To Teach

The Journey of a Teacher, Third Edition

William Ayers

Narrated by Kevin Pierce

Available from Audible

Book published by Teachers College Press

To Teach is the now-classic story of one teacher’s odyssey into the ethical and intellectual heart of teaching. For almost two decades, it has inspired teachers across the country to follow their own path, face their own challenges, and become the teachers they long to be. Since the second edition, there have been dramatic shifts to the educational landscape: the rise and fall of NCLB, major federal intervention in education, the Seattle and Louisville Supreme Court decisions, the unprecedented involvement of philanthropic organizations and big city mayors in school reform, the financial crisis, and much more. This new Third Edition is essential reading amidst today’s public policy debates and school reform initiatives that stress the importance of “good teaching.”

William Ayers is a school reform activist and Distinguished Professor and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

REVIEWS:

“An imaginative, elegant, and inspiring book ... essential reading for anyone who believes that teachers can change lives.”

—Michèle Foster, Claremont Graduate University

“To Teach is one of the few books about teaching that does not disappoint.”

—From the Foreword by Gloria Ladson-Billings, University of Wisconsin‚ÄìMadison

“William Ayers creates a wise and beautiful account of what teaching is and might be.... He leaves us with fresh awareness of what the teaching project signifies. He provokes us, each in our own fashion, to move further in our own quests.”

—Maxine Greene, Teachers College, Columbia University

“No one since John Holt has written so thoughtfully about the things that actually happen in the classroom. Ayers has been there and he knows, and he shares what he has learned with tremendous sensitivity. The book, I’m sure, will be required reading in every school in the nation.”

—Jonathan Kozol

“Bill Ayers speaks as teacher, parent, and student: as compassionate observer and passionate advocate of his three sons and of all of our children. What is unique is the way in which the personal and professional merge seamlessly.... Ayers is a wonderful story teller.”

—Herbert Kohl

“Ayers’s riveting description of his unfolding journey as a teacher will be a helpful guide to teachers at all stages of their careers.”

—Teaching Education