Teaching with Fire: Poetry That Sustains the Courage to TeachISBN: 978-0-7879-6970-7
Hardcover
256 pages
October 2003, Jossey-Bass
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"Teaching with Fire is a glorious collection of the
poetry that has restored the faith of teachers in the highest, most
transcendent values of their work with children....Those who want
us to believe that teaching is a technocratic and robotic skill
devoid of art or joy or beauty need to read this powerful
collection. So, for that matter, do we all."
?Jonathan Kozol, author of Amazing Grace and Savage
Inequalities
"When reasoned argument fails, poetry helps us make sense of
life. A few well-chosen images, the spinning together of words
creates a way of seeing where we came from and lights up
possibilities for where we might be going....Dip in, read, and
ponder; share with others. It's inspiration in the very best
sense."
?Deborah Meier, co-principal of The Mission Hill School, Boston and
founder of a network of schools in East Harlem, New York
"In the Confucian tradition it is said that the mark of a golden
era is that children are the most important members of the society
and teaching is the most revered profession. Our jour ney to that
ideal may be a long one, but it is books like this that will
sustain us - for who are we all at our best save teachers, and who
matters more to us than the children?"
?Peter M. Senge, founding chair, SoL (Society for Organizational
Learning) and author of The Fifth Discipline
Those of us who care about the young and their education must find ways to remember what teaching and learning are really about. We must find ways to keep our hearts alive as we serve our students. Poetry has the power to keep us vital and focused on what really matters in life and in schooling. Teaching with Fire is a wonderful collection of eighty-eight poems from such well-loved poets as Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Billy Collins, Emily Dickinson, and Pablo Neruda. Each of these evocative poems is accompanied by a brief story from a teacher explaining the significance of the poem in his or her life's work. This beautiful book also includes an essay that describes how poetry can be used to grow both personally and professionally.
Teaching With Fire was written in partnership with the Center for Teacher Formation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Royalties from this book will be used to fund scholarship opportunities for teachers to grow and learn.