Stephen Dau's The Book of Jonas is a marvelous, lyrical debut that examines the effects of war on everyone involved. Dau weaves together the stories...
Continue »
The typical program for "classroom management" focuses either on discipline (how to be assertive and fair) or procedures (how to plan ahead to avoid problems). These are both useful tools, but there is a subtext to these discussions: the ideal classroom is free of conflict, and if there is conflict, it is either the fault of the teacher or the student. But, as any real teacher will tell you, a classroom free of conflict is a fantasy.
Students and teachers can't help but bring their clashing values, hopes, fears, struggles at home and with their friends and innumerable other issues into the classroom. And these issues are bound to cause conflict. Teachers are typically presented with two options: be strict, or be permissive; either the teacher uses his/her power to quell the students regardless of their needs, or students use their power to get what they want, regardless of how the teacher and the class suffer, and the teacher lets it slide hoping to get back to teaching. There has to be a better way!
In T.E.T., Thomas Gordon applies the highly successful and popular method developed for families in P.E.T. (Parent Effectiveness Training) to the classroom. Very schematically, T.E.T. involves 3 steps. First, identify who is really having the problem. If a students are talking too loudly for the teacher to be heard, the teacher is having a problem and needs to communicate that to the students as a first step. If a student is daydreaming instead of working, the student is having a problem and the teacher needs to be able to listen dispassionately to find out what is wrong. Second, use "I Messages" and "Active Listening" to get to the heart of the problem (both these techniques are described in detail). Third, if a solution doesn't present itself immediately, T.E.T. describes a conflict resolution method that can help both teacher and student get their needs met without using power plays. Gordon suggests (I think rightly) that it is the use of power to solve problems that engenders the defensiveness and resentment so common to student-teacher relationships.
T.E.T. won't solve everything. Good procedures are still needed to reduce the number of situations that lead to conflict. And power based discipline is still needed in extreme cases (e.g. weapons in the classroom). But, by using the methods described in T.E.T., teachers can establish more honest and respectful relationships with their students and reduce the time wasted on power plays and petty games, leaving more time for real teaching.
Three final notes. Teachers may run into kids who have had such bad relationships with the adults in their lives that they can't help seeing teachers as enemies, to be pushed and attacked whenever possible. T.E.T. may not work right away with these kids, making classic discipline neccesary.
People who don't like T.E.T. on the first read usually see it as simply another version of anything-goes permissiveness. But Gordon tries to make clear that anything that is a problem for the teacher 'is' out of bounds and 'needs to be fixed'. Its just a question of fixing the problem through dialogue instead of force.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(14 of 23 readers found this comment helpful)
In an age when the historical trend has been to focus on the suffering of the Indians rather than the adventures of the Spanish, Hugh Thomas has written a massive tome detailing the lives and accomplishments of the people who created the Spanish empire in the Americas.
Although Thomas recognizes the frequent butality of the Spanish in their persistant exploitation of the Inidians, he is simply not that interested. The following typical quote describes the conquest of Cuba, "As elsewhere in the Americas, bows and arrows and stones flung by slings were no match for Spanish weapons, icluding ... those long steel swords that even now cause a shiver of anxiety when we see them in military museums. How curious to imagine all these knights from Cu?llar, and other cities of Old Castile, riding across the beautiful tropical island. Unfortunately, the only real source for the feelings of the conquistadores is the history of Las Casas, who had his own priorities when he came to write his book." Aparently Thomas would have prefered Las Casas to have revelled in the imagined chivalry of the Spanish instead of protesting their abuse of the Indians.
But in the end, Thomas doesn't produce a very good adventure story either. In hewing close to the (extremely well researched) documents, Thomas primarily gives us endless lists of the Spanish and other travelers to the New World, with frequent mini-biographies of even the most minor characters. This wealth of personal background is a poor substitute for historical context. As an example, Thomas seems to be at pains to note each and every Spainiard with Jewish heratige (conversos) and yet he never tells us why he thinks this is important (barring a rather disconected summary of the inquisition early in the book).
But perhaps my greatest disapointment was the lack of institutional history. Thomas offers us very little understanding of how the Spanish managed their precarious empire. An encomienda in theory is different from one in practice, especially in these new colonies. This was a crucial time when the Spanish developed the institutions of power that would mold the Americas for centuries, but Thomas tells us little of this.
Also missing is an analysis of the impact of the new empire on the home country. The fantastic flow of wealth and power into Europe begun in the Spanish Empire arguably initiated the transformations that would propel Europe to dominate the world for centuries to come.
I had hoped that these were the "Rivers of Gold" of the title. But for Thomas the most important "Rivers of Gold" were like those found in Balboa's 1513 letter to the crown describing the Darien (the modern border between Panama and Colombia). There was little gold in the Darien, but fabrications or no, Balboa's "Rivers of Gold" inspired the Spanish to daring deeds across a vast ocean.
Perhaps Thomas would have been better off writing a novel; for a history of the Spanish Empire, look elsewhere.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(8 of 15 readers found this comment helpful)
Hathaway's short (and far too expensive) book is billed as a look at the origins of homophobia in America. However, the real focus of the book is far more narrow, the invention of the idea of a homosexual identity by the late nineteenth century medical community.
Hathaway begins with an overview of 19th century social change and specifically, developments in the medical profession. This information will be familiar to many readers, but it is relevent to the author's argument that the new view of same sex attraction and sexual acts was based on an interpretation of the radical changes ongoing in the culture as a whole.
The heart of the book is a discussion of the views of late 19th century medical and psychiatrical professionals toward same sex (or inverted as they called it) attraction. As Hathaway notes these men continued the age old view that same sex attraction was fundimentally wrong, and many kept with the view that it was a matter of sin and vice. However, a growing and influental group argued that inverted attraction was biological in origin and outside the will of the individual. This was the begining of the idea that homosexuality was a distinct identity, not simply a set of sinful acts. This biological origin group still believed homosexuality was wrong and elaborated complex theories of the degeneration of modern society which had lead to the creation of degenerate, sexually inverted individuals.
The problem is what to make of this elite debate over the nature of homosexuality. How much did these ideas really impact the broader society? Hathaway gives us some evidence that the biological origin group was influetial in trial law and that some of the newly forming gay communities ridiculed the patholigizing of their desires, but the question of impact is never fully explored.
Hathaway's approach strikes me as similar to trying to understand racism by looking exclusively at antibellum "scientific" race theories. I view these race theories as more of an attempt to justify and rationalize pre-existing racist acts and beliefs than as a source of racism themselves. A smilar case could be made about the theories of homosexuality that Hathaway disects.
Revulsion at homosexual behavior has been passed on at all levels of society for ages, with or without scientific theories to justify it. The underlying and unanswered question is, what role does the proscription of same sex desire and love play in our society?
Although Hathaway does not answer this question he does draw one novel connection worthy of note. In the 1970s, gay rights advocates adopted a civil rights stratagy for their struggle, identifying themselves as an oppressed group much like people of color and women. This argument is predicated on the idea that homosexuality is a biological identity. But Hathaway has shown us that 100 years earlier this idea of an homosexual identity had been developed not to celebrate the naturalness of homosexuality, but rather to cure society of what was viewed as the most profound symptom of social sickness and degeneracy.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(15 of 21 readers found this comment helpful)
Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.
Don't Miss
Customer Comments
Romsted has commented on (3) products.
Teacher Effectiveness Training: The Program Proven to Help Teachers Bring Out the Best in Students of All Ages by Thomas Gordon
Romsted, April 4, 2006
The typical program for "classroom management" focuses either on discipline (how to be assertive and fair) or procedures (how to plan ahead to avoid problems). These are both useful tools, but there is a subtext to these discussions: the ideal classroom is free of conflict, and if there is conflict, it is either the fault of the teacher or the student. But, as any real teacher will tell you, a classroom free of conflict is a fantasy.Students and teachers can't help but bring their clashing values, hopes, fears, struggles at home and with their friends and innumerable other issues into the classroom. And these issues are bound to cause conflict. Teachers are typically presented with two options: be strict, or be permissive; either the teacher uses his/her power to quell the students regardless of their needs, or students use their power to get what they want, regardless of how the teacher and the class suffer, and the teacher lets it slide hoping to get back to teaching. There has to be a better way!
In T.E.T., Thomas Gordon applies the highly successful and popular method developed for families in P.E.T. (Parent Effectiveness Training) to the classroom. Very schematically, T.E.T. involves 3 steps. First, identify who is really having the problem. If a students are talking too loudly for the teacher to be heard, the teacher is having a problem and needs to communicate that to the students as a first step. If a student is daydreaming instead of working, the student is having a problem and the teacher needs to be able to listen dispassionately to find out what is wrong. Second, use "I Messages" and "Active Listening" to get to the heart of the problem (both these techniques are described in detail). Third, if a solution doesn't present itself immediately, T.E.T. describes a conflict resolution method that can help both teacher and student get their needs met without using power plays. Gordon suggests (I think rightly) that it is the use of power to solve problems that engenders the defensiveness and resentment so common to student-teacher relationships.
T.E.T. won't solve everything. Good procedures are still needed to reduce the number of situations that lead to conflict. And power based discipline is still needed in extreme cases (e.g. weapons in the classroom). But, by using the methods described in T.E.T., teachers can establish more honest and respectful relationships with their students and reduce the time wasted on power plays and petty games, leaving more time for real teaching.
Three final notes. Teachers may run into kids who have had such bad relationships with the adults in their lives that they can't help seeing teachers as enemies, to be pushed and attacked whenever possible. T.E.T. may not work right away with these kids, making classic discipline neccesary.
People who don't like T.E.T. on the first read usually see it as simply another version of anything-goes permissiveness. But Gordon tries to make clear that anything that is a problem for the teacher 'is' out of bounds and 'needs to be fixed'. Its just a question of fixing the problem through dialogue instead of force.
(14 of 23 readers found this comment helpful)
Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire, from Columbus to Magellan
Romsted, April 4, 2006
In an age when the historical trend has been to focus on the suffering of the Indians rather than the adventures of the Spanish, Hugh Thomas has written a massive tome detailing the lives and accomplishments of the people who created the Spanish empire in the Americas.Although Thomas recognizes the frequent butality of the Spanish in their persistant exploitation of the Inidians, he is simply not that interested. The following typical quote describes the conquest of Cuba, "As elsewhere in the Americas, bows and arrows and stones flung by slings were no match for Spanish weapons, icluding ... those long steel swords that even now cause a shiver of anxiety when we see them in military museums. How curious to imagine all these knights from Cu?llar, and other cities of Old Castile, riding across the beautiful tropical island. Unfortunately, the only real source for the feelings of the conquistadores is the history of Las Casas, who had his own priorities when he came to write his book." Aparently Thomas would have prefered Las Casas to have revelled in the imagined chivalry of the Spanish instead of protesting their abuse of the Indians.
But in the end, Thomas doesn't produce a very good adventure story either. In hewing close to the (extremely well researched) documents, Thomas primarily gives us endless lists of the Spanish and other travelers to the New World, with frequent mini-biographies of even the most minor characters. This wealth of personal background is a poor substitute for historical context. As an example, Thomas seems to be at pains to note each and every Spainiard with Jewish heratige (conversos) and yet he never tells us why he thinks this is important (barring a rather disconected summary of the inquisition early in the book).
But perhaps my greatest disapointment was the lack of institutional history. Thomas offers us very little understanding of how the Spanish managed their precarious empire. An encomienda in theory is different from one in practice, especially in these new colonies. This was a crucial time when the Spanish developed the institutions of power that would mold the Americas for centuries, but Thomas tells us little of this.
Also missing is an analysis of the impact of the new empire on the home country. The fantastic flow of wealth and power into Europe begun in the Spanish Empire arguably initiated the transformations that would propel Europe to dominate the world for centuries to come.
I had hoped that these were the "Rivers of Gold" of the title. But for Thomas the most important "Rivers of Gold" were like those found in Balboa's 1513 letter to the crown describing the Darien (the modern border between Panama and Colombia). There was little gold in the Darien, but fabrications or no, Balboa's "Rivers of Gold" inspired the Spanish to daring deeds across a vast ocean.
Perhaps Thomas would have been better off writing a novel; for a history of the Spanish Empire, look elsewhere.
(8 of 15 readers found this comment helpful)
The Gilded Age Construction of American Homophobia
Romsted, April 4, 2006
Hathaway's short (and far too expensive) book is billed as a look at the origins of homophobia in America. However, the real focus of the book is far more narrow, the invention of the idea of a homosexual identity by the late nineteenth century medical community.Hathaway begins with an overview of 19th century social change and specifically, developments in the medical profession. This information will be familiar to many readers, but it is relevent to the author's argument that the new view of same sex attraction and sexual acts was based on an interpretation of the radical changes ongoing in the culture as a whole.
The heart of the book is a discussion of the views of late 19th century medical and psychiatrical professionals toward same sex (or inverted as they called it) attraction. As Hathaway notes these men continued the age old view that same sex attraction was fundimentally wrong, and many kept with the view that it was a matter of sin and vice. However, a growing and influental group argued that inverted attraction was biological in origin and outside the will of the individual. This was the begining of the idea that homosexuality was a distinct identity, not simply a set of sinful acts. This biological origin group still believed homosexuality was wrong and elaborated complex theories of the degeneration of modern society which had lead to the creation of degenerate, sexually inverted individuals.
The problem is what to make of this elite debate over the nature of homosexuality. How much did these ideas really impact the broader society? Hathaway gives us some evidence that the biological origin group was influetial in trial law and that some of the newly forming gay communities ridiculed the patholigizing of their desires, but the question of impact is never fully explored.
Hathaway's approach strikes me as similar to trying to understand racism by looking exclusively at antibellum "scientific" race theories. I view these race theories as more of an attempt to justify and rationalize pre-existing racist acts and beliefs than as a source of racism themselves. A smilar case could be made about the theories of homosexuality that Hathaway disects.
Revulsion at homosexual behavior has been passed on at all levels of society for ages, with or without scientific theories to justify it. The underlying and unanswered question is, what role does the proscription of same sex desire and love play in our society?
Although Hathaway does not answer this question he does draw one novel connection worthy of note. In the 1970s, gay rights advocates adopted a civil rights stratagy for their struggle, identifying themselves as an oppressed group much like people of color and women. This argument is predicated on the idea that homosexuality is a biological identity. But Hathaway has shown us that 100 years earlier this idea of an homosexual identity had been developed not to celebrate the naturalness of homosexuality, but rather to cure society of what was viewed as the most profound symptom of social sickness and degeneracy.
(15 of 21 readers found this comment helpful)