My Reflections as a Book Reviewer

Tom McConaghy

Over my 19 years as book reviewer for the ATA Magazine, I have had the privilege to review more than 80 books. I hope that the books I reviewed were ones that teachers found interesting and useful in their work. I chose authors whose experience and background provided them with the foresight and wisdom to understand the needs of teachers and education. Many of the book reviews published in the ATA Magazine have been reprinted in teachers’ magazines in North America, Europe and the Commonwealth countries.

I selected books that mirrored the important educational, social and political issues of the day. Many of the reviews dealt with themes directly related to curriculum, pedagogy and technology. Other themes addressed national unity, women in education, the nuclear threat, literacy, curriculum, classroom management, thoughtful teaching, multiple intelligences, computers, private schools, education reform, teacher education and educational research.

I responded to critics of education such as Jennifer Lewington and Graham Orpwood, authors of Overdue Assignment: Taking Responsibility for Canada’s Schools (1993). In my review, I pointed out that Overdue Assignment covered every issue plaguing education and schools. The authors declared: “It is time to reinvent education (Vice-president Al Gore’s term) in ways that make students, parents, teachers, taxpayers and employers responsible for results.” The term “reinvent” became the new buzzword for reforming education. At the same time, I pointed out that the Alberta government was reinventing healthcare (this seems to be an ongoing obsession), social services and was poised to reinvent education.

I would classify many of the books that I reviewed as inspirational. Not only did I read these books from cover to cover, I was eager to review them for the edification of teachers—Roch Carrier’s Prayers of a Very Wise Child (1992), Lorri Neilsen’s A Stone in My Shoe: Teaching Literacy in Times of Change (1994) and Breaking Free: The Transformative Power of Critical Pedagogy (1995), edited by Pepi Leistyna, Arlie Woodrum and Stephen Sherblom. I also enjoyed reading and reviewing Howard Gardner’s books: Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century (1999) and The Disciplined Mind: Beyond Facts and Standardized Tests, The K-12 Education That Every Child Deserves (2000).

Another important book I highly recommended for educators was The Elements of Teaching (1997) by James Banner Jr. and Harold Cannon. This book emphasized teaching as an art requiring specific personal qualities of those who teach. The authors described teaching as “a calling, a summons from within; that is among life’s noblest and most responsible activities.”

My book review most requested by editors in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and all the Commonwealth countries was of Information Anxiety (1989) by Richard Saul Wurman. I pointed out in my review that I had been a chronic information junkie who always felt anxious about not taking the time to read everything. This book struck a responsive cord with many teachers who were overwhelmed by information. The main theme of Wurman’s book is that we must understand the difference between all there is to know and what we need to know.

Wurman was incisive in pointing out the main problems facing teachers:

The single most counterproductive element of our educational system is the importance placed on puzzle solving and memorization. The predominant measure of success is the test; thus the mission of the schools is to raise students’ test scores.... This places extraordinary emphasis on short-term memory at the expense of long-term understanding.

Guilt and anxiety are obstacles to learning, said Wurman. If I had had access to the wisdom contained in this book several years ago, I would have long since been cured of being an information junkie.

Like today, literacy was an important concern of classroom teachers in the 1980s. Frank Smith, a leading authority on literacy, wrote Joining the Literacy Club: Further Essays into Education (1988) “to share explorations into language, learning and education with other concerned members of the literacy club.” The term literacy club was a metaphor Smith used to describe the social nature of learning. Learning is primarily a social rather than an individual accomplishment, he wrote. Smith believes we learn from the company we keep. His main argument is “that children learn to read and write effectively only when they are admitted into a community of language users called the literacy club.”

Another book I reviewed during the 1980s was Robert Pattison’s On Literacy: The Politics of the Word from Homer to the Age of Rock (1982). According to Pattison, the essence of literacy is to understand the relationship of language to the world. He writes: “Literacy is something bigger than mechanical skills of reading and writing.... Literacy is a potent form of consciousness.”

It was during this same decade that Becoming a Nation of Readers: The Report of the Commission on Reading (1985) by the Centre for the Study of Readers was released. The report provided a balanced view of the controversy surrounding the teaching of reading during previous decades. The report’s writers reminded us that “Reading is a process in which information from the text and the knowledge possessed by the reader act together to produce meaning.”

The report also identified serious problems in reading instruction: lack of parental involvement, poorly crafted textbooks, workbooks and teachers’ guides, insufficient amounts of time devoted to direct instruction of reading, a strong emphasis on workbooks and standardized tests, poor teacher education curricula and ill-prepared administrators. Educators will recognize many of these problems as ongoing issues and concerns.

Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk was written in 1987 by David Elkind. His book examined the early years of young children’s education. What disturbed Elkind was that some public schools were forcing a rigid program of academic learning on preschool and kindergarten children. Elkind believes that “when we instruct children in academic subjects or in swimming, gymnastics or ballet at too early an age” we actually “miseducate” them.

Although Elkind had parents in mind, Miseducation should be required reading for early childhood teachers, educators and administrators. “In the end, if we only take the time and make the effort to appreciate our children on their own terms, we will discover that every child is indeed a super kid,” Elkind wrote.

An influential book by E. D. Hirsch Jr. hit the bestseller list in 1987. In reviewing Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, I suggested that educators read the book critically. Hirsch concluded that children, even young children, should read mainly non-fiction books that feature information from his list of 5,000 items that literate Americans should know.

During the 1980s and early ‘90s, educational reform with an emphasis on “excellence” preoccupied our educational policy makers. In my review of Education Reform: Making Sense of It All (1990), edited by Samuel Bacharach, I noted that it was only after the media began focussing on education in 1983 that the education reform movement declared war on education.

It was also in the 1980s that John Miller stated in The Holistic Curriculum (1988) that “our segmented education system reflects the fragmentation found in all spheres of our existence.” Miller offered an alternative approach to curriculum reform—a holistic approach. After discussing how holistic teachers, holistic principals and holistic education could be brought into our schools, Miller concluded with his vision of how holistic education could provide a sense of direction for our schools:

Most of all, we care about the student’s being. We realize that the final contribution that they (students) make to this planet will be from a deeper part of their being and not from the skills we teach them.... By working on ourselves as teachers to become more conscious and caring, we hope to foster in our students a deep sense of connectedness within themselves and to other beings on this planet.

Another book I described as a ground-breaking study of public education and schools in the late 1980s provided a vivid and thought-provoking account of the state of American education and its schools. As I read and reviewed The World We Created at Hamilton High (1988) by Gerald Grant, I was struck by memories that contrasted with the world I had experienced as a teacher in Ontario high schools in the 1950s and ‘60s. Life for most teachers in the 1950s was often much easier than the lives of today’s classroom teachers. In those days, teachers’ expectations were high and most students were serious about preparing themselves for postsecondary education. Drugs were not a serious problem and “making out in secluded places or the parking lot seldom occurred. There were dress codes for students and principals exerted strong leadership to ensure a certain amount of decorum for a useful learning environment.” Grant suggested that in order to reform schools, teachers and schools needed to have local control, and teachers needed to assume genuine responsibility for their practice.

When terrorists first began to pose threats to Americans, psychologist Robert Ornstein and biologist Paul Ehrlich posed important questions about terrorism in their book New World New Mind: Moving Toward Conscious Evolution (1989). The fate of American hostages held at the U.S. embassy in Iran from 1979 to 1981 was presented daily on television. During that time, more that 20 million infants worldwide died from preventable diseases. The authors asked why it was that the 1985 murder of hostage Leon Klinghoffer on the Italian cruise ship, the Achilles Lauro, commanded the front pages of almost every newspaper in the western world, yet during that same period more people died in automobile accidents in the U.S. than had ever been killed by terrorists. The authors pointed out that a basic education should focus not on memorizing trivial details but on understanding the nature of humanity itself. There is still time to save our planet and our civilization if we heed authors like Ornstein and Ehrlich.

The 1980s also produced an inspirational book that illustrated the power of oral narrative as a tool to shape and understand experience. Prayers of a Very Wise Child by Roch Carrier showed how a small boy created his own meaning of the world and reminded us of the capacity that children have to think imaginatively and seriously about important questions.

Today God I confess that I have sinned with chalk.... I didn’t do anything, God. All I did was write. Is writing a sin? Writing is the best thing I do in the world, after looking out the window. When people pray they look out the window too. Reading and writing are a little bit the same. When you write you look up at the sky every two or three words. That’s where I find my most beautiful words when I write my compositions. I like to write. When you write you invent the things you want, with the people you want and the colours you choose for yourself. Like when you created the world. Writing is my version of the creation of the world.

I concluded my review of Prayers of a Very Wise Child with the following comment: “If I could give only one book to teachers this year, I would give them the book about the little boy who was at times very good and very wicked but also very ‘wise.’”

Another book that drew my attention was Roland Barth’s Improving Schools from Within: Teachers, Parents, and Principals Can Make the Difference (1991). Barth pointed out how schools must strive to work together by building a community of learners. In such a community, teachers are not “inserviced,” they engage in continuous inquiry about teaching. “They are researchers and students of teaching, who observe others teach, have others observe them, talk about teaching, and help other teachers. In short, they are professionals.” The concept of school as a community of learners and leaders is what educators should strive to achieve.

As we approach 2006, I can look back on not only the many books I read and reviewed for the ATA Magazine but also on my 40 years as an editor and writer. I am thankful for the many thoughtful comments from teachers, other educators, administrators and politicians who told me that they looked forward to reading my reviews and other writings. I hope that from time to time I will continue to review books that will be helpful and inspirational to teachers and others who work so conscientiously with students of all ages.

A Selection of Books Reviewed by Tom McConaghy for the ATA Magazine—1986–2005

Critics of Education

  1. Overdue Assignment: Taking Responsibility for Canada’s Schools by Jennifer Lewington and Graham Orpwood; Wiley, 1993
  2. Rituals of Failure: What Schools Really Teach by Sandro Contenta; Between the Lines, 1993
  3. School’s Out: The Catastrophe in Public Education and What We Can Do About It by Andrew Nikiforuk; McFarlane, Walter & Ross, 1994

Education Reform

  1. Education Reform: Making Sense of It All, edited by Samuel B. Bacharach; Prentice Hall, 1990
  2. Improving Schools from Within: Teachers, Parents, and Principals Can Make the Difference by Roland S. Barth; Wiley, 1991
  3. The Report of the Commission on Private Schools in Ontario by Bernard J. Shapiro, Ontario Ministry of Education; 1985
  4. To Open Minds: Chinese Clues to the Dilemma of Contemporary Education by Howard Gardner; HarperCollins/Basic Books, 1989
  5. What Does It Mean to Be Well Educated? And More Essays on Standards, Grading and Other Follies by Alfie Kohn; Beacon, 2004
  6. The Case Against Standardized Testing: Raising the Scores, Ruining the Schools by Alfie Kohn; Heinemann, 2000
  7. The Reformation of Canada’s Schools: Breaking the Barriers to Parental Choice by Mark Holmes; McGill-Queens University Press, 2003

Inspirational Books

  1. Prayers of a Very Wise Child by Roch Carrier; Penguin, 1992
  2. A Stone in My Shoe: Teaching Literacy in Times of Change by Lorri Neilsen; Peguis, 1994
  3. Breaking Free: The Transformative Power of Critical Pedagogy, edited by Pepi Leistyna, Arlie Woodrum, Stephen Sherblom; Harvard Educational Review, 1995
  4. Morality, Moral Behaviour, and Moral Development by William M. Kurtines and Jacob L. Gewirtz; Wiley, 1984
  5. Discipline Without Tears (Revised Edition) by Rudolf Dreikurs and Pearl Cassel; Plume, 1993
  6. Failing Our Kids: How We Are Ruining Our Public Schools by Charles Ungereider; McClelland & Stewart, 2003
  7. The Politics of Educational Reform in Alberta by Alison Taylor; University of Toronto Press, 2001
  8. With Unshakeable Persistence: Rural Teachers of the Depression Era by Elizabeth McLachlan; Newest, 2000
  9. With Unfailing Dedication: Rural Teachers in the War Years by Elizabeth McLachlan; Newest, 2000
  10. Stories of the Courage to Teach: Honoring the Teacher’s Heart by Sam Intrator; Wiley, 2002
  11. Exploring Our Educational Past: Schooling in the North-West Territories and Alberta by Nick Kach and Kas Mazurek; Detselig, 1992
  12. Because Writing Matters: Improving Student Writing in Our Schools by The National Writing Project and Carl Nagin; Wiley, 2003

Literacy

  1. Joining the Literacy Club: Further Essays into Education by Frank Smith; Heinemann, 1988
  2. On Literacy: The Politics of the Word from Homer to the Age of Rock by Robert Pattison; Oxford University Press, 1982
  3. Becoming a Nation of Readers: The Report of the Commission on Reading by The National Institute of Education; U.S. Dept. Of Education, Washington, DC, 1985
  4. Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know by E.D. Hirsch, Jr.; Houghton Mifflin, 1987
  5. Insult to Intelligence: The Bureaucratic Invasion of Our Classrom by Frank Smith; Arbor House, 1986
  6. Language and Learning (Revised) by James Britton; Penguin, 1992

Research

  1. Reclaiming the Classroom: Teacher Research as an Agency of Change by Dixie Goswami and Peter Stillman; Boynton/Cook, 1986
  2. To Think by Frank Smith; Teachers’ College Press, 1990.
  3. Changing Schools from Within: Creating Communities of Inquiry by Gordon Wells et al.; OISE Press, 1993
  4. The Culture of Education by Jerome Bruner; Harvard University Press, 1997

Social Issues

  1. New World New Mind: Moving Toward Conscious Evolution by Robert Ornstein and Paul Ehrlich; Methuen, 1989
  2. The Big Picture: What Canadians Think About Almost Everything by Allan Gregg and Michael Posner; McFarlane, Walter & Ross, 1990
  3. The Unconscious Civilization by John Ralston Saul; House of Anansi, 1995
  4. Contested Classrooms: Education, Globalization and Democracy in Alberta, edited by Trevor Harrison and Jerrold Kachur; Parkland Institute, University of Alberta Press, 1999
  5. Reclaiming Higher Ground: Creating Organizations That Inspire the Soul by Lance Secretan; Macmillan Canada, 1996
  6. A Canada of Light by B.W. Powe; Somerville House, 1997
  7. Shakedown: How the New Economy Is Changing Our Lives by Angus Reid; Seal, 1997
  8. Changing Course: An Agenda for REAL Reform by Paul Gallagher; Doubleday, 1996
  9. A Cappella: A Report on the Realities, Concerns, Expectations and Barriers Experienced by Adolescent Women in Canada by the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, 1990

Teacher Education

  1. Teachers for Our Nation’s Schools by John Goodlad and Roger Soder; Wiley, 1994
  2. The Case for Change: Rethinking the Preparation of Educators by Seymour B. Sarason; Wiley, 1993

Teaching and Learning

  1. Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century by Howard Gardner; Harper Collins/Basic Books, 1999
  2. The Disciplined Mind: Beyond Facts and Standardized Tests, The K–12 Education That Every Child Deserves by Howard Gardner; Penguin, 2000
  3. The Elements of Teaching by James Banner, Jr., and Harold C. Cannon; Yale University Press, 1997
  4. Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk by David Elkind; Knopf, 1987
  5. The Holistic Curriculum by John Miller; OISE Press, 1988
  6. The World We Created at Hamilton High by Gerald Grant; Harvard University Press, 1988
  7. Media Scenes and Class Acts by Jack Livesley; Pembroke, 1987
  8. The Learner’s Way by Anne D. Forester; Peguis, 1989
  9. The Call of Stories: Teaching and the Moral Imagination by Robert Coles; Houghton Mifflin, 1989
  10. Boys and Girls Learn Differently: A Guide for Teachers and Parents by Michael Gurian; Jossey-Bass, 2001
  11. Zapp! by William C. Byham; Fawcett Columbine, 1991
  12. Schools We Have, The Schools We Want: An American Teacher on the Frontline by James Nehring; Jossey-Bass, 1992
  13. Models of Classroom Management: Principles, Applications and Critical Perspectives (Second Edition) by Jack Martin and Jeff Sugarman; Detselig, 1993
  14. Looking, Listening & Learning by Carl Braun; Peguis, 1993
  15. Schools of Hope: Developing Mind and Character in Today’s Youth by Douglas Heath; Jossey-Bass, 1994
  16. Thoughtful Teaching by Christopher Clark; Teachers College Press, 1995
  17. To Become a Teacher: Making a Difference in Children’s Lives by William Ayers; Teachers College Press, 1995
  18. What’s Worth Fighting for Out There by Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan; Teachers College Press, 1998
  19. The Schools Our Children Deserve: Moving Beyond Traditional Classrooms and “Tougher Standards” by Alfie Kohn; Houghton Mifflin, 1999
  20. Teacher as Learner, edited by Merron Chorny; University of Calgary Press, 1985
  21. Learning by Heart by Roland S. Barth; Wiley, 2001

Technology

  1. Information Anxiety by Richard Saul Wurman; Doubleday, 1989
  2. The Child and the Machine: Why Computers May Put Children’s Education at Risk by Alison Armstrong and Charles Casement; Key Porter, 2002
  3. No More Teachers, No More Books: The Commercialization of Canada’s Schools by Heather-jane Robertson; McClelland & Stewart, 1998

Tom McConaghy served as ATA coordinator of communications and editor of the ATA Magazine from 1966–1983. His years as the magazine’s book reviewer spanned 1986–2005.

Other articles in this issue: