Books for Teachers

Books for Teachers October 19, 2010

I got this letter:

I am a regular reader of your blog, and we actually met at a conference on preaching a year ago.  It will not be too long before I am in a classroom on a full time basis, and I want to gather resources specifically to help me engage the teaching/”professoring” process critically.

You have mentioned more than once that you read at least one book a year on the discipline of teaching, so I thought I would pick your brain on your list of top 4-6 books that you have found most helpful for the university context.  You may have already covered this in a post; I would be happy to refer to it if you could point out the title.

(I’ve got a lecture on the web that skips through some of this stuff.)

Here’s my Top Ten list:
It is my custom to read a book on education during the summer and then to read one over Christmas break, if time and schedule permit. I’ve read each of these, and learned deeply from each.
J. Epstein, Masters: Portraits of Great Teachers. About teachers — famous ones and not so famous ones.
A. Bartlett Giamatti, Free and Ordered Space: The Real World of the University. Brilliant collections of essays on a liberal education.
M. Adler, Reforming Education: The Opening of American Mind. At the heart of Adler’s educational proposals are these seminal essays.
J.M. Banner, Jr., H.C. Cannon, The Elements of Teaching. Nuts and bolts, written with class.
D.P. Verene, The Art of Humane Education. Brilliant essay.
M. Schwehn, Exiles from Eden: Religion and the Academic Vocation in America. There’s lots in this book.
P. Palmer, To Know as We Are Known: Education as a Spiritual Journey. A classic about a more existential theory of education.
A. Holmes, Shaping Character. Moral education.
J. Barzun, Begin Here: The Forgotten Conditions of Teaching and Learning. A warning about the decline in the West.
J. Pelikan, The Idea of the University: A Reexamination. Interaction with John Henry Newman’s famous book.
Maryellen Weimer, Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice. The best book I’ve seen on outcome-based education.

This list does not include the “classics,” whether we look at Aristotle or Quintillian or Cicero or Vico.


Browse Our Archives