Reimagining the Call to Teach: A Witness to Teachers and Teaching

This award-winning sequel to the internationally acclaimed classic, The Call to Teach, revisits the idea of teaching as a calling in light of contemporary expectations in education. Reimagining The Call to Teach brings to life an ethical approach to teaching that is informed by an understanding of teaching's great purpose: to help the next generation forge a spirit of mutual care and concern while supporting each student's distinctive way of being in the world. Hansen juxtaposes testimony from public school educators with ideas and examples drawn from philosophy, teacher education, research on teaching, literature, and other arts. He demonstrates that, despite pressing structural challenges in the educational system, teachers can bring their calling to life by supporting one another and by engaging in philosophical inquiry and self-cultivation. Rendered with Hansen's customary eloquence, this dynamic book will be of interest to all who care about the dignity of teachers and teaching in our time.

Book Features:

• Provides a fresh and inspiring account of teaching as a calling.
• Draws creatively on a wide-range of sources, including extensive testimony from teachers.
• Focuses on an ethical approach to working with teachers called "bearing witness."
• Highlights the important place of philosophy in being a teacher and a teacher educator.
• Uses an accessible and engaging style with rich examples throughout.

David T. Hansen is professor and director of the Program in Philosophy and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. His books include Ethical Visions of Education: Philosophies in Practice and A Life in Classrooms: Philip W. Jackson and the Practice of Education.