Teachers as Learners

Sharon Feiman-Nemser, foreword by Deborah Loewenberg Ball

paper, 344 Pages
Pub. Date: March 2012
ISBN-13: 978-1-61250-113-0
Price: $33.00

In Teachers as Learners, a collection of landmark essays, noted teacher educator and scholar Sharon Feiman-Nemser shines a light on teacher learning.

Praise

This book beautifully describes the issues and movements in teaching and teacher education in the past 45 years. Yet it is the story of the soul of a teacher educator that most moves me. Sharon Feiman-Nemser’s fascination with how people learn to teach, reflected in the intellectual journey she traces here, has produced insights that continue to enrich the profession. — Mary Diez, dean, School of Education, Alverno College

This compendium of Sharon Feiman-Nemser’s groundbreaking scholarship comprises a conceptual and practical handbook for the study and improvement of teachers’ learning, of the professional practice of teaching, and the enterprise of teachers’ ‘education.’ — From the Foreword by Deborah Loewenberg Ball, dean, School of Education, University of Michigan

Sharon Feiman-Nemser conveys the accumulated insights of her lifetime journey as a teacher, teacher educator, and researcher. The book makes a compelling case for why we must take learning to teach as serious work, and illuminates what that work entails for novice teachers, teacher educators, colleagues, school leaders, and students who have a stake in their success. — Judith Warren Little, dean, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley

Sharon Feiman-Nemser is a leading voice in the world of teacher education. Teachers as Learners is a must-read for anyone interested in today’s most controversial topics: teacher quality, traditional and alternative routes into teaching, teacher mentoring and induction, and the role of ‘experience’ in learning to teach. — Maryilyn Cochran-Smith, Cawthorne Professor of Teacher Education for Urban Schools, Lynch School of Education, Boston College

No one doubts that it takes great teachers for students to succeed. But many think that any smart and determined person can, in short order, be an effective teacher. In this collection of informed and provocative essays, Sharon Feiman-Nemser reminds us that there are no shortcuts. Truly effective teachers learn their craft over time by observing, experimenting, and reflecting on their practice in rich professional contexts. — Susan Moore Johnson, Jerome T. Murphy Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Teachers as Learners is an enlightening collection of essays written by Sharon Feiman-Nemser, and nudges the reader to wonder and question deeply about the common-sense assumptions connected to teaching and learning. — Jan Buley, Teachers College Record

This book is a must read for all teacher educators, school leaders, and graduate students seeking to understand the profession's history as well as areas for significant improvement if they are to move forward in the preparation of truly effective teachers. — K. Layton, CHOICE

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About the Author

Sharon Feiman-Nemser is the Mandel Professor of Jewish Education at Brandeis University, with a joint appointment in the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Department and the Education Program. She also directs the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education, combining her expertise in teacher education with her deep interest in Jewish education. A coeditor of the third Handbook of Research on Teacher Education (2008), she has written extensively on teacher education, learning to teach, mentoring, and new teacher induction. Recent publications include Transforming Teacher Education: Reflections from the Field (2007), which she wrote with colleagues from Michigan State University, and Teaching as a Moral Practice (2010), which she coedited with colleagues on AACTE’s Teacher Education as a Moral Community (TEAMC) committee.