Many people know Outward Bound for the organization's wide variety of outdoor programs that challenge the mind, body, and spirit through activities that include white-water rafting, rock climbing, and survival courses. The principles of Outward Bound have also recently inspired a major school reform effort: the Outward Bound/Expeditionary Learning proposal for a "break-the-mold" school design was among the nine (out of 700) entries selected by the New American Schools Development Corporation (NASDC) in 1992. Based on the idea that students learn best when actively engaged in hands-on, creative, thematic, extended, and interdisciplinary projects designed or adapted by their own classroom teachers, Expeditionary Learning has now been implemented in twenty-five schools in seven districts around the country.

Fieldwork: An Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound Reader is an excellent reference for those with a specific interest in learning more about Expeditionary Learning or a general interest in thematic curriculum created by teachers, innovative uses of space and time in education, or first-hand accounts of school reform in practice. Fieldwork includes the winning thirty-page proposal submitted by Outward Bound/Expeditionary Learning to NASDC; interviews with educators involved with Expeditionary Learning; first-person narratives written by teachers and administrators at Expeditionary Learning schools about the day-to-day experience of implementing a new set of educational ideas; articles that place Outward Bound and Expeditionary Learning in a historical context; dozens of photographs of students and teachers, and many examples of student work. A deep respect for teachers is evident throughout this book, and Fieldwork is recommended to anyone wishing to learn more about this imaginative and important school reform initiative.

E.J.M.