Synopsis
2025 SPE Outstanding Book Award Winner
With an alchemical verve, educators have been shaping the very direction of students' lives since time immemorial. With millions of teachers currently serving in the Tk-12 sector and millions more serving in higher education spaces, the need for quality educator development is essential.
For Tk-12 educators, while there are teacher preparation programs to help shape their teacher identities, the challenge of neatly integrating all the rich content provided into a set of actions is considerable. For college educators writ large, there is no conspicuous preparation for teaching, leaving many to flounder early in their careers. In addition, homeschooled students, whose population has nearly doubled in recent years, also need and deserve access to professional training.
While chiefly focused on Tk-12 educators, The Alchemy of Teaching supplies support for educators in all sectors and covers an array of topics germane to educators everywhere. Accordingly, this work draws on the early notions of alchemy, which is the art of transforming mundane metals into gold, to develop a template for educators to succeed while infusing essential, hard-earned wisdom along the way. Using the metals of alchemy as metaphors, the effective elements of teaching are parsed out in commonsensical and pragmatic ways, designed to give all those who educate students a template for strengthening their practice and the learning outcomes of their students.
Written by highly experienced educators, this book is made up of three sections, with each detailing some of the prominent struggles educators regularly have in particular areas. Each author also elucidates the gold practices and provides techniques for avoiding some of the early pitfalls often experienced by educators.
Each chapter of this book is dedicated to the practice of changing or transforming educator practices. It is a valuable tool for educators across the teaching spectrum to bring greater hope and success to their classrooms.
Perfect for courses such as: Teacher Education; Classroom Management; Education Psychology; Social Justice; Foundational Courses in Teacher Education; Courses in Differentiation; Methods Courses in Mathematics
About the Author
In addition to being a family man and a self-proclaimed comic book nerd, David Sandles is an animal lover who was born to serve as an educator. An Oakland native who served as a long-time K-12 teacher and university faculty member, he is currently the Southern California Regional Director for CalStateTEACH, a multiple-subject teaching program. In that role, he supports schools and districts across the state of California to achieve their learning targets and enrich the lives of surrounding communities. In addition, Dr. Sandles is a seasoned member of multiple accreditation organizations, traveling around the United States to support teacher preparation programs with achieving regional and national accreditation. He is a fervent believer that the educator landscape must be racially and linguistically diversified to bring about equitable outcomes for students. Dr. Sandles’ interests include working out, reading, promoting Black male educator agency, and listening to old-school hip-hop and R&B music.
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