Teaching Toward Freedom: Moral Commitment and Ethical Action in the Classroom

For William Ayers, noted educator and activist, "the allure of teaching, that ineffable magic drawing me back to the classroom again and again, issues from an ideal that lies directly at its heart: Teaching, at its best, is an enterprise that helps human beings reach the full measure of their humanity."

In Teaching Toward Freedom, Ayers illuminates the hope as well as the conflict that characterize the entire project of education: how it can be used in authoritarian and dehumanizing ways in the service of the state, the church, or a restrictive existing social order-an idea he abhors-or, as he envisions it, as an undertaking to help students become more fully human, more engaged, more participatory, more free. Drawing on his own classroom experiences and those of his many colleagues, as well as on popular culture, film, poetry, and novels, Ayers redraws the lines concerning how we teach and why, and the surprising things we uncover when we allow students to become visible, vocal authors of their own texts and creators of their own lives.

"Committed and aware teachers," Ayers argues, "must endeavor to accomplish two crucial tasks. One is to convince students . . . that there is no such thing as receiving an education as a passive receptor or an inert vessel-in that direction lies nothing but subservience, indoctrination, and worse. All real education is and must always be self-education. The second task is to demonstrate to students . . . that they are valued, that their humanity is honored, and that their growth, enlightenment, and liberation are the paramount concern. We take the side of the student. . . ." This lucid and inspiring book will help teachers at every level to realize that ideal.

From the Hardcover edition.

In Teaching Toward Freedom, William Ayers proposes a new way of looking at the craft of education: how it can be used in authoritarian ways at the service of the state, the church, or a restrictive existing social order--or, as he envisions it, as a way for students to achieve "their fullest democratic humanity." Using examples from his own classroom experiences as well as from popular culture, film, and novels, Ayers redraws the lines concerning how we teach, why we teach, and what we find when we help students become independent, restless, and engaged learners. This lucid and inspiring book will help teachers at every level to realize that ideal. <BR>"Five thoughtful essays that examine how teachers need to value their students, challenge themselves, and teach for freedom."<BR>--Bob Peterson, Rethinking Schools <BR>Praise for A Kind and Just Parent: <BR>"It is Bill Ayers"s immersion in the lives of [the students] that gives this book its strength and passion and intensity. Vivid narratives are set in context by an author who has studied history and understands the politics of juvenile injustice. I hope this book will reach the ears of Congress."<BR>--Jonathan Kozol, author of Amazing Grace and Savage Inequalities <BR>"William Ayers is as sensitive and gifted a chronicler as he is a teacher."<BR>--Studs Terkel, author of Hope Dies Last and Working

William Ayers is Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is the founder of the Small Schools Workshop and the Center for Youth and Society, and he is the author of many books on education, including Teaching the Personal and Political, On the Side of the Child, To Teach, A Simple Justice, and A Kind and Just Parent.

From the Hardcover edition.