Doing School Denise Clark Pope

Summary

A revealing, and troubling, view of American high school students and the ways they pursue high grades and success. It follows five highly regarded students through a school year, finding that these young people believe getting ahead requires manipulating the system, scheming, lying and cheating.

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Doing School: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed-Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students by Denise Clark Pope

This book offers a revealing-and troubling-view of today's high school students and the ways they pursue high grades and success. Veteran teacher Denise Pope follows five highly regarded students through a school year and discovers that these young people believe getting ahead requires manipulating the system, scheming, lying, and cheating. On the one hand, they work hard in school, participate in extracurricular activities, serve their communities, earn awards and honors, and appear to uphold school values. But on the other hand, they feel that in order to get ahead they must compromise their values. In short, they do school-that is, they are not really engaged with learning nor can they commit to such values as integrity and community.

The words and actions of these five students-two boys and three girls from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds-underscore the frustrations of being caught in a grade trap that pins future success to high grades and test scores. Their stories raise critical questions that are too important for parents, educators, and community leaders to ignore. Are schools cultivating an environment that promotes intellectual curiosity, cooperation, and integrity? Or are they fostering anxiety, deception, and hostility? Do today's schools inadvertently impede the very values they claim to embrace? Is the success that current assessment practices measure the kind of success we want for our children?

A revealing look at the quandaries of today's high school students. . . . An essential purchase for high school, college, and university libraries and one strongly recommended for public libraries where interest in education is strong.-Library Journal

A revealing look at the quandaries of today's high school students . . . for . . . libraries where interest in education is strong.-Library Journal

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

Named as a 2001 Notable Book in Education by the American School Board Journal

Doing School isa 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, The Fiske Guide to Colleges, former Education Editor of the New York Times

Doing School givesus 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. Pope's book should be read by policymakers at all levels of education.-Elliot W. Eisner, Lee Jacks Professor of Education and Professor of Art, Stanford University

Pope, a former English teacher, writes like a dream. If I were a middle or high school teacher or administrator, I'd use this as a text with my students to prompt an exploration of life at school and with colleagues to talk about creating a different kind of school culture. I'd send it home for parents to read. I know this book will not only shake up feelings of complacency, but will also help us move toward creating schools which do much better by our kids' hearts and minds.-Kathy Simon, Horace: The Journal of the Coalition of Essential Schools

In a book about a high school's best and brightest students, Denise Pope has captured the texture of their harried daily lives. These academically successful students describe a boot camp for college filled with anxiety, physical exhaustion, cheating, and a disregard for learning. They have mastered the game of 'doing school' and pay a steep price for their success. Reformers dead set on making all students academically successful need to hear these students' voices.-Larry Cuban, Professor of Education at Stanford University

Many of my students remarked that Doing School reflectedtheir 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 sitting-it was that compelling and that well written.-Charles Dorn, Faculty Member, Santa Clara University

Doing School Denise Clark Pope

Doing School by Denise Clark Pope

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Doing School: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed-Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students by Denise Clark Pope

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