Teaching in the knowledge society : education in the age of insecurity

"A book of polemic and passion, which will challenge school leaders, teachers and policy-makers alike. Amid vivid invective and extensive research about the impoverishing effects of educational standardisation, there gleams Hargreaves' unwavering conviction that teaching is the key agent of change in the knowledge society. As governments search for reform strategies to match the challenges facing state school systems around the world, we need original thinkers like Hargreaves. He defines the space within which leadership must be exercised."- Heather Du Quesnay, Director and Chief Executive, National College of School Leadership. "When it comes to the role of teachers in society no one leads the pack like Andy Hargreaves. Teaching in the Knowledge Society is brimming with original insights, cutting edge ideas from a cutting edge scholar. It pulls the reader in from the first paragraph, and never lets go. A delight to read from cover to cover." - Michael Fullan, University of Toronto. We live in a creative, dynamic knowledge society. How do we teach young people to work in it and prosper from it? How do we protect them against its frantic pace and runaway effects? In this major new book, Andy Hargreaves examines what is meant by the knowledge society, why it's important and what it means for teachers today. Knowledge societies need schools to become creative and caring learning communities, and this book shows inspiring examples of such schools. Yet the quest to create true knowledge society schools has been stalled by years of standardisation. The benefits of creative learning communities are most often offered to teachers of the affluent. Prescribed programs of teaching and learning are inflicted on the rest. This book shows how to break through this impasse and create the knowledge society schools for all that we really need. Hargreaves' major new commentary on the state of teaching today is theoretically original and strategically powerful. Rich in teachers' voices and rigorous research, it is essential reading for teachers and teacher educators, policy makers, leaders and researchers alike.