Lessons from Privilege: The American Prep School Tradition - Softcover

Powell, Arthur G.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0674525531 ISBN 13: 9780674525535

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1998

Synopsis

Around 10,000 tax dollars will put a child through many public schools for a year. About 10,000 private dollars will put him through prep school. Why, then, is one system troubled and the other thriving, one vilified and the other celebrated? In this book, a renowned historian of education searches out the lessons that private schooling might offer public education as cries for school reform grow louder.

Lessons from Privilege explores a tradition shaped by experience and common sense, and guided by principles that encourage community, personal relationships, and high academic standards. These "basic" values make a profound difference in a time when popular culture, which mocks intellectual curiosity and celebrates mental passivity, competes so successfully for students' attention.

Arthur Powell uses the experience of private education to put the whole schooling enterprise in fresh perspective. He shows how the sense of schools as special communities can help instill passion and commitment in teachers, administrators, and students alike--and how passion and commitment are absolutely necessary for educational success. The power of economic resources, invested fully in schools, also becomes pointedly clear here, as does the value of incentives for teachers and students.

Though the concerns this book brings into focus--for decent character and academic literacy--may never be trendy or easily applied, Lessons from Privilege presents sensible, powerful, and profitable ideas for enhancing the humanity and dignity of education in America.

About this title

About the Author

Arthur G. Powell is author of The Search for Educational Authority and coauthor of The Shopping Mall High School.

From the Back Cover

In this book, a renowned historian of education searches out the lessons that private schooling might offer public education as cries for school reform grow louder. Arthur Powell uses the experience of private education to put the whole schooling enterprise in fresh perspective. He shows how the sense of schools as special communities can help instill passion and commitment in teachers, administrators, and students alike - and how passion and commitment are absolutely necessary for educational success. The power of economic resources, invested fully in schools, also becomes pointedly clear here, as does the value of incentives for teachers and students.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0674525531
• ISBN 13: 9780674525535
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 304