Download a sample chapter here

“Burned In is a highly original collection that comes at a perfect time. More than ever, teachers need to know that sustaining fire within the classroom is possible and within their reach. This collection shares credible voices which will inspire, motivate, and sustain teachers on all levels of their journey. Add this book to your must-have teaching references, and be moved by the wisdom and hope it offers.”
—Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education at Stanford University; author of The Flat World and Education: How America's Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future

“During a time when teachers are under attack and teaching is defined in narrow technocratic terms, this book offers eloquent testimonies to the rich intellectual, cultural, and moral qualities of the work. If you know someone who wants to teach, give them this book.”
—Mike Rose, author of Why School? and Possible Lives

“When I saw this book, I felt I had found friends who understood and appreciated my love and hope for teaching.”
—Stephen Gordon, Boston Public School Teacher of 35 years, UMASS Boston Writing Coach

Almost half of new teachers leave the profession within their first year. New teachers need support, mentoring, encouragement, and, most importantly, hope in order to survive the challenges of their first years of teaching. Burned In features essays from today’s most visionary educators, including Jim Burke, Peter Elbow, James Loewen, Gregory Michie, Sonia Nieto, Kirsten Olson, and Parker Palmer. Their personal stories will help fuel new and veteran educators’ passion for teaching so they stay “burned in” instead of burning out. Readers will hear inspiring stories of veteran public school teachers, as well as powerful research findings about what teachers need to succeed in today’s classrooms. Never before has a single volume brought together the experiences of so many renowned teachers, scholars, and bestselling authors.

Contents:
Introduction, Luke Reynolds

1. Teacher Orientation, Jim Burke
2. Burn On, You Crazy Teacher! (But Where’s That Damn Lighter?), Michael Dunn
3. Getting Burned, Andy Hargreaves
4. Subject Love, Rosetta Marantz Cohen
5. Practitioner Inquiry and the Messy Reality of Classroom Practice, Curt Dudley-Marling
6. Burning Out in the Social Studies, James W. Loewen
7. Re-Grounded, Sam Intrator
8. Open Doors, Linda Nathan
9. Ebb and Flow: Reflections on Teaching in the City, Gregory Michie
10. The Believing Game, Peter Elbow
11. Five Alive: Why Teaching Is So Compelling, Patricia A. Wasley
12. Holding the Tension of Opposites, Parker Palmer
13. The High School Teacher as Scholar?, Sam Scheer
14. The World Becomes What You Teach: A Better World through Humane Education, Zoe Weil
15. What, You Wanted an Easy Problem?, Kirsten Olson
16. It’s Not on the Test: A Search for Existential Meaning in Three Acts, Christopher L. Doyle
17. From Surviving to Thriving, Sonia Nieto

Conclusion: Teachers: Arsonists of the Best Kind, Audrey A. Friedman

Audrey A. Friedman is an associate professor at the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. Luke Reynolds has taught seventh through twelfth grade English in Massachusetts and Connecticut public schools.

The editors of this collection are donating their royalties to the Center for Courage and Renewal and the Children’s Defense Fund.