Master Teachers: Making A Difference On The Edge Of Chaos - Dexter Chapin

Dexter Chapin has authored a fascinating and important book on the dynamics of teaching. In a collection of short essays he guides readers through his mental model for understanding and improving classroom teaching and learning-a mental model that is couched in systems and chaos theory. As he guides readers through the intricacies of his mental model we are exposed to the characteristics of teachers, the development of new teachers, classrooms that are designed to seize advantages associated with systems thinking, essential student attributes, classroom culture, and other fascinating and important topics that characterize his view of the dynamics of teaching. In an era where the Industrial-Age model of teaching and learning has hit its performance ceiling a new paradigm for teaching and learning is needed. Chapin's book offers a glimpse at what that new paradigm might look like. (Francis M. Duffy )

Do you remember the best teachers you ever had? The teachers who, more than any others, allowed you to grow, take risks, and succeed beyond your wildest hopes? This book is about those teachers: who they are, and how they do it. This is not a book of recipes. Really good teaching happens at the edge of chaos where creativity and invention thrive, which is not the stuff of recipes. Some will be uncomfortable with this book because it demands more from policy-makers than sinking to the lowest denominator. From teachers, it demands much, including a high degree of courage. Others, including those of us in the global business marketplace, will say, 'Yes, that is exactly right; that is the only way we can hold our own." This is a book worth reading. (Newton, Paul )

I knew that Dexter Chapin was a master teacher because I have seen him teach. I did not know that he is a master writer about teaching, but this book proves that he is. He avoids the glittering generalities that ruin most conversations about teaching; instead he talks clearly, concretely, and compellingly about the craft of teaching. In so doing, he provides an invaluable tool to teachers who wish to master their craft and transcend its limitations to create the art that can only be found in the classroom of a master teacher. (Joe Puggelli )

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