The start of the school year is just around the corner, and while all of our scholarly books and textbooks are certainly school-appropriate we have few titles that we would like to highlight for the return to the classroom.
For the stressed professor:
The Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy
By Maggie Berg and Barbara Seeber
If there is one sector of society that should be cultivating deep thought in itself and others, it is academia. Yet the corporatisation of the contemporary university has sped up the clock, demanding increased speed and efficiency from faculty regardless of the consequences for education and scholarship.
In The Slow Professor, Maggie Berg and Barbara K. Seeber discuss how adopting the principles of the Slow movement in academic life can counter this erosion of humanistic education. Focusing on the individual faculty member and his or her own professional practice, Berg and Seeber present both an analysis of the culture of speed in the academy and ways of alleviating stress while improving teaching, research, and collegiality. The Slow Professor will be a must-read for anyone in academia concerned about the frantic pace of contemporary university life.
For the (almost finished) PhD candidate:
The Thesis and the Book: A Guide for First-Time Academic Authors
By Eleanor Harman, Ian Montagnes, Siobham McMenemy, and Chris Bucci
The academic caveat Publish or Perish is not a new one, and for over a quarter of a century, The Thesis and the Book has come to the aid of graduate students in their quest for publication. The doctoral dissertation, usually the first book-length study completed by a scholar, is, however, only rarely publishable as a book. Understanding the differences between the two forms is a crucial part of one’s education as a scholar and is equally important in appreciating the endeavours of scholarly publishers. The Thesis and the Book: A Guide for First-Time Academic Authors, revised and expanded in this second edition, will continue to provide the best overview of the process of revising a dissertation for publication.
Drawing on the expertise of the contributors, all of whom are editors, publishers, and scholars themselves, the chapters present the rudimentary differences between a thesis and a book (including matters of purpose and audience), give guidance on the necessary stylistic, technical, and structural revisions to the dissertation, and offer advice to first-time authors who must not only revise their work to satisfy prospective publishers, but also learn a good deal of the ins and outs of scholarly publishing.
The Thesis and the Book will continue to be of great value to graduating doctoral students seeking publication and to the faculty members who supervise these students. It will also be of value to acquisitions editors at scholarly presses, who must contend with the submission of revised dissertations for publication.
For those interested in learning about or changing school policy:
Adaptive Education: An Inquiry-Based Institution
By Robert VanWynsberghe and Andrew C. Herman
The obstacles that prevent the latest educational research reaching the classroom are daunting: few channels to communicate the results of educational research, fewer opportunities for teachers to participate in research themselves, and little support for honing a scientific approach to teaching.
The solution, according to Robert VanWynsberghe and Andrew C. Herman, is radical but simple: transform the educational institution itself into a laboratory for continuous experimentation. Inspired by the pragmatist theories of John Dewey and Roberto Unger, Adaptive Education explains how schools and universities can incorporate research processes into their activities, institutionalize a policy of inquiry and experimentation, and make teaching an evidence-based profession.
An audacious proposal to reform the education system from the ground up, Adaptive Education is a roadmap for creating an institution that empowers teachers, parents, and the community to innovate, adapt, and explore.
Understanding School Choice in Canada
By Lynn Bosetti and Diane Gereluk
Understanding School Choice in Canada provides a nuanced and theoretical overview of the formation and rise of school choice policies in Canada. Drawing on twenty years of work, Lynn Bosetti and Dianne Gereluk analyze the philosophical, historical, political, and social principles that underpin the formation and implementation of school choice policies in the provinces and territories.
Bosetti and Gereluk offer theoretical frameworks for considering the parameters of school choice policies that are aligned and attentive to Canadian educational contexts. This robust overview successfully shifts the debate away from ideology in order to facilitate an understanding that the spectrum of school choice policy in Canada is a response to the varying political challenges in society at large. This book is essential reading for those who desire a deeper understanding of school choice policies in Canada.
