Jenny's Story

By carefully documenting how space was made for Jenny—a child who didn’t fit the school mold—this book offers a renewed sense of human possibility and an attainable vision of what schools can be. The authors demonstrate that it is only by attending to each and every child that schooling can begin to achieve its most noble aim: equality. Readers are introduced to Prospect’s educational philosophy and descriptive processes, with details about what the processes are and what they offer teachers, parents, and children. Jenny’s story is told through these processes—ways of looking at children and their work that make it possible to know each child as a person, a thinker, and a learner. While Jenny’s journey through elementary school is the heart of the book, this is also the story of a big urban school serving many immigrant families. Jenny's Story offers readers a compelling look at:

• How teachers, staff, and the principal successfully worked with a richly diverse community.
• What it means to ground teaching in knowledge of the particular, careful observation, and collective inquiry.
• How to challenge school policies and mandates that work against children’s well-being and dignity.

Patricia F. Carini is a co-founder of Prospect School and the Prospect Archives and Center for Education and Research. She is the author of Starting Strong: A Different Look at Children, Schools, and Standards. Margaret Himley served on the Prospect Board of Trustees and is a professor of writing and rhetoric at Syracuse University. Himley and Carini are co-editors of From Another Angle: Children’s Strengths and School Standards.

“The book’s inspiring essays explore a vision of education and schooling that is grounded in 40 years of experience addressing the challenges of teachers, children and schools.”

—Young Children

“This splendid book is a testament to the insightful powers of teachers who listen, observe, and wonder at children's ways of teaching.”
—Shirley Brice Heath, Brown University

“Jenny's Story challenges us to continue the struggle to return children to the center of our teaching.”
—Sarah Hudelson, Arizona State University