Teaching in the Cracks

Openings and Opportunities for Student-Centered, Action-Focused Curriculum

Brian D Schultz author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Teachers' College Press

Published:14th Apr '17

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Teaching in the Cracks cover

This engaging book shows how teachers and schools are creating emergent, democratic, progressive education amidst the current context of high stakes accountability. In this follow-up to his bestseller, Spectacular Things Happen Along the Way, Schultz explores how today’s rhetoric and restrictive mandates result in curriculum that fails to capture the attention of students. For meaningful learning that develops transferable skills and engages students, teachers and sometimes whole schools need to find spaces to “teach in the cracks” so that students can connect with issues relevant to their lives. Teaching in the Cracks provides both a theoretical and practical foundation for incorporating an action-focused curriculum that meets academic standards and provides students with opportunities for agency and to use their voices in their own learning.

Book Features:

  • Specific tools and strategies to help teachers engage students in democratic participation and action.
  • Examples from varied teaching contexts, including elementary and secondary classrooms and independent, charter, and public schools.
  • Recommended organizations and resources for integrating justice-oriented civic engagement in classrooms.
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Teaching in the Cracks creates a ‘big tent’ for ‘student-centered, action-focused curriculum.’ Teachers will likely find some version of their school context portrayed to help them imagine how social action curricula could take root in their classrooms.”

Urban Education


“Schultz acknowledges that his proposal sounds great on paper but is hard to implement in the classroom, and so throughout he offers numerous practical examples of proposed curricula and how they are working around the nation. Examples vary, covering everything from a single classroom, the entire school’s curriculum, forming close partnerships with surrounding communities, and specific topics, to teacher preparation. Together they make this book an invaluable reference for field educators.”

The Wabash Center Journal on Teaching


“It does an exceptional job of providing information on progressive education and is a welcome contribution to the field…a tight and efficiently written exploration of progressive teaching in action...(the book) presents many dynamic thoughts for how to educate and prepare students to participate actively in a democratic society."

—Mid-Western Educational Researcher

ISBN: 9780807758311

Dimensions: 229mm x 156mm x 7mm

Weight: 204g

144 pages