Teaching in the Knowledge Society: Education in the Age of Insecurity

by Andy P. Hargreaves and Andy Hargreaves

We are living in a defining moment, when the world in which teachers do their work is changing profoundly. In his latest book, Hargreaves proposes that we have a one-time chance to reshape the future of teaching and schooling and that we should seize this historic opportunity. Hargreaves sets out what it means to teach in the new knowledge society--to prepare young people for a world of creativity and flexibility and to protect them against the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807743593
• ISBN13: 9780807743591
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: Teachers College Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.4" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The best Andy Hargreaves yet!

Andy Hargreaves's new book is a best seller.I am always impressed by that uncommon trait of commonsense in Hargreaves's writing. In the 1990s writing on learning organisations was very topical. However at the turn of the century learning communities and learning societies took precedence. Pearls of wisdom abound throughout the book: In the Introduction Hargreaves draws the links between living in a knowledge economy and a knowledge society. The knowledge economy primarily serves the private good. The knowledge society also encompasses the public good. Our school have to prepare young people for both of them (Hargreaves, 2003, p.1)Hargreaves also points out that the term "knowledge society" is a misnomer and argues that a more appropriate term is learning society (Hargreaves, 2003, p.3).Hargreaves describes teaching as a paradoxical profession where teachers are expected to help create a knowledge society and at the same time right the wrongs that pervade modern western communities. In a very quotable section Hargreaves discusses the different approaches of his dentist and teachers towards professional development.In dealing with insecurity and Hargreaves notes that loyalty between the worker and the company has been replaced with contracts.Hargreaves's warning that curriculum standards compromise teachers' options: The micromanagement of standards-based reform has deleterious effects on teachers' teaching, on teachers' students and on teachers' relationship to their work and with one another (Hargreaves, 2003, p.90).This is a great book. It is well written and eloquent. Leaders should be readers, and Andy Hargreaves's new book makes professional reading engaging and interesting. Well done Andy Hargreaves.Teachers College Press is to be congratulated on adding Andy Hargreaves to their list of authors. This book will help put TCP back into a field of educational excellence alongside Jossey-Bass and Corwin Press.