Hidden Dangers: Subtle Signs of Failing Schools

(Paperback, Second Edition)

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The Hidden Dangers in our schools have grown and intensified over the last few years; so much so that I was compelled to write a second edition to Hidden Dangers: Subtle Signs of Failing Schools. Our schools are complex places; each with its own unique climate, administration, faculty, students, parents and community members.
Clearly, schools do not work in a vacuum; each is affected by the much larger society, government and economy. In this new edition we will be introduced to the interplay of these facets and how they can help and in some cases hinder our schools, our teachers, and our students from thriving. We also learn why it is more complicated now than ever, and the stakes are even higher than when Hidden Dangers was originally published back in 2008.

Reviews

The level of anxiety about our children's schooling needs some grounding. Betsy Gunzelmann's book helps us be more specific about the real dangerswhich aren't because we have the wrong kids, parents or teachers, but because we increasingly reinvent ways to cripple schools, and thus kids, by unexamined assumptions. She neatly and deftly lays them out chapter by chapter. -- Deborah Meier, MacArthur Award-winning founder of the Central Park East Schools in New York and the Mission Hill School in Boston
Betsy Gunzelmann, (educator and psychologist) will be regarded as a prophet speaking of ways to save our ailing educational system. She uncovers some surprising hidden dangers in our schools, AND provides us with remedies to fix them! This is a book that needed to be written; the issues it unveils will be on both Democratic and Republican Education platforms in 2008. -- Diane Connell, professor of education at Rivier College in Nashua, New Hampshire
In Hidden Dangers: Subtle Signs of Failing Schools Betsy Gunzelmann presents a fresh and unique perspective at the conditions and climate of our schools. With the analytical skills, shaped by her experiences as a psychotherapist, she systematically examines the journey that too many of our children travel towards mediocrity and failure. Her disciplined approach, informed and shaped by her role as college professor, creates a context by which the not-so-obvious signs of danger challenging the well-being of our academic enterprise can be examined. Yet while analytic skills and research strength serve her well, it is the compassion of a teacher that is the heart of this book. Difficult issues examined and possible solutions recommended. Dr. Gunzelman is clearly not an uninvolved bystander. [This book] is her wake-up call for all who care about our schools and what goes in them. -- Dr. Francis Doucette, professor emeritus, Southern New Hampshire University
This book is one people have been waiting for though they may not always have known it. It meets the needs of parents who may not have realized there are alternatives other than those they've been offered, and questions not always recognized or addressed. It is also a book for teachers, who have seen situations but might not recognize the fullness of what they may entail; or, who have felt they were more alone than there was need to be. Perhaps, even more so this is a book for administrators, superintendents, and members of school boards, or of governmentthe people charged with developing processes and procedures. Dr. Gunzelmann gives them questions to consider, options to pursue, and ways to respond respectfully and effectively to essential issues, ones overlooked to the disadvantage of all. -- Michael Noonan, Rochester School Department (NH)
Betsy Gunzelmann's Hidden Dangers is at the same time a lovely and yet forceful examination of one of America's most pressing and vexing issues. With straightforward, even kindly prose, Professor Gunzelmann enlightens us on the matters of the crises in our schools, offers beautiful interpretations, and even more, solutions to the problems she addresses. Her book emerges as a primer in a significant field of educational psychology. It ought to be required reading for students, teachers, administrators, and parents, which means just about all of us.Betsy Gunzelmann's Hidden Dangers is at the same time a lovely and yet forceful examination of one of America's most pressing and vexing issues. With straightforward, even kindly prose, Professor Gunzelmann enlightens us on the matters of the crises in our schools, offers beautiful interpretations, and even more, solutions to the problems she addresses. Her book emerges as a primer in a significant field of educational psychology. It ought to be required reading for students, teachers, administrators, and parents, which means just about all of us. -- Thomas J. Cottle

Author Bio

Betsy Gunzelmann is professor of psychology at Southern New Hampshire University and author of several articles involved with improving our schools. She has worked in the field for over 30 years and is a psychologist, educator, and parent concerned with issues hindering our childrens education.