The Exceptional Teacher - by Elizabeth Aaronsohn (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

In The Exceptional Teacher, veteran K-12 teacher Elizabeth Aaronsohn examines three important questions: What do our teachers really want our children to get out of school? How do their own schooling experiences inhibit them from achieving these goals? How can a teacher education program give beginning teachers a framework for thinking differently about the whole process of teaching?

The Exceptional Teacher offers the guidance that teacher educators need to help their students become teachers who are knowledgeable and skillful practitioners, while also developing the ability to be reflective, imaginative, courageous, and flexible in the classroom-- a model for the students they are instructing. In this inspiring book, Aaronsohn shows that becoming an exceptional teacher can be a difficult but rewarding journey. She explains that success begins in understanding one's self and societal and cultural experiences. Based on qualitative research from student writings and workshops, the author offers practical advice to help begining teachers move beyond their own internalized assumptions, and become educators who will transform their classrooms.

Aaronsohn encourages teachers to develop the practice of honest reflection on their attitudes, thinking, and practices, and especially to develop the capacity to assume the perspective of another person. These practices can be nurtured through the process of in-depth writing, which helps to make meaning of experiences and brings teachers to a new level of consciousnesses about themselves, the world, and the mission of teaching.

From the Back Cover

The Path to Becoming an Exceptional Teacher

"The most important knowledge base of teacher education is the teacher. The next most important knowledge is that there are options other than the ones we may have been raised with. We have choices, and we have the obligation to use those choices responsibly for children."
-Elizabeth Aaronsohn

"This book, full of wonderful strategies and inspirations on becoming the kind of teacher we all strive to be, gives me hope for the future of teaching. Aarohnson writes with honesty and authority on how to become a truly effective educator."
-William A. Howe, president, National Association for Multicultural Education

"At a time when teacher education has come under sharp attack, this book offers an exciting and challenging blueprint for preparing the teachers we need for the schools our children deserve. Anyone willing to think outside the box and challenge their own assumptions about

teacher education should read this book-parents, future and current teachers, school administrators and other educational change agents."
-Mara Sapon-Shevin, Professor of Inclusive Education, Teaching and Leadership Programs, Syracuse University

"Using inspiring stories from her own classroom, heartfelt student responses, and current educational research, Liz Aaronsohn challenges readers to prepare a new generation of teachers who dare to know themselves, love their students, question the system, and rock the boat. If we heed her advice, we will all-teachers, students, and teacher educators-be better as a result."
-Sonia Nieto, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

About the Author

Elizabeth Aaronsohn is an associate professor of teacher education at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut. She has taught eight years each at three levels: high school English; college English, speech, and women's studies; and early elementary school. She is the author of Going Against the Grain: Supporting the Student-Centered Teacher.