Summers Off? - (New Directions in the History of Education) by Christine A Ogren

About the Book

"Since the nine-month school year became common in the United States during the 1880s, schoolteachers have never really had summers off. Administrators instructed them to rest, as well as to study and travel, in the interest of creating a compliant workforce. Teachers, however, adapted administrators' directives to pursue their own version of professionalization and to ensure their financial well-being. Summers Off explores teachers' summer experiences between the 1880s and 1930s in institutes and association meetings; sessions at teachers colleges, Black colleges, and prestigious universities; work for wages or their family; tourism in the U.S. and Europe; and activities intended to be restful. This heretofore untold history reveals how teachers utilized the geographical and psychological distance from the classroom that summer provided, to enhance not only their teaching skills but also their professional and intellectual independence, their membership in the middle class, and, in the cases of women and Black teachers, their defiance of gender and race hierarchies"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Since the nine-month school year became common in the United States during the 1880s, schoolteachers have never really had summers off. Administrators instructed them to rest, as well as to study and travel, in the interest of creating a compliant workforce. Teachers, however, adapted administrators' directives to pursue their own version of professionalization and to ensure their financial well-being. Summers Off explores teachers' summer experiences between the 1880s and 1930s in institutes and association meetings; sessions at teachers colleges, Black colleges, and prestigious universities; work for wages or their family; tourism in the U.S. and Europe; and activities intended to be restful. This heretofore untold history reveals how teachers utilized the geographical and psychological distance from the classroom that summer provided, to enhance not only their teaching skills but also their professional and intellectual independence, their membership in the middle class, and, in the cases of women and Black teachers, their defiance of gender and race hierarchies.

Review Quotes

"Brings to life a rich history that challenges common assumptions about teachers' time 'off.' Ogren's careful research and attention to detail reveal how summertime pursuits shaped teachers' professional and personal lives."--Diana D'Amico Pawlewicz "author of Blaming Teachers: Professionalization Policies and the Failure of Reform in American Histo"

"In this deeply researched, fascinating account, Ogren not only reveals rich new dimensions of how teachers a century ago chose to live during their precious summer months, but why their stories remain relevant for us today."--Jackie M. Blount "author of Fit to Teach: Same-Sex Desire, Gender, and School Work in the Twentieth Century"

"Ogren's exploration of what teachers did in the summer expands our understanding of teachers' lives and education in important, fascinating ways. Disparagement of time 'off' was part of deprofessionalization and a rationale for low pay and status, while teachers expanded their knowledge, perspective, and skills at their own expense. Charmed by Ogren's well-written accounts of teachers from diverse backgrounds, I remembered summer school classes, War and Peace, an enrichment program for urban kids, working on the census, swimming in Walden Pond, and more when I was teaching kindergarten in the Boston Public Schools. Summer's on, you'll learn a lot!"--Barbara Beatty "professor emerita of education, Wellesley College"

About the Author

Christine A. Ogren is a professor at the University of Iowa. She is the author of The American State Normal School: "An Instrument of Great Good" and the coeditor of Rethinking Campus Life: New Perspectives on the History of College Students in the United States.