Edutopia contributor Marissa King has shared Summer 2021 Reads for Teachers.
Each year as the weather warms and the school year ends, the stack of books on my bedside table gets taller. This year, my book list wrestles with many of the looming issues exacerbated or illuminated by Covid-19, including racial equity, the ways schools adapt to change, and how we care for our communities and ourselves in the toughest of times.
THE TEACHING PROFESSION
If you’re looking for a hopeful peek into the ways that immense public and administrative trust can lead to excellent schools, reach for In Teachers We Trust: The Finnish Way to World-Class Schools (2021). The book combines the perspectives of Finnish education expert Pasi Sahlberg and Timothy Walker, an American educator who moved to Finland with his family to live and teach.
Many of Sahlberg and Walker’s suggestions for building trust and making improvements are policy related, but the authors also offer insights into smaller, more practical ways. Pragmatic suggestions range from systems for transparent decision-making, to prioritizing schedule changes that give teachers shared work time, to purposeful mentorships for those new to the profession.
Summer 2021 Reads for Teachers
