"If you think that Teachers, Schools, and Society: A Brief Introduction to Education was written to introduce you to the world of teaching, you are only half right. This book also reflects our excitement about a life in the classroom and is intended to spark your own fascination about working with children. We wrote this book to share with you the joys and the challenges we feel about teaching, as well as the importance of fairness and justice in school and society. With this fifth edition, our goals are unchanged. We work hard to provide you with information that is both current and concise, and we work even harder to create an engaging book- one that will give you a sense of the wonderful possibilities found in a career in the classroom. The primary intent of Teachers, Schools, and Society is to provide a broad yet precise exposure to the realities of teaching and the role of education in our society. The text will help you answer important questions such as: Do I want to become a teacher? How do I become the best teacher possible? What should a professional in the field of education know? How are schools and teaching changing? To help you answer those questions, we offer a panoramic, diverse, and (we hope) stimulating view of education. The text views education from several vantage points. In Part I, "Teachers and Students," we present the world of schools, teachers, and students from the teacher's side of the desk. Part II, "Foundations," examines the broad forces-historical, philosophical, financial, and legal-that shape the underpinning of our educational system. In Part III, "Schools and Classrooms," we explore the purposes of schools, daily life in and beyond school, and the obvious (and not so obvious) curriculum taught in school. In this last section, we also provide an overview and analysis of the reform movement and the many curricular changes that are now so much a part of America's schools. We conclude the text with a variety of effective teaching strategies and practical suggestions to make your first year in the classroom a success"--