Teaching in the Knowledge Society

We are living in a defining moment, when the world in which teachers do their work is changing profoundly. In his latest book, Hargreaves proposes that we have a one-time chance to reshape the future of teaching and schooling and that we should seize this historic opportunity. Hargreaves sets out what it means to teach in the new knowledge society—to prepare young people for a world of creativity and flexibility and to protect them against the threats of mounting insecurity. He provides inspiring examples of schools that operate as creative and caring learning communities and shows how years of “soulless standardization” have seriously undermined similar attempts made by many nonaffluent schools. Hargreaves takes us beyond the dead-ends of standardization and divisiveness to a future in which all teaching can be a high-skill, creative, life-shaping mission because “the knowledge society requires nothing less.”

This major commentary on the state of today’s teaching profession in a knowledge-driven world is theoretically original and strategically powerful—a practical, inspiring, and challenging guide to rethinking the work of teaching.

Andy Hargreaves is the Thomas More Brennan Chair in the Lynch School of Education at Boston College (www.andyhargreaves.com).

“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. This new book pulls the reader in from the first paragraph and never lets go—a delight to read from cover to cover.”
—Michael Fullan, Dean, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.

“Clearly the most informed, intelligent, and cogent critique of the current wave of standardization. A must-read for those who are concerned (educators, parents, policymakers) about the impact of bureaucratization and standardization on both students and their teachers!”
—Ann Lieberman, Senior Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

“In this day, when test scores serve as a proxy for school quality, Andy Hargreaves builds an eloquent and compelling case for the importance of moral vision and social commitment in schools.”
—Susan Moore Johnson, Pforzheimer Professor of Teaching and Learning, Harvard Graduate School of Education