Teaching, A Life's Work

Book excerpt: A must-read for new teachers and seasoned practitioners, this unique book presents Sonia Nieto and Alicia López, mother and daughter writing about the trajectories, vision, and values that brought them to teaching, including the ups and downs they have experienced and the reasons why they have stubbornly remained in one of the oldest, most difficult, and most rewarding of professions. Drawing on their extensive experience as educators in school and university classrooms, they reflect on what it means to teach young people, prospective teachers, and future academics in our complex, dynamic, and multicultural society. Teaching, A Life’s Work is at once theoretical and practical, reflective and critical, personal, professional, and political. Nieto and López document their reasons for becoming teachers and share some of the most important lessons they have learned along the way. Using journals, blogs, current writings, and their research, they explore how their views on curriculum, pedagogy, and the field of education itself have evolved over the years. “Riveting and beautiful! This book offers a full basket of wisdom wrapped up in personal stories of learning to teach.” —Christine Sleeter, California State University Monterey Bay “Nieto and López give us the gift of two lifetimes of loving commitment to teaching children and changing the world.” —Wayne Au, University of Washington Bothell “A genuine rarity! This dialog allows us insight into the differences and similarities across generations in teacher education, curriculum, and classroom practices.” —David C. Berliner, Arizona State University