Forget School (Book Review)

As a teacher, I've always tried my best to make my classroom relevant for all my students. While I feel that there are many good teachers out there, ever since I was a kid, I haven't felt like school as a system really fit. The more I've learned about school and the more experience I have with it, the more I realize that it really doesn't suit every kid, and that many of the patterns and institutions that shape education are slow to change.

So I was really excited at the chance to review Forget School: Why young people are succeeding on their own terms and what schools can do to avoid being left behind. Much of this book confirmed what I already felt for myself and for my daughters - that the current school system just isn't working for them, and for kids like them. The author interviewed young adults to figure out what they felt about their education - what was good, what was missing, what they would have liked more of. It makes a strong case for the need for more networking and relevant, updated skills, and less for the type of memorization and rote learning that shows up so much in schools.

It's a good book for anyone invested in education - school leaders, teachers, parents, board members - to provide a different perspective and help raise critical questions about what exactly schools should be doing to prepare the next generation of students.