I have a lot of family and friends that are teachers or are retired teachers. I don’t remember a conversation I’ve had in the past 10 years of which a teacher was talking positively about his or her job, that they were inspired by what was happening in his or her school, that he or she was happy most days going to work.
Are you a teacher? Are you happy in your job? Do you love working with kids, but frustrated by the system you work in? Do you wish there was a way to work with young people in a meaningful and purposeful way, bringing your own creativity and passions to the work without having to deal with all the regulations handed down from the department, the district, the state, the federal government?
Perhaps I just hung around the wrong …show more content…
I taught for over 10 years and by the end -- I couldn’t shake the feeling that what I did on a daily basis makes many young people, who didn’t want to be there in the first place, do things they didn’t want to do. I felt that I was part of a system that, far from helping kids learn and grow, actually prevents learning and growing. This is not a pleasant way to go through life and certainly not why I went into teaching in the first …show more content…
I love my work here. I’m excited almost every day to do what I do -- I could not say that when I was a teacher. My life is immeasurably better.
North Star gets lots of calls and emails from frustrated teachers who are inspired by what North Star is doing and who want to know how to start a program in their own community. They got so many, that staff and board members from North Star and staff from Princeton Learning Cooperative decided to start a non-profit organization, Liberated Learners, to coordinate and support the creation of North Star model centers all over the world. As of this writing, we have eleven centers operating in our network and two in the startup phase.
This is why I decided to write this book. Just as there are many young people who feel trapped, there are many teachers who also feel trapped in school. I think we have found a way out for young people and for teachers. I want to share what I have learned so that other teachers can create their own programs and improve the quality of their own work and
Are you a teacher? Are you happy in your job? Do you love working with kids, but frustrated by the system you work in? Do you wish there was a way to work with young people in a meaningful and purposeful way, bringing your own creativity and passions to the work without having to deal with all the regulations handed down from the department, the district, the state, the federal government?
Perhaps I just hung around the wrong …show more content…
I taught for over 10 years and by the end -- I couldn’t shake the feeling that what I did on a daily basis makes many young people, who didn’t want to be there in the first place, do things they didn’t want to do. I felt that I was part of a system that, far from helping kids learn and grow, actually prevents learning and growing. This is not a pleasant way to go through life and certainly not why I went into teaching in the first …show more content…
I love my work here. I’m excited almost every day to do what I do -- I could not say that when I was a teacher. My life is immeasurably better.
North Star gets lots of calls and emails from frustrated teachers who are inspired by what North Star is doing and who want to know how to start a program in their own community. They got so many, that staff and board members from North Star and staff from Princeton Learning Cooperative decided to start a non-profit organization, Liberated Learners, to coordinate and support the creation of North Star model centers all over the world. As of this writing, we have eleven centers operating in our network and two in the startup phase.
This is why I decided to write this book. Just as there are many young people who feel trapped, there are many teachers who also feel trapped in school. I think we have found a way out for young people and for teachers. I want to share what I have learned so that other teachers can create their own programs and improve the quality of their own work and