Publisher's Synopsis
Drawing on forty years of teaching and research, from primary school to adult education and workplace training, award-winning author Mike Rose reflects on these and other questions related to public schooling in America. He answers them in beautifully written chapters that are both rich in detail-a first-grader conducting a science experiment, a carpenter solving a problem on the fly, a college student's encounter with a story by James Joyce-and informed by a deep and powerful understanding of history, the psychology of learning, and the politics of education.
Rose decries the narrow focus of educational policy in our time: the drumbeat of test scores and economic competition. Why School? will be embraced by parents and teachers alike, and readers everywhere will be captivated by Rose's eloquent call for a bountiful democratic vision of the purpose of schooling.