Walking on Water

Derrick Jensen, Walking on Water: Reading, Writing, and Revolution

Part memoir, part teaching manual, part writing guide, part Luddite screed, Walking on Water is all ass-kicking for any interested teacher.

I hated high school--and I teach high school, so I already know that American education isn't so much about reflection or revolution or resistance as it is about regurgitation, recitation, reception. True education, Jensen notes, is drawing out; its lingual cousin, seduction, is leading astray. (Guess: which one do teachers usually succeed at? Right. Neither.)

Jensen captures the tension of working inside the system without becoming part of it. It's an everyday struggle. If you haven't had the stars plucked out of your idealist eyes, read this. If you've grown stale in your teacherly comfort, read this. If you have only two hours to steal away from grading papers, read this.