Values of American Teachers How Teachers’ Values Help Stabilize Unsteady Democracy
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Robert Slater holds a Master's degree from Harvard University and a PhD from the University of Chicago. A Senior Fulbright Scholar to Peru in 1996, and again to Bolivia 2010, his teaching, research and writing focuses on education and the vicissitudes of democracy. He is Professor of Education at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where he directs the doctoral program in educational leadership and coordinates research development for the Cecil J. Picard Center.This elegantly written book is a profound philosophical analysis of the values that American teachers espouse. Based on vast statistical data Dr. Slater explores the current beliefs and attitudes of the US school teachers and poses many questions, among which: What values do American teachers hold? How do they teach these values? Is freedom among the values they teach? Some readers may disagree with the author's conclusions. In fact, some readers may even dislike these conclusions; however, the controversies the book stirs are the results of exploring the uncharted areas in the US school education. Beside being a great read, the book offers a fresh and original strokes to the portrait of the contemporary American teacher.
- Pavel Samsonov, Slimco/BORSF endowed professor, University of Louisiana, Lafayette,
This excellent book balances larger philosophical issues with empirical data, resulting in a thought-provoking book for teachers, students, and researchers. Historically, teachers have been held to high standards of professional and personal conduct. These high standards are premised on the assumption that teachers are role models for their students and communities. Serving as a role model, moreover, assumes that the teacher deliberately shares values with children as opposed to modeling behaviors and ideas in a less direct fashion. Slater has written a book on these topics that achieves three things. First, it provides a rich context from which to consider teachers and teaching (chapter 1) and values and valuing (chapter 2). Second, it provides empirical data regarding what teachers believe about topics such as family values, religion, various social issues, freedom, equality, and science (chapters 3 through 8). Finally, Slater uses this data to contemplate how the position of the teacher and the expression of values within schools are essential to stabilize the contradictory ideas within a democracy (e.g., freedom while living and learning in a community). Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers, undergraduate students, graduate students, and research faculty.
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