Why Teach?

One year out of college, James Nehring landed “accidentally” in teaching and soon discovered his love for the profession. But he was surrounded by a school system consumed with order, efficiency, rules, and punishment. He wanted to change the system. So began a quest that became a career. Why Teach? Notes and Questions from a Life in Education is a journey inside American education and a story of self-discovery. Why Teach? is the perfect introductory text for an aspiring teacher, a source of reflection for fellow educators, and a compelling insider critique of the system.
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The School Within Us

This book tells the story of a community of teachers, parents, and students who thoughtfully took charge of their very conventional circumstances and created a very unconventional school. With authority and liveliness, Nehring, a veteran teacher who led the development of the school, describes the many challenges faced and overcome in The Bethlehem Lab School from its inception as a proposal in 1988 to the graduation of its first senior class. 


The Practice of School Reform

James Nehring combines vivid case studies with practical suggestions to describe how the system works to thwart good schools and what educators can do to improve them. In this book he paints the big picture of school reform in the United States, deftly distilling broad cultural patterns into useful advice for reform-minded educators. Bringing history alive through the carefully rendered stories of five schools past and present that have successfully swum against the mainstream, Nehring shows how educators can overcome the lie of the quick fix through mindful adaptation.


The Schools We Have
The Schools We Want

Veteran teacher James Nehring takes you deep inside the workings of one school to offer an insider's perspective of what happens when research-driven models of school reform meet up with the messy, human reality of school.  Writing in a very personal, often funny, and uniquely down-to-earth style, Nehring follows the lives of teachers, students, and administrators as they try to break through institutional barriers.


Upstart Startup

Standing at ground level of public school reform, James Nehring offers a complete tour of one progressive charter school-walking us through the school's vision of learning, the day-to-day challenges, the many achievements, and the lessons learned. From the unique perspective of school principal and then full-time teacher, Nehring takes us deep into the Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School, providing rare insight into the strategic issues involved in launching a new school. This engaging narrative is certain to offer inspiration to anyone interested in learning how public education might be renewed.


Notes From A Teacher's 
Day In School

Schools and public education have changed in ways many adults no longer understand.  How can you as a parent discover what goes on in your children’s lives when they’re not with you—which is most of the week?  Written by a teacher who loves his job, Why Do We Gotta Do This Stuff, Mr. Nehring? offers a fascinating, inside look at school life that is at once informative and reassuring.