I Can Learn from You: Boys as Relational Learners (Youth Development and Education Series) - Softcover

Reichert, Michael; Hawley, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 161250664X ISBN 13: 9781612506647

Publisher: Harvard Education Press, 2014

Synopsis

In I Can Learn from You, Michael Reichert and Richard Hawley—the authors of Reaching Boys, Teaching Boys—set out to probe deeply into the relational dynamics that help boys succeed as learners.

Drawing on interviews with students and teachers in thirty-five schools across six countries, they examine the particular ways boys extend and receive empathy—modes of interaction that remain consistent across a wide range of schools, teachers, countries, and cultures.

The book shows how teachers can help boys form productive learning relationships and how schools can support the development of teachers’ relational capacities. At the heart of the book is the belief that educators must—and can—put relational teaching at the center of school life.

About this title

About the Author

Michael C. Reichert, PhD, is executive director of the Center for the Study of Boys’ and Girls’ Lives, a national research collaborative composed of independent schools in partnership with the Graduate School of Education of the University of Pennsylvania. The Center helps schools investigate the actual experience of their students using a participatory action research model and develop interventions based upon their findings. A psychologist who has worked in clinical, research, and community health contexts for over thirty years, Reichert maintains an independent practice where he specializes in work with boys, men, and their families. As supervising psychologist at Pennsylvania’s Haverford School since 1989, he has provided direct service to students and their families, acted as a consultant to teachers and administrators, and offered special programs. He has also served as director of an urban youth development program and conducted research on behalf of for-profit and nonprofit organizations, especially to inform programs with perspectives more grounded in the actual experience of participants. Reichert has written numerous publications based upon this work, including (with Richard Hawley) Reaching Boys, Teaching Boys: Lessons About What Works—and Why (Wiley/Jossey Bass, 2010).

Richard Hawley, PhD, is headmaster emeritus of Cleveland’s University School, where for four decades he taught, counseled, and coached middle school and high school boys. In 1994 he was named founding president of the International Boys’ Schools Coalition. His published work includes several novels, including The Headmaster’s Papers (Garrett County Press), which won a number of literary prizes. He has also published several collections of poetry, an opera libretto, and a series of nonfiction books about children and schools. His stories, essays, and poems have appeared in the Atlantic, the New York Times, American Film, America, Commonweal, the Christian Science Monitor, Orion, and the New England Journal of Medicine, as well as in scholarly and literary journals. He lives in Vermont with his wife, painter Mary Hawley.

From the Back Cover

In I Can Learn from You, Michael Reichert and Richard Hawley set out to probe deeply into the relational dynamics that help boys succeed as learners. They show how teachers can help boys form productive learning relationships and how schools can support the development of teachers’ relational capacities. At the heart of the book is the belief that educators must—and can—put relational teaching at the center of school life.

“You cannot fool boys in school; they know whether or not you are interested in a real relationship with them. Teachers who are willing to reach out to boys, who can tolerate a little opposition, will produce excited, grateful learners. I wish every teacher in America were required to read I Can Learn from You before he or she stepped into a classroom. Our boys would be better off if they did.”— Michael Thompson, coauthor of Raising Cain

“To read some pop pundits, boys’ academic underachievement is best remedied by changing classroom seating, recess, and temperature control. In this level-headed and sensible study, Michael Reichert and Richard Hawley show us the answer is far simpler and far more profound: boys’ relationships—with each other, with their teachers, with their sense of themselves—are what must be nurtured to enable boys to connect.” — Michael Kimmel, distinguished professor of sociology and gender studies, Stony Brook University, and executive director, Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities

“Our young men come to schools wearing an emotionally protective armor. I Can Learn From You shows educators how to deepen their connection with boys in a way that allows them to reveal the beauty beneath their armor and unlock their limitless potential.” — David Banks, president, Eagle Academy Foundation

“I Can Learn From You is an essential read for everyone who cares about boys and who wants to improve their lives.” — Niobe Way, professor of applied psychology, New York University, and author of Deep Secrets


Michael Reichert is executive director of the Center for the Study of Boys’ and Girls’ Lives. Richard Hawley is headmaster emeritus of Cleveland’s University School.

From the Inside Flap

In I Can Learn from You, Michael Reichert and Richard Hawley set out to probe deeply into the relational dynamics that help boys succeed as learners. They show how teachers can help boys form productive learning relationships and how schools can support the development of teachers' relational capacities. At the heart of the book is the belief that educators must--and can--put relational teaching at the center of school life.

"You cannot fool boys in school; they know whether or not you are interested in a real relationship with them. Teachers who are willing to reach out to boys, who can tolerate a little opposition, will produce excited, grateful learners. I wish every teacher in America were required to read I Can Learn from You before he or she stepped into a classroom. Our boys would be better off if they did."-- Michael Thompson, coauthor of Raising Cain

"To read some pop pundits, boys' academic underachievement is best remedied by changing classroom seating, recess, and temperature control. In this level-headed and sensible study, Michael Reichert and Richard Hawley show us the answer is far simpler and far more profound: boys' relationships--with each other, with their teachers, with their sense of themselves--are what must be nurtured to enable boys to connect." -- Michael Kimmel, distinguished professor of sociology and gender studies, Stony Brook University, and executive director, Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities

"Our young men come to schools wearing an emotionally protective armor. I Can Learn From You shows educators how to deepen their connection with boys in a way that allows them to reveal the beauty beneath their armor and unlock their limitless potential." -- David Banks, president, Eagle Academy Foundation

"I Can Learn From You is an essential read for everyone who cares about boys and who wants to improve their lives." -- Niobe Way, professor of applied psychology, New York University, and author of Deep Secrets

Michael Reichert is executive director of the Center for the Study of Boys' and Girls' Lives. Richard Hawley is headmaster emeritus of Cleveland's University School.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard Education Press
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 161250664X
• ISBN 13: 9781612506647
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208