Wounded by School: Recapturing the Joy in Learning and Standing Up to Old School Culture

By Kirsten Olson

Book Overview

While reformers and policymakers focus on achievement gaps, testing, and accountability, millions of students mentally and emotionally disengage from learning and many gifted teachers leave the field. Ironically, today's schooling is damaging the single most essential component to education--the joy of learning

How do we recognize the "wounds" caused by outdated schooling policies? How do we heal them? In her controversial new book, education writer and critic Kirsten Olson brings to light the devastating consequences of an educational approach that values conformity over creativity, flattens students' interests, and dampens down differences among learners. Drawing on deeply emotional stories, Olson shows that current institutional structures do not produce the kinds of minds and thinking that society really needs. Instead, the system tends to shame, disable, and bore many learners. Most importantly, she presents the experiences of wounded learners who have healed and shows what teachers, parents, and students can do right now to help themselves stay healthy.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807749559
• ISBN13: 9780807749555
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: Teachers College Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Great read!

This book is a great read for anyone involved in the education system and wants to make a change. This book has tremendous impact for secondary schools and can be a great tool and resource for high school reform. It was fast-paced and thought-provoking - hopefully others will have some food for thought and work towards changing our education system!

Must Read

Wounded by School reflected my life and struck a chord within me before I even read a page. I knew the book would have an impact on me. I had no idea how much. The stories were heart wrenching and they illustrated the points well. It was also written very well and in a very engaging manner. You can tell that Olson feels very passionately about the subject and makes you feel passionate about it too. I think all teachers, especially of the younger grades, should be made to read this before they ever enter a classroom. Some teachers are unaware of the lasting impact they can have on children.The system doesn't help either but the teachers have the most direct impact. I am going to recommend this to some of my friends who are going to be starting teaching soon and hope they pass it on. I would recommend this to anyone involved in early childhood education and parents of children entering school. As you can probably tell, this book had a huge impact on me and I think anyone who picks up this book would have a similar reaction.

Wounded By School

I have had the pleasure of sitting with Mrs. Olson at a retreat and her hubleness amazed me. I have been glued to this oracle for everyone who has been, is or will be educated or educating. I was able to reflect on my journey and recall the exact moment of my disconnection from school. By High School I dissappeared because I wasn't out of control, remedial or gifted. I was just a regular student who slipped through the cracks. As an educator now I am even more committed to bring forth the problems we as educators have in engaging students, parents and collegues in creating a safe place to BE in this educational process. Mrs. Olson's book is the blueprint for living an undivided life as we seek to revive this "thing" called education. Thank you so much Kirsten for standing in an uncomfortable place. Without your energy so many others will probably feel the same pain as those in your book. My prayer is that this book is placed in the hands of teachers world wide so that we can reclaim our children.

A powerful and important book

I can think of many, many ways in which I was wounded by school--most people can. What you might be surprised to learn is how damaging those wounds are and how they help shape who we are. Kirsten Olson explores this phenomenon and reveals many powerful and painful stories about ways in which our education system has failed learners of all ages. This book could not be more timely. We are in an age of transition. We're no longer being told that we don't or can't have a voice. This book offers hope, healing and empowerment to those who are ready to face today's educational challenges.

Interesting and Well Written

Do you wonder why school was so tedious for you and for your children? Maybe you think that it's better for other people - Wounded by School provides compelling portraits of a variety of learners and the failure of school to capture the imagination of students, and worse yet the stifling of enthusiasm that results. But more than that there is a different way and Olson is an expert in mapping out alternatives to the deadening monotony of our current educational system, which is failing us both as individuals and as a society. Read this book - you'll be a better advocate for yourself and your kids.