Description
Book SynopsisIn a world where students are often seen as test scores and not as human beings, where their well-being is challenged by poverty, intolerance, and bullying, and where technological innovations frequently erode genuine personal contact, compassionate teachers are needed more than ever. Teaching with Compassion offers practical tools and strategies designed to help educators foster a culture of care and compassion. Organized around an eight-point Teaching with Compassion Oath, this book draws on real life examples and exercises to demonstrate the power and potential of teaching from the heart. Written for both experienced and novice educators alike, Teaching with Compassion is sure to stimulate inquiry and provide ongoing inspiration.
Trade ReviewResearch shows that compassion benefits both the giver and the recipient. Teachers and students have much to gain from a compassionate interaction not only for the benefit of the learning environment but also for the benefit of their health and happiness. -- Emma Seppälä, Science Director of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, and the author of The Happiness Track.
Along with a perpetual doubling down on new standards and new high-stakes test, public education has witnessed a rise in buzz words and policies—rigor, grit, growth mindset, no excuses—that simply ignore the humanity of children and their teachers. Teaching with Compassion is a volume that offers a rare but powerful antidote to misguided deficit views of children, learning, and teaching. In these pages, teachers and others who truly care about learning and children find hope, love, and another way, one that cannot be followed too soon. -- Paul Thomas, Professor of Education, Furman University, co-editor, Pedagogies of Kindness and Respect: On the Lives and Education of Children
This lovely, practical book is for teachers who see their work as a catalyst for building a kinder, more compassionate world, but who don't know where to begin. As Teaching with Compassion suggests, we must begin with ourselves. -- Vicki Zakrzewski, Ph.D., Education Director, Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley
In an age when students are often reduced to data points, and humanity in education is discussed less often than test prep strategies, this book is a welcome and refreshing read. Teaching with Compassion not only provides educators with helpful tools to address many of our students' and teachers' needs, but it also helps to provide a little gravity--in terms of universal truths about the hard work of growing humans--that will hopefully help swing the education pendulum back to a place that better prioritizes the well-being of those we serve. -- Dr. Amy Fast, Assistant Principal, McMinnville School District, Oregon and author of It's the Mission, Not the Mandates: Defining the Purpose of Public Education
Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: Practice Beginner’s Mind Chapter 2: Follow the Golden Rule Chapter 3: Learn from Adversity Chapter 4: Leave My Ego at the Door Chapter 5: Focus on Classroom Chemistry Chapter 6: Listen with Intention Chapter 7: Hold Space Chapter 8: Teach like the Sun Conclusion: Teaching with Compassion is a Social Act Notes About the Authors Index
