Texas high school English teacher)
"'A lot of teachers leave the profession because we all know there are jobs out there that pay significantly more while demanding so much less of our time and emotional energy.'" (Colorado high school science teacher)
"But the pandemic mistreatment of teachers was teh final straw that convinced many to leave their jobs. They saw that public schools, and therefore educators, were the underfunded, unquipped safety net for societal failures. Schools cannot shoulder that responsibility and teachers should not bear the blame."
And there you have it! If you are a teacher or know a teacher, one or more of these quotes definitely is a truth you've lived.
"Too often it felt like teaching involved a precarious balance between keeping administrators happy and parents content."
"'If we're just going to let kids get good grades without effort, why should I stand up and waste my breath? But at the same time, I stand up here and waste my breath because I love what I do and I love my kids.'" (Penny - middle school math teacher)
"The public stimatizes the teaching profession, yet also expects teachers to solve all problems and blames them when they can't. Whereas once educators were expected simply to teach, now they are expected to cater."
"'The teacher is now viewed by a small, loud contingent not as a public servant but as a public enemy.'" (NBC News reported in 2021)
"When teachers leave the profession, it's rarely because of the students."
"'There's a lot of fear in schools. Teachers don't want to piss anyone off.'" (Miguel - special ed teacher)
"While grand gestures make the headlines, the truth is that most teachers do something extra for students, from working after hours to simply being accessible as a trusted adult, seemingly little things with big impacts that the public and sometimes even their own administrators don't know about."
"While employees in some other sectors contnued to work in person, they had more safeguards than teachers: Doctors and grocery store workers, for example, could attend to one patient or patron at a time, and managers of those and other workplaces could remove people who refused to abide by COVID protocols."
"...teachers are first responders to our future, if they cannot handle the risk, seek a new career." (Delaware School Board Associations email to fellow school board members during COVID)
"Teachers, as experts in learning, understood that there were inevitable knowledge gaps about the new virus -- and that districts were obligating them to be guinea pigs."
"Instead of treating teachers like other American professionals, society has long blamed them for the failings of schools and worked to constrain them through bureaucracy and regulations" (education reform historian Diana D'Amico Pawlewicz in The Washington Post).
"In the U.S. the same year [2014], a Gallup poll found that teachers ranked last among surveyed professional groups in believeing that their opinions at work were heard."
"'Thinking back on how you made students happy helps you keep oging when those really tough days happen, and there are a lot more tough days than there are old student visits.'" (Rebecca - elementary school teacher)
"70% to 80% of teachers had witnessed a principal bullying staff."
"...many teachers bear heavy workloads with a significant pay gap and are expected to cater to students, parents, administrators, and district officials with a smile."
"Teachers are denied opportunities to spend time together during the day. There's a sense of mistrust and paranoia instead of the camaraderie that once made our difficult professions less stressful and more creative, energizing, and gratifying."
"'For teachers to do their job well now, you have to not have anything or anyone else in your life'" (Miguel)
"Social pscychologists define burnout more specifically as a syndrome consisting of three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization (disconnection from or cynicism toward the workplace and colleagues), and diminished feelsing of workplace accomplishment."
"No Child Left Behind, which mandated rigorous standardized testing and penalized schools and teachers based on students' scores, remains 'the worst federal education legislation ever passed by Congress. It was punitive, harsh, stupid, ignorant about pedagogy and motivation, and ultimately a dismal failure'" (NYU research professor of education Diana Ravitch)
"Every Student Succeeds Act continued to require annual testing of every 3rd to 8th grade student, 'a practice not found in any high-performing nation in the world'" (Ravitch)
"I can't teach students as they deserve to be taught, and I won't do wrong by the students."
"' Teachers are social scientists. We see what goes on in people's homes, parenting styles, abuse and neglect, we know who's on drugs and who has been to jail. We have a lot of privileged information and much of the time we don't want it. We actually would love to come in and just teach.'" (Kentucky middle school English teacher)
"And on the first day of school the following fall, as excited as I am to get to know new students, I feel a little pang of nostalgia for last year's kids."
"When a 6th grader hit Michelle, a New Jersey teacher, in the face so hard she sustained permanent nerve damage in her neck, administrators suspended the student for one week and then sent him right back into Michelle's classroom."
"The Sun Sentinel reported that when educators complained about violence, sometimes their bosses blamed them for not controlling the student."
"As usual, school districts put the onus on teachers to make up for the districts' failures--in this case, their short-sightedness in not hiring more substitutes or making substitute teaching a more attractive job."
"'Overall, I get infuriated by the culture of low expectations because it not only puts all students at a disadvantage heading into the next level, it cripples children of color, the group of students who have historically had academic disadvantages.'" (Texas high school English teacher)
"'While teaching is stressful, hard, and often overwhelming, you also get nuggest that signal you're making an impact ... What's wonderful about being a teacher is knowing that even after I'm gone, my life will have meant something.'" (Miguel)
"He realized that his frustrations with teaching involved testing, unncessary paperwork, and obstructive bureaucracy..."
"Teaching is a hard job, but it is harder to step away."
"'I can't think of another industry where you can have two degrees and a master's and still make less than 50K a year.'" (Texas high school English teacher)
"'A lot of teachers leave the profession because we all know there are jobs out there that pay significantly more while demanding so much less of our time and emotional energy.'" (Colorado high school science teacher)
"But the pandemic mistreatment of teachers was teh final straw that convinced many to leave their jobs. They saw that public schools, and therefore educators, were the underfunded, unquipped safety net for societal failures. Schools cannot shoulder that responsibility and teachers should not bear the blame."
And there you have it! If you are a teacher or know a teacher, one or more of these quotes definitely is a truth you've lived.
July 7, 2024
I should probably qualify my review. I'm on the verge of starting my 20th year as a teacher, but my experience is different from the teachers profiled in Alexandra Robbins's The Teachers. I've taught at two universities, a nonprofit refugee program, four international schools in the Middle East and East Asia, and now a swanky private boarding/day school about an hour from where I grew up. Sure, there have been ups and downs, but for the most part, my experience as a teacher has been rewarding and a lot of fun. I guess this is to say that I'm sympathetic to the challenges the teachers in Robbins's book face, but I can't entirely relate to them despite my shared occupation. Also, this is going to sound callous in light of my relative lack of hardship as a teacher, but I don't particularly enjoy hearing teachers (or anyone, actually) complain about work. Public school teachers are right, of course, about the lack of support they receive from schools boards and administrators, the impossible feats they're expected to perform as teachers, the lack of respect they receive from the public, and the politicized attacks they're increasingly met with from human garbage culture warriors.
Which makes The Teachers a necessary and important book but maybe not one that appeals to my inner stoic, who recoils from anything that feels like wallowing. Credit to Robbins for earnestly taking on such an important task and really showing what it's like to be in a public school classroom in the U.S. Honestly, anyone who wants to have an opinion about schools should read this just to sound less ignorant and provincial in their complaints. That's not to say the book is entirely objective, however. Robbins has a political point to make, and her own left-wing beliefs inform her understanding of issues in public education. That doesn't make her disingenuous, but there's a certain framing of issues that aligns with left and center-left Democrats. I like the book, overall. I respect Robbins's views and undertaking here. I just didn't always enjoy reading it.
Which makes The Teachers a necessary and important book but maybe not one that appeals to my inner stoic, who recoils from anything that feels like wallowing. Credit to Robbins for earnestly taking on such an important task and really showing what it's like to be in a public school classroom in the U.S. Honestly, anyone who wants to have an opinion about schools should read this just to sound less ignorant and provincial in their complaints. That's not to say the book is entirely objective, however. Robbins has a political point to make, and her own left-wing beliefs inform her understanding of issues in public education. That doesn't make her disingenuous, but there's a certain framing of issues that aligns with left and center-left Democrats. I like the book, overall. I respect Robbins's views and undertaking here. I just didn't always enjoy reading it.
July 2, 2023
This book should be required reading for every citizen in the United States. As a fellow educator, not one word in the book surprised me. There were heartwarming stories and ones that left me shaking my head. It made me realize how lucky I am to teach where I do.
Read
May 28, 2023For more than fifteen years, I’ve been reading books about schooling by Alexandra Robbins. No investigative writer better understands what is happening in American education. Robbins gets that the way American schooling works in its current form has dire implications for students, teachers, and our country’s future. Overwhelming expectations from parents, administrators, and politicians are causing a crisis that is completely preventable. In The Teachers: A Year Inside America’s Most Vulnerable, Important Profession (2023), Robbins provides example after example of how unhinged parents, out-of-touch administrators, and unrealistic laws and policies are making the noble profession of teaching into an unsustainable mess.
While The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids (2007) and The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: Popularity, Quirk Theory, and Why Outsiders Thrive After High School (2011) focused on high school students, The Teachers examines what it’s like to be a K-12 teacher in post-Covid America. Robbins presents penetrating portrayals of three individual teachers across the months of a school year and enhances these narratives with vignettes from dozens of other teachers with similar stories. I’ve been involved in education for more than forty years, and I can say that nothing in The Teachers surprised me. Still, reading all of these detailed experiences with Robbins expertly connecting the dots was powerful and infuriating. (On second thought, I was surprised by the frequency of physical assaults endured by teachers, especially those in special education.)
Robbins is careful to be fair. Not all administrators are predatory boneheads, and not all teachers are saints. She introduces thoughtful, empathetic administrators, as well as vindictive teachers who are unnecessarily cruel to students and colleagues, but these are exceptions in The Teachers. The vast majority of the teachers are wise, caring, dedicated professionals mired in bureaucratic and personality-driven nightmares that negatively affect their mental, emotional, and physical health.
The Teachers is an important book. Who needs to read it? I think teachers should read it because it helps us see ourselves, our work, and our contexts more clearly and provides points for articulating why improving the lives of teachers is a national imperative. Parents of school-age children should also read this book for an enlightened look at the situations they are sending their sons and daughter into each day. Policy makers would also benefit from reading The Teachers. Many policy makers are trying to do good work; they are just too far removed from the grass roots to have a meaningful grasp of the effects of their polices. I hope you will add The Teachers to your reading list, and when you’re finished, pass it along to someone else.
This review originally appeared on my What's Not Wrong? blog in slightly different form.
June 9, 2023
This book just didn’t work for me. I spent a long time trying to parse out my feelings about the writing versus the absolutely terrible audiobook narration. The Teachers is read by the author, and she does embarrassingly bad accents for two of the three teachers. It was totally cringeworthy, and I probably should have DNF’d. I didn’t only because it’s a topic that I care a lot about and I wanted to know more.
Unfortunately, this is a very surface level report on teaching. I am not a teacher, have never had any kids in schools, and I still didn’t learn anything new. She reports on how difficult it is to deal with parents, long hours, overcrowded and underfunded schools, and standardized tests, but doesn’t even begin to explore the why. That’s what I want to know more about. Anyone can look around and see the problems in schools; I want to understand what has caused the problems, to deepen my understanding of the funding, the cultural changes, the policy decisions, etc. This was not that. If you’ve been living under a rock and somehow are convinced that teachers have it easy, this book is for you. If you already know that teachers work tirelessly, doing difficult, important work for not nearly enough pay, you can skip.
Unfortunately, this is a very surface level report on teaching. I am not a teacher, have never had any kids in schools, and I still didn’t learn anything new. She reports on how difficult it is to deal with parents, long hours, overcrowded and underfunded schools, and standardized tests, but doesn’t even begin to explore the why. That’s what I want to know more about. Anyone can look around and see the problems in schools; I want to understand what has caused the problems, to deepen my understanding of the funding, the cultural changes, the policy decisions, etc. This was not that. If you’ve been living under a rock and somehow are convinced that teachers have it easy, this book is for you. If you already know that teachers work tirelessly, doing difficult, important work for not nearly enough pay, you can skip.
September 6, 2024
Published in March 2023, "The Teachers: A Year Inside America's Most Vulnerable, Important Profession," by Alexandra Robbins, is a human-interest-story nonfiction book examining the issues driving the current teacher shortage in the United States.
I have my own firsthand experience of teaching in a public school, and I would honestly NEVER put this book into a school teacher's hands, because I find all of the human-interest-story sections so triggering. Robbins follows the lives of three school teachers over the course of one school year (none of whom quit the profession, despite undergoing horrific amounts of abuse, which is described in detail). I could not force myself to read any of that material carefully, or for more than a minute or two at a time, and the only way I could finish this book was to start skipping all of those sections entirely. (And I think those sections make up a majority of this book.)
Of the general nonfiction information that Robbins presents, I thought it was fine, but I didn't learn anything new. While I am glad that someone who hasn't spent years of her life in this profession could come to the conclusions that Robbins puts forth, this book was not a revelation to me. In the past few years, I've listened to a number of YouTube videos of school teachers explaining their horrible situations and reasons for quitting, and have found a lot of solace and comfort in those videos.
I did not find any comfort in this book, other than an understanding that Robbins truly does empathize with teachers quite a lot.
Funnily enough, I came to realize that what this book *really* needed (in order for me to enjoy it) was an analysis of why so many Americans loathe and despise teachers so much. I think a lot of good can come from what is really driving that hatred. A hatred that is not only targeted at teachers, but at the idea of education itself.
When I taught in a public school in my twenties (2006-2011), I was constantly dealing with traumatic memories from childhood and young adulthood that kept surfacing, memories of teachers being cruel, abusive, openly bullying me, and just all kinds of horrible situations that I was never able to process as a child or as a young adult. I think what made it all so jarring was the contrast of how very different my own teaching was, how very much my students loved me (rather than despising me, as I had despised my own teachers), and how much daily abuse from parents and administrators I still received on the job, regardless of my performance.
Being a pubic school teacher left me with a severe case of PTSD, and as I've gone on my own healing journey, I've come to understand that the job was simply a massively abusive situation that was constantly triggering the CPTSD I had yet to resolve. And when I reflect upon all of the angry/entitled/violent parents, horrible school administrators, and overwhelming amounts of bullshit that plague modern teaching, I suddenly realize how not-alone I am in all of this: in all of that unresolved CPTSD.
None of which is touched upon in this book. I think the ideal audience for this book is someone who is worried about the state of U.S. education, is seeking to understand why schools are struggling so much to keep teachers on staff, and has never worked full-time as a school teacher themselves.
Personally, I would rate "The Teachers" two stars, and I just wish I had DNF'd. I definitely would not recommend anyone buy this book for "a teacher friend" as any kind of act of love or appreciation for "the job they do." If anyone thinks that's a good plan, I would recommend reading this book yourself first, and then asking your friend if they would like a free copy. Because this book is kind of a lot, and I'm just unconvinced that pushing a lot of other teachers' unprocessed trauma on folx who are still working in this profession is actually a good thing.
Since I do not believe I am, in any way, the right audience for this book, I am going to rate it 3 stars. This book was just really not my thing, but I do recognize that there is probably a lot of value in these pages for the right audience.
My own emotions while reading "The Teachers" bounced between boredom and revulsion, revulsion and boredom. This book just really wasn't my jam.
I have my own firsthand experience of teaching in a public school, and I would honestly NEVER put this book into a school teacher's hands, because I find all of the human-interest-story sections so triggering. Robbins follows the lives of three school teachers over the course of one school year (none of whom quit the profession, despite undergoing horrific amounts of abuse, which is described in detail). I could not force myself to read any of that material carefully, or for more than a minute or two at a time, and the only way I could finish this book was to start skipping all of those sections entirely. (And I think those sections make up a majority of this book.)
Of the general nonfiction information that Robbins presents, I thought it was fine, but I didn't learn anything new. While I am glad that someone who hasn't spent years of her life in this profession could come to the conclusions that Robbins puts forth, this book was not a revelation to me. In the past few years, I've listened to a number of YouTube videos of school teachers explaining their horrible situations and reasons for quitting, and have found a lot of solace and comfort in those videos.
I did not find any comfort in this book, other than an understanding that Robbins truly does empathize with teachers quite a lot.
Funnily enough, I came to realize that what this book *really* needed (in order for me to enjoy it) was an analysis of why so many Americans loathe and despise teachers so much. I think a lot of good can come from what is really driving that hatred. A hatred that is not only targeted at teachers, but at the idea of education itself.
When I taught in a public school in my twenties (2006-2011), I was constantly dealing with traumatic memories from childhood and young adulthood that kept surfacing, memories of teachers being cruel, abusive, openly bullying me, and just all kinds of horrible situations that I was never able to process as a child or as a young adult. I think what made it all so jarring was the contrast of how very different my own teaching was, how very much my students loved me (rather than despising me, as I had despised my own teachers), and how much daily abuse from parents and administrators I still received on the job, regardless of my performance.
Being a pubic school teacher left me with a severe case of PTSD, and as I've gone on my own healing journey, I've come to understand that the job was simply a massively abusive situation that was constantly triggering the CPTSD I had yet to resolve. And when I reflect upon all of the angry/entitled/violent parents, horrible school administrators, and overwhelming amounts of bullshit that plague modern teaching, I suddenly realize how not-alone I am in all of this: in all of that unresolved CPTSD.
None of which is touched upon in this book. I think the ideal audience for this book is someone who is worried about the state of U.S. education, is seeking to understand why schools are struggling so much to keep teachers on staff, and has never worked full-time as a school teacher themselves.
Personally, I would rate "The Teachers" two stars, and I just wish I had DNF'd. I definitely would not recommend anyone buy this book for "a teacher friend" as any kind of act of love or appreciation for "the job they do." If anyone thinks that's a good plan, I would recommend reading this book yourself first, and then asking your friend if they would like a free copy. Because this book is kind of a lot, and I'm just unconvinced that pushing a lot of other teachers' unprocessed trauma on folx who are still working in this profession is actually a good thing.
Since I do not believe I am, in any way, the right audience for this book, I am going to rate it 3 stars. This book was just really not my thing, but I do recognize that there is probably a lot of value in these pages for the right audience.
My own emotions while reading "The Teachers" bounced between boredom and revulsion, revulsion and boredom. This book just really wasn't my jam.
April 22, 2023
We need to get this book into the hands of our politicians, parents, school administrators, and school district leaders. Teachers know this story. They live it everyday. Now, thanks to Alexandra Robbins, the people who can make a difference will get an inside view of the hardships of teaching. An eye- opening read!
July 25, 2023
Many teachers will relate to the stories in this book, but I feel it misses in reaching for those outside the field of education.
June 23, 2023
I wasn't sure if I wanted to read this. I mean, I've been teaching for 23 years so is the book really going to tell me anything I don't already know about the profession? Or am I really going to want to hear about all of the negative things that I hate about the job myself, just compounding the way I feel? However, I have read a lot of Robbins' books and really enjoyed them all. Plus, a former colleague assured me that it was worth a read regardless. And he was right.
Is it my favorite of the author's work? No. But that is likely due to the fact that there wasn't a lot that surprised me since I am a teacher. It is still well done like the rest of her work. I just think I was a bit too close to this one. That said, it did show me that I have it pretty darn good in the world of teaching. I thankfully don't have to deal with many of the issues that the teachers featured in this book do. So I liked that it gave me a little perspective. Sadly though, despite the fact that I have a much better work situation than the teachers in the book (well-paid, good benefits, great kids and colleagues, a district that has resources), I am still facing the burnout that is described in the book. So while it made me appreciative of the things I do have, it made me discouraged that despite this, I still am feeling a slump in my own career.
If you aren't a teacher, I think you would find this insider view interesting and informative. If you are, you'll find yourself nodding along in parts but you won't be bored. Teaching has gotten increasingly isolated. Teachers used to eat lunch together or hang out in the teachers lounge. Now, most teachers have a working lunch or will lock themselves away somewhere to get work done uninterrupted. I don't know what my colleagues are doing in their classes, even though it would be great professionally to have more time to learn from them. This book allowed me to do that a bit.
Is it my favorite of the author's work? No. But that is likely due to the fact that there wasn't a lot that surprised me since I am a teacher. It is still well done like the rest of her work. I just think I was a bit too close to this one. That said, it did show me that I have it pretty darn good in the world of teaching. I thankfully don't have to deal with many of the issues that the teachers featured in this book do. So I liked that it gave me a little perspective. Sadly though, despite the fact that I have a much better work situation than the teachers in the book (well-paid, good benefits, great kids and colleagues, a district that has resources), I am still facing the burnout that is described in the book. So while it made me appreciative of the things I do have, it made me discouraged that despite this, I still am feeling a slump in my own career.
If you aren't a teacher, I think you would find this insider view interesting and informative. If you are, you'll find yourself nodding along in parts but you won't be bored. Teaching has gotten increasingly isolated. Teachers used to eat lunch together or hang out in the teachers lounge. Now, most teachers have a working lunch or will lock themselves away somewhere to get work done uninterrupted. I don't know what my colleagues are doing in their classes, even though it would be great professionally to have more time to learn from them. This book allowed me to do that a bit.
July 10, 2023
I am a teacher, have been for nine years now. As a result, I am very much biased in favor of this enlightening and important book from Alexandra Robbins.
It's enlightening because it shows that no matter how bad we have it in our unique situations, others have worse. Far worse. By hearing from three teachers in depth and countless more scattered throughout, readers get an excellent glimpse into what contemporary teachers endure daily.
It's important because she wonderfully delineates the challenges teachers have from unsupportive administration to hostile parents to state governments not doing enough to do compensate teachers, renovate dangerous classrooms, or fund programs to keep America's child competitive in the world.
The book came out in the spring so she doesn't cover the recent attack on educators and book bans with substantive depth. Maybe for the paperback.
I don't give this five stars because I think she gives short shrift to high school teachers and over-emphasizes special ed. While vitally important, and the stories here will make you year up, they are a minority percentage of the student enrollment. The issues facing today's teens are mostly ignored, which, to me, is a missed opportunity.
It's enlightening because it shows that no matter how bad we have it in our unique situations, others have worse. Far worse. By hearing from three teachers in depth and countless more scattered throughout, readers get an excellent glimpse into what contemporary teachers endure daily.
It's important because she wonderfully delineates the challenges teachers have from unsupportive administration to hostile parents to state governments not doing enough to do compensate teachers, renovate dangerous classrooms, or fund programs to keep America's child competitive in the world.
The book came out in the spring so she doesn't cover the recent attack on educators and book bans with substantive depth. Maybe for the paperback.
I don't give this five stars because I think she gives short shrift to high school teachers and over-emphasizes special ed. While vitally important, and the stories here will make you year up, they are a minority percentage of the student enrollment. The issues facing today's teens are mostly ignored, which, to me, is a missed opportunity.
May 5, 2024
I really liked this book, and I really think people who are not teachers need to read it. It hits on a lot of the reality of teaching--the parents, the admin, the district, the boards, the colleagues--all of it. I have to say that I am so lucky to be in the place I am in with the concerns that I have. While I have nearly had a computer thrown at me this year, and I've been called terrible names by parents and students, nothing is to the level that is seen in this book. Overall, I have a very supportive department, admin, district, and board. (Our state school board is a completely different story).
I understand my own bias while reading this, but I do think people don't realize what goes in to the day to day of teaching, and the toll it takes on individuals. This book does a good job of showing that.
She also has a very strong bias in here, and doesn't do a great job of showing the other sides.
I always have to remind myself for every tough parent, there are 10 very supportive parents.
I understand my own bias while reading this, but I do think people don't realize what goes in to the day to day of teaching, and the toll it takes on individuals. This book does a good job of showing that.
She also has a very strong bias in here, and doesn't do a great job of showing the other sides.
I always have to remind myself for every tough parent, there are 10 very supportive parents.
July 24, 2023
DNF at 39% after multiple attempts to keep reading. I've read many of Robbins' books (The Overachievers, The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth, Pledged, and Fraternity) and am familiar with her immersive journalistic style of drawing provocative characters/composites from a story she is telling, and following them closely over time to create compelling narrative arcs to support a central thesis. Unfortunately The Teachers veers too much into gonzo journalism with Robbins self-inserting her own experiences as a substitute teacher and her own very politically-biased feelings into the mix. I am sympathetic to the plights of teachers (I believe they are generally underpaid and overworked), but I didn't enjoy how one-sided and frankly angry this book was.
October 31, 2022
I have loved some of this author's previous non-fiction works so I was excited to see this one on Netgalley! Unfortunately, I found the style of it very jumpy and odd. The chapters were half teachers' personal stories, half listed advice which I completely skimmed.
I also found it was simultaneously really fatalistic and uplifting. I'm not exactly sure what message the book is trying to impart but it was pretty darn depressing.
I also found it was simultaneously really fatalistic and uplifting. I'm not exactly sure what message the book is trying to impart but it was pretty darn depressing.
May 9, 2023
I reeeeally wanted to love this, but I just think it missed the mark. The tone was kind of pretentious, kind of out of touch, and I wish it really captured what life is like in a public school in the US because I think more people need to hear that perspective.
April 13, 2023
Awful narration for the audiobook. Painful!
November 28, 2023
This book really brought me back to my one year of teaching. Honestly, it validated my reasoning for leaving the field so early. But it also made me miss the "small victories." This was a great listen and I hope more people read/listen to it to gain more perspective on what our nation's teachers go through.
July 3, 2024
Schools (and teachers) across America vary dramatically, and I didn't feel that Robbins did this variety justice. If you believe her, nearly all teachers are liberal saints (the ones who aren't are conservative and completely incompetent), all parents are conservative clowns, and students are either monsters or misunderstood angels. And all teachers are practically alcoholics because they have no other way of dealing with their stressful jobs.
Robbins definitely has a biased, liberal agenda. She believes parents should have virtually no say in what their kids are taught (which pretty much goes against the U.S. constitution), and that everyone should just trust teachers. Which would be fine if everyone believed the same things, but there will always be disagreement. (Surely liberals don't want their kids to be indoctrinated in conservative beliefs?)
The author makes a big deal of LGBTQ teachers not feeling free to share their identity and lifestyle with their students, but this has been true for anyone who practices religion, whose identities are centered around their religious beliefs, and the author never mentions this or seems concerned. At the end of the day, teachers aren't there to share their life choices, they're there to teach academics.
As far as the individual teachers profiled go, the author spends more time talking about their personal love lives and pets than about their teaching careers.
I listened to the audiobook and, yes, I found the put-on accents of the author to be cringey and obnoxious.
There was quite a bit of profanity, especially the f-word, and God's name was misused.
I did like this quote:
“‘Teacher shortage’ may be the popular term, but it’s a misleading one. There is not a shortage of potential, qualified, and aspiring educators. There is a shortage of teaching jobs that adequately treat and compensate bachelors- to masters- level professionals such that they would want to be teachers.” 1:10:00
Robbins definitely has a biased, liberal agenda. She believes parents should have virtually no say in what their kids are taught (which pretty much goes against the U.S. constitution), and that everyone should just trust teachers. Which would be fine if everyone believed the same things, but there will always be disagreement. (Surely liberals don't want their kids to be indoctrinated in conservative beliefs?)
The author makes a big deal of LGBTQ teachers not feeling free to share their identity and lifestyle with their students, but this has been true for anyone who practices religion, whose identities are centered around their religious beliefs, and the author never mentions this or seems concerned. At the end of the day, teachers aren't there to share their life choices, they're there to teach academics.
As far as the individual teachers profiled go, the author spends more time talking about their personal love lives and pets than about their teaching careers.
I listened to the audiobook and, yes, I found the put-on accents of the author to be cringey and obnoxious.
There was quite a bit of profanity, especially the f-word, and God's name was misused.
I did like this quote:
“‘Teacher shortage’ may be the popular term, but it’s a misleading one. There is not a shortage of potential, qualified, and aspiring educators. There is a shortage of teaching jobs that adequately treat and compensate bachelors- to masters- level professionals such that they would want to be teachers.” 1:10:00
September 6, 2023
This book is infuriating to me. It’s a bunch of complaining without any air of resolve. And the audiobook is terrible.
April 21, 2023
This book inspired me, angered me, filled me with awe and wonder, and made me really and truly think—think about our public schools, the educators who work so hard, the students who depend on the schools, and the parents who can make life so wonderful or challenging for their children's teachers.
Written by Alexandra Robbins, this is an eye-opening deep dive into the state of public education in the United States in the 2020s. If you are a teacher or a parent of a student, this is a must-read. Using her extraordinary reporting and research skills, Robbins tells this important story in two distinct ways: by following the personal stories of three very different teachers and through hard-hitting essays based on facts, figures, and learned opinions of what is happening in the nation's classrooms.
This is what it means to be a teacher today.
The three teacher stories feature an uncensored, no-holds-barred look at their joys and frustrations, successes and failures, as well as their personal lives over the course of a school year:
• Rebecca Abrams, an East Coast elementary school teacher.
• Miguel Garcia, a middle school special education teacher in the West.
• Penny Davis, a middle school math teacher in the South.
(The names of the teachers and schools have been changed to protect their identities),
If you think a teacher's job is easy with a long summer vacation as the biggest perk, then this book will be a real eye-opener. Find out:
• What really goes on in the classroom.
• Go behind-the-scenes at parent-teacher conferences, the staff lounge, and teacher happy hour.
• Teachers' secret codes and strategies and what they really think about the parents.
• Meet amazing children—those who are stellar students and those who are struggling. (Oh, my heart! These kids!)
• How much money teachers make and why so many of them have second and even third jobs just to pay the bills.
• How much teachers spend of their own money on supplies for their classrooms. (If you really want to be a helpful parent, there is valuable advice on how you can assist with this expense.)
• Why teaching is incompatible with good physical and mental health. (Prepare to be shocked. I was.)
• Why our public schools are a hotspot for workplace bullying, leaving so many teachers verbally and psychologically abused by each other and their administrators.
• The shockingly high percentage of teachers who have been the target of violence or abuse, almost always by students.
Alexandra Robbins has produced a most unusual book: a non-fiction page-turner. It is filled with riveting and compelling storytelling, as well as cutting-edge research. It is a treasure! And we should heed its valuable advice.
P.S. This is how much I loved the book. I read it on a Kindle, and about four chapters in, I bought the hardcover edition for my sister, a retired teacher's assistant, who worked in a public elementary school for 20+ years.
Written by Alexandra Robbins, this is an eye-opening deep dive into the state of public education in the United States in the 2020s. If you are a teacher or a parent of a student, this is a must-read. Using her extraordinary reporting and research skills, Robbins tells this important story in two distinct ways: by following the personal stories of three very different teachers and through hard-hitting essays based on facts, figures, and learned opinions of what is happening in the nation's classrooms.
This is what it means to be a teacher today.
The three teacher stories feature an uncensored, no-holds-barred look at their joys and frustrations, successes and failures, as well as their personal lives over the course of a school year:
• Rebecca Abrams, an East Coast elementary school teacher.
• Miguel Garcia, a middle school special education teacher in the West.
• Penny Davis, a middle school math teacher in the South.
(The names of the teachers and schools have been changed to protect their identities),
If you think a teacher's job is easy with a long summer vacation as the biggest perk, then this book will be a real eye-opener. Find out:
• What really goes on in the classroom.
• Go behind-the-scenes at parent-teacher conferences, the staff lounge, and teacher happy hour.
• Teachers' secret codes and strategies and what they really think about the parents.
• Meet amazing children—those who are stellar students and those who are struggling. (Oh, my heart! These kids!)
• How much money teachers make and why so many of them have second and even third jobs just to pay the bills.
• How much teachers spend of their own money on supplies for their classrooms. (If you really want to be a helpful parent, there is valuable advice on how you can assist with this expense.)
• Why teaching is incompatible with good physical and mental health. (Prepare to be shocked. I was.)
• Why our public schools are a hotspot for workplace bullying, leaving so many teachers verbally and psychologically abused by each other and their administrators.
• The shockingly high percentage of teachers who have been the target of violence or abuse, almost always by students.
Alexandra Robbins has produced a most unusual book: a non-fiction page-turner. It is filled with riveting and compelling storytelling, as well as cutting-edge research. It is a treasure! And we should heed its valuable advice.
P.S. This is how much I loved the book. I read it on a Kindle, and about four chapters in, I bought the hardcover edition for my sister, a retired teacher's assistant, who worked in a public elementary school for 20+ years.
December 2, 2022
“The Teachers” is a compelling look at one of society’s most trusted- yet most vilified - professions. We follow three teachers during the course of one school year. We learn about their professional and personal lives, as well as examine some systemic issues in schools, from administrations and boards to other teachers, parents, and students. I was drawn into their stories and the challenges and outcomes of their students - applauding their successes and empathizing with their issues. I thought I knew what it was like to be a teacher, but this book was enlightening. To learn about what teachers put up with was disheartening, especially knowing that they tolerate their treatment because they care so deeply for their students. An excellent read.
January 10, 2023
Since 2006 I have enjoyed and gained insight from all of Alexandra Robbins’ books. As an educator for more than three decades and having served four distinct schools, in The Teachers I can identify my own experiences, as well as those of various diverse educators from across the country. While there are universal challenges among public schools nationwide, each state and each school district within a state represent a unique, highly complex organization that has stretched its limits in meeting the learning, social, and emotional needs of our children. Public school district resources continue to diminish as impossible challenges and unreasonable expectations rise. Robbins has taken on a tremendous task of depicting public schools, which are as disparate as their individual administrators, teachers, and students. She has captivated the demanding, exhausting, and heartbreaking roles of a core group of teachers, developing those threads throughout the text while interweaving mind-boggling testimonies of numerous additional teachers. I applaud her many years of research, excellent writing, and commitment to increasing awareness about the teaching profession in dire crisis. The Teachers is a must-read for all who seek to understand what is really happening in our schools. Whether or not families have children in public schools, the frightening decline in the teaching profession and the failure of public schools impact all children and our future.
June 2, 2023
As a teacher, I cried many times while reading this: both in commiseration for the featured teachers’ struggles and in mutual understanding of their joys. Of course, this book reinstilled my thankfulness for the absolute blessing of being able to have such a meaningful career; it also crystallized the vague frustrations that depress me so often in what should be wholly rewarding work. I’m too numb to society’s—and the educational institution’s—apathy toward education to be foolish enough to get angry, but I want to be angry.
I’m not sure who decides that investing in children is worthless and who decides that teachers are task-mastering babysitters, but it appears, maybe, that because this book exists, maybe, the mistreatment of educators, the disrespect, and the myopic view of us—both students and teachers alike—as a secondary class unworthy of investment MAY change; granted, this will not be because humanity suddenly became more empathetic and aware of the power of education—I have little hope many outside of actual educators will read this book…and that includes educational admin—but perhaps the mass exodus from teaching will at least cause some basic changes that should’ve happened decades ago: higher pay, serious attention to teacher’s professional voices and resultant changes, and maybe, just maybe, we can pretend to care about the millions of beautiful souls we could enrich and amplify if we at least *pretended* as a society to care as much about them as teachers already *actually* care.
Gift this book to someone. Maybe it should be made into a documentary—please? Hollywood? And please no cliche teacher movies. We’re all heroes.
So few read any longer, and I fear this society-altering message about teachers and their importance will not become widespread from just a book presence.
I’m not sure who decides that investing in children is worthless and who decides that teachers are task-mastering babysitters, but it appears, maybe, that because this book exists, maybe, the mistreatment of educators, the disrespect, and the myopic view of us—both students and teachers alike—as a secondary class unworthy of investment MAY change; granted, this will not be because humanity suddenly became more empathetic and aware of the power of education—I have little hope many outside of actual educators will read this book…and that includes educational admin—but perhaps the mass exodus from teaching will at least cause some basic changes that should’ve happened decades ago: higher pay, serious attention to teacher’s professional voices and resultant changes, and maybe, just maybe, we can pretend to care about the millions of beautiful souls we could enrich and amplify if we at least *pretended* as a society to care as much about them as teachers already *actually* care.
Gift this book to someone. Maybe it should be made into a documentary—please? Hollywood? And please no cliche teacher movies. We’re all heroes.
So few read any longer, and I fear this society-altering message about teachers and their importance will not become widespread from just a book presence.
March 31, 2023
The Teachers: A Year Inside America's Most Vulnerable, Important Profession is a riveting, year-in-the-life account of three excellent teachers "whose stories readers can curl up with and get lost in." The book is structured to follow three excellent teachers throughout one school year. There's Penny, a middle school math teacher in the South; Rebecca, an East Coast elementary school teacher; and Miguel, a special ed teacher out West. She interviewed hundreds of other teachers nationwide so readers could truly understand what was happening in schools today. She highlights the joys, struggles, exhaustion, and heartache that teachers around the United States face daily.
Teaching is a vital profession, and this book focuses on how undervalued teachers are. The author describes the most significant issues teachers face in our country today, issues like school violence, blatant student disrespect, outrageous parent behavior, and a shocking lack of resources. Readers will feel motivated to stand up and speak for educators to show they are appreciated. And The Teachers: A Year Inside America's Most Vulnerable, Important Profession offers the steps we can take to help them on the front lines with our children.
To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at:
https://www.momsdonthavetimetoreadboo...
Teaching is a vital profession, and this book focuses on how undervalued teachers are. The author describes the most significant issues teachers face in our country today, issues like school violence, blatant student disrespect, outrageous parent behavior, and a shocking lack of resources. Readers will feel motivated to stand up and speak for educators to show they are appreciated. And The Teachers: A Year Inside America's Most Vulnerable, Important Profession offers the steps we can take to help them on the front lines with our children.
To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at:
https://www.momsdonthavetimetoreadboo...
July 3, 2023
Robbins follows three teachers, Miguel, Penny, and Rebecca, month by month through the school year. They share their frustrations with increasing workloads and inadequate resources and their struggles with difficult and challenging students, parents, and coworkers. We get to glimpse their successes, also, and the joyful moments in their classrooms. And we get to meet some special students and follow their progress throughout the year. Interspersed with these three narratives are anecdotes from other teachers and discussions of related topics, such as burnout, parent aggression, the COVID crisis, etc., each backed up with a bit of supportive research.
This book provides a window into what is increasingly becoming the reality in today’s classrooms. It looks at the growing strain on teachers brought on by too much bureaucracy, too few resources and support, high stake testing, the blurring of lines with social media, and the physical and emotional stress of violence occurring in schools. I would have liked more in-depth analysis but I do think the book provides a good jumping off point for learning more about these issues.
This book provides a window into what is increasingly becoming the reality in today’s classrooms. It looks at the growing strain on teachers brought on by too much bureaucracy, too few resources and support, high stake testing, the blurring of lines with social media, and the physical and emotional stress of violence occurring in schools. I would have liked more in-depth analysis but I do think the book provides a good jumping off point for learning more about these issues.
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