Badass Teachers Unite!

June 1, 2014

Naison (African American studies and history, Fordham Univ.) has never held a K-12 teaching job. Nor is he an educational scholar. But Naison works in the Bronx, NY, one of the poorest counties in the United States, and what he adds to the debate surrounding education reform is a commitment to connecting policy to the lived experiences of economically disadvantaged youth. In this book he adopts a conversational, blog-like style in two- to four-page entries on a variety of topics. In Part 1, he critiques the reigning assumptions of education reformers; most of his arguments here will be familiar to anyone who has read Diane Ravitch's The Death and Life of the Great American School System. Part 2 charts a bolder course, predicting a "new wave of student activism" that will address educational inequities in the years ahead; this section of the book also discusses the origins of Badass Teachers Association, a group cofounded by the author to organize opposition to high-stakes testing in schools. In Part 3, the author draws on his experiences training teachers on curriculum development as part of the Bronx African American History Project to illustrate what constitutes "great teaching at an urban public high school." VERDICT Naison's book is recommended for teachers and students who are concerned about the direction of education reform. While he addresses student activism, those wanting a more comprehensive look at the topic may prefer Henry A. Giroux's Youth in Revolt: Reclaiming a Democratic Future.--Seth Kershner, Northwestern Connecticut Community Coll. Lib., Winsted

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