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Wounded by School: Recapturing the Joy in Learning and Standing Up to Old School Culture 3.5.2009 Edition

by Kirsten Olson (Author), Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot (Foreword), Parker J. Palmer (Foreword)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 38 ratings
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While reformers and policymakers focus on achievement gaps, testing, and accountability, millions of students mentally and emotionally disengage from learning and many gifted teachers leave the field. Ironically, today’s schooling is damaging the single most essential component to education―the joy of learning

How do we recognize the "wounds" caused by outdated schooling policies? How do we heal them? In her controversial new book, education writer and critic Kirsten Olson brings to light the devastating consequences of an educational approach that values conformity over creativity, flattens students’ interests, and dampens down differences among learners. Drawing on deeply emotional stories, Olson shows that current institutional structures do not produce the kinds of minds and thinking that society really needs. Instead, the system tends to shame, disable, and bore many learners. Most importantly, she presents the experiences of wounded learners who have healed and shows what teachers, parents, and students can do right now to help themselves stay healthy.

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  1. ISBN-10
    0807749559
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0807749555
  3. Edition
    3.5.2009
  4. Publisher
    Teachers College Press
  5. Publication date
    April 23, 2009
  6. Part of series
    Early Childhood Education
  7. Language
    English
  8. Dimensions
    6.12 x 0.63 x 8.9 inches
  9. Print length
    240 pages
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“This important book is filled with resources and specific ideas for reclaiming joy in learning.... Highly recommended.”

―Choice

“This wonderful and probing book filled with powerful, poignant, passionate stories.”
―Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot

“May this splendid book be read, discussed, taken to heart, and put into action.”
―Parker J. Palmer

“A brilliant, original, and important book. Wounded by School makes an eloquent and moving case for the radical re-invention of our schools.”
―Tony Wagner, author of The Global Achievement Gap andCo-Director of the Change Leadership Group (CLG)

“We need to replace industrial schooling with more genuinely caring and humane ways of teaching, and Olson clearly shows us why and how to do it.” ―Ron Miller, Editor, Education Revolution magazine

“Wounded by School is not merely a technical repair manual for our broken schools, it is a guide to how to revive their purpose, their spirit, and their hope.”
―David H. Rose, Founding Director, CAST (the Center for Applied Special Technology)

“Kirsten Olson’s book is refreshingly unlike the general run of sludge I associate with writing about pedagogy. I can’t imagine anyone not being better for reading this book – Twice!”
―John Taylor Gatto, author of Dumbing Us Down, www.johntaylorgatto.com.

“I invite anyone invested in American public schools (and I hope that’s all of us) to read this book and join hands in building schools that help every student not only heal but thrive.”
―Terry Chadsey, Associate Director, Center for Courage & Renewal

“Whether you loved school or not, whether you blamed school or yourself for your problems, you will think differently about school after reading Kirsten Olson’s compelling book. Olson’s account of the wounds of school is unsparing, but it is also infused with hope.”
―Howard Gardner, author of Five Minds for the Future

Review

“Wounded by School is not merely a technical repair manual for our broken schools, it is a guide to how to revive their purpose, their spirit, and their hope.”
―David H. Rose, Founding Director, CAST (the Center for Applied Special Technology)

“Kirsten Olson’s book is refreshingly unlike the general run of sludge I associate with writing about pedagogy. I can’t imagine anyone not being better for reading this book – Twice!”
―John Taylor Gatto, author of Dumbing Us Down, www.johntaylorgatto.com.

“I invite anyone invested in American public schools (and I hope that’s all of us) to read this book and join hands in building schools that help every student not only heal but thrive.”
―Terry Chadsey, Associate Director, Center for Courage & Renewal

“Whether you loved school or not, whether you blamed school or yourself for your problems, you will think differently about school after reading Kirsten Olson’s compelling book. Olson’s account of the wounds of school is unsparing, but it is also infused with hope.”
―Howard Gardner, author of Five Minds for the Future

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Teachers College Press; 3.5.2009 edition (April 23, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0807749559
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0807749555
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.12 x 0.63 x 8.9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 38 ratings

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
38 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Oliver DeMille, TJEd
5.0 out of 5 stars Important book on schooling - and freedom
Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2013
Verified Purchase
Another important book about freedom (and the lack of it) in modern education is Wounded by School by Kirsten Olson. It outlines the normal ways in which modern education hurts most children, shows the history of why schools adopt such harmful policies, and suggests real solutions.

For example, Olson writes:

"Many theorists suggest that the purpose of schools is to mold and shape individual self-concept so that pupils will accept a particular place in society..." Is this really what you want for your children?

"On a larger scale, what is the impact on freedom of raising a generation of youth to "accept a particular place in society"? This is a class system, pure and simple.

Olson points out that "Schools are deliberately designed to sort and track" students into order to promote the class system. Olson also suggests that among the key ways modern schools wound students are things like the following:

* I felt sick in school.
* I'm in the middle.
* I must comply.
* I can't measure up.
* I am better than those below me.
* I must impress my superiors.
* What I want isn't as important as what my betters want.
* Creativity must be secret--my focus must be conformity.
* Learning isn't fun.

And for parents: "I feel helpless about saving my child," and "The experts know what my kids need more than I do."

Olson's solutions center around bringing freedom back into schooling. Indeed, this is the focus of a lot of cutting-edge books and research on education.

Above all, we need to be clear about one thing: Freedom works. It does. Freedom is the best choice in society and also in education. If you are a parent or teacher, you have more power than you know. I highly recommend this book.
11 people found this helpful
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Helen Gallagher
4.0 out of 5 stars Fighting our uphill battle
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2009
Author Kirsten Olson is fighting the uphill battle of a person taking on the traditional school system. Here in "Wounded by School," she gives you the tools to fight along with her. Over a ten-year investigation, Olson defined the damaging gaps in the U.S. education system. Here, through personal case-studies, she shares the intimate stories of people who were indeed wounded by their school experiences.

Among the damages done to many students in the traditional education system, the wounds Olson describes include: a loss of pleasure in learning, compliance, rebellion, underestimation, perfection, and the sad wounds parents experience when they feel helpless about their child's education troubles.

Through "Wounded By School," you'll learn how to stop dysfunctional and outmoded methods that castigate teachers when learning fails and inhibit learning development.

Helen Gallagher Release Your Writing: Book Publishing, Your Way
3 people found this helpful
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Kevin Parker
5.0 out of 5 stars Wounded By School
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2009
Verified Purchase
I have had the pleasure of sitting with Mrs. Olson at a retreat and her hubleness amazed me. I have been glued to this oracle for everyone who has been, is or will be educated or educating. I was able to reflect on my journey and recall the exact moment of my disconnection from school. By High School I dissappeared because I wasn't out of control, remedial or gifted. I was just a regular student who slipped through the cracks. As an educator now I am even more committed to bring forth the problems we as educators have in engaging students, parents and collegues in creating a safe place to BE in this educational process. Mrs. Olson's book is the blueprint for living an undivided life as we seek to revive this "thing" called education. Thank you so much Kirsten for standing in an uncomfortable place. Without your energy so many others will probably feel the same pain as those in your book. My prayer is that this book is placed in the hands of teachers world wide so that we can reclaim our children.
8 people found this helpful
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CC
5.0 out of 5 stars An important book to read
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2022
Verified Purchase
The book addresses a difficult and elaborate topic, but a very important one to explore and reflect on.
One person found this helpful
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David J. Wilson
3.0 out of 5 stars Rather different from my 'take'
Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2009
Verified Purchase
I understand that schools and school systems are at times stupid and uncaring. However, on the basis of my experience (long, long ago), those of friends, those of our five children, and those of several of our grandchildren, I found it difficult to recognize the very grim picture of our schools which the author paints. I work as a volunteer with public school teachers on various science activities, in-class and in the field, and have been impressed, by and large, with these teachers' ability and dedication. In my opinion, the author's description of our public schools paints a much blacker picture than is warranted. And it shows little understanding of the serious problems many schools face in terms of financial support, inappropriate interference by government at all levels, the educational bureaucracy, the unions, and a host of social problems over which the schools have little or no control. I get the impression that the author feels that our public school system is hopelessly and culpably flawed. Despite its obvious problems and faults, I cannot agree, although I must admit that some substantial changes are in order.
7 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Lesya Nimchuk
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on April 15, 2015
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Everything is fine
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