Spectacular Things Happen Along the Way

This celebrated narrative shows how a teacher, alongside his 5th-grade students, co-created a curriculum based on the students’ needs, interests, and questions. Follow Brian Schultz and his students from a Chicago housing project as they work together to develop an emergent and authentic curriculum based on what is most important to the 5th-graders―replacing their dilapidated school. The persuasive storytelling that captured the attention of educators and the media depicts the journey of one teacher in an urban school and his students juxtaposed against the powerful and entrenched bureaucracy of Chicago’s public education system. In this second edition, Schultz examines how school reform continues to fail students in urban contexts, reflects on his teaching and writing from a decade ago, and offers compelling updates on students and what became of the school. A lot can be learned from the young people of Room 405, then and now. Not only did these particular 5th-graders push back against the city and school board in their pursuit for a better learning environment for themselves and their community, but they also learned about the power of using their voices in purposeful ways.

Book Features:

• Depictions of justice-oriented teaching amidst the current climate of high-stakes testing, standardization, and accountability.
• Details of the trials, tribulations, and missteps alongside the successes and discoveries the teacher and students experienced along the way.
• Insights to help teachers reflect, change, and transform their own classroom practices.
• A new Foreword by Pedro Noguera, “A Lesson for Teachers on Making Choices and Making a Difference.”
• A new Afterword by Sonia Nieto, “On Teaching with Hope and Humility.”

Brian D. Schultz is professor and chair of the Department of Teacher Education at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He is the author of Teaching in the Cracks: Openings and Opportunities for Student-Centered, Action-Focused Curriculum.