Doing School

A scholarly study presented with great clarity and enlivened by vignettes of student life, this work provides a fresh perspective on the state of American education, and yet another reason to press for systematic reform.Publishers Weekly A revealing look at the quandaries of todays high school students.Library Journal Named as a 2001 Notable Book in Education by the American School Board Journal Doing School illuminates important issues in curriculum studies. In addition, it provides an accessible model of qualitative educational inquiry. My students regard it as one of their most helpful texts.Richard Siegesmund, University of Georgia I have used Doing School in both undergraduate and graduate courses, in both places to great effect. In short, Professor Popes book is fabulous not only for the accessibility of its writing, the careful portraits she paints and the arguments she draws from them, but also for its methodological innovativeness and interpretive sophistication.Simone Schweber, University of WisconsinMadison Many of my students remarked that Doing School reflected their own secondary school experience, and that reading it forced them to consider that experience in light of their preparation to teach. Students also commented that they sat down to read the first chapter, and simply read the entire book in one sittingit was that compelling and that well written.Charles Dorn, Santa Clara University Doing School is a loud wake-up call about the disconnect between what our best high schools and colleges say they are all about and the pressure they put on students. The book raises disturbing questions about the kind of high standards we are pushing for in our schools. It should inform any discussion of what it means to be an educated person in the 21st century.Edward B. Fiske, editor of The Fiske Guide to Colleges Doing School gives us a penetrating view of how students cope with the pressures of schooling. Just how they cope should concern all who want from education substantially more than the superficial accommodation that even high achieving students display. Popes book should be read by policymakers at all levels of education.Elliot W. Eisner, Stanford University

Denise Pope is a lecturer at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education.