Come check out some of the new titles that have arrived at the OISE Library! Featured in this New Titles post are books on the topics of education leadership, mental health, school diversity and educational activism. All of these titles are located near the service desk on the main floor of the library.
The Intelligent, Responsive Leader, by Steven Katz, Lisa Ain Dack, and John Malloy. This book discusses how one can learn to lead in an “intelligent, responsive school” by taking the steps to develop an “intelligent, responsive leadership” practice. The purpose of the book is to empower school leaders, like principals, to lead out of the middle space created between the oppositional forces of the top-down school district expectations for professional learning and the bottom-up teacher experience-driven expectations for professional learning. Steven Katz is an OISE faculty member in the Applied Psychology and Human Development department and is the author of several best-selling books. Lisa Ain Dack is an instructor in the Master of Teaching and Master of Child Study and Education programs at OISE and is the co-author of the best-selling book Intentional Interruption. John Malloy is the director of education at the Toronto District School Board and has put many of the principles described in this book to practice throughout his career as an education leader. Together these authors provide readers with the strategies and tools necessary to develop “intelligent, responsive” leaders and schools by discussing real school-based stories and using scholarly literature on the topic.
Schooltalk: Rethinking What We Say About – and to – Students Every Day, by Mica Pollock. This book provides teachers with strategies to promote equity in their classrooms through effective communication. The chapters of the book emphasize that the way teachers interact with students can affect their lives and have long-term consequences. The author, therefore, provides tips and strategies for implementing equity “schooltalk” in a variety of school-based scenarios. Furthermore, each chapter includes think/discussion questions and “action assignments” for teachers to engage with the material outlined in the book. Mica Pollock is the director of the Center for Research on Education Equity, Assessment, and Teaching Excellence at the University of California and is the editor of another book called Everyday Antiracism. Overall, Pollack provides effective tips for teachers by using scholarly literature on equity-based education and her own personal experiences.
Dark Side, by John Choi. In this YA novel, the main character Emerson Yeung, a responsible teenager, feels overwhelmed by the pressures of his life. Throughout the novel, he navigates through his depression and the suicidal thoughts that have resulted from his desire to be “the perfect son,” an abusive father, and a social media incident that results in him being suspended from school. Emerson is so overwhelmed with the pressures he faces that he has trouble finding a way to ground himself. However, by the end of the book, he is able to find help and work through his depression. This is John Choi’s only novel and he is currently a Clinical Supervisor at the Peel Children’s Centre. This novel can be used in the classroom to help discuss issues of mental health with students within a relatable context.
Making a Global City: How One Toronto School Embraced Diversity, by Robert C. Vipond. This book explores the topic of diversity in education within a political-historical context by studying the Clinton Street Public School in Toronto, between 1920 and 1990. The purpose of this book is to outline the history of the practices the school participated in, in order to prepare a large multi-cultural immigrant student population to be active Canadian citizens. The author raises issues of belonging, assimilation vs. integration, identity, and citizenship. The purpose of the book, as an institutional biography, is to highlight Clinton Street Public School as a model of citizenship that is applicable to the current Canadian political and educational atmosphere. Robert C. Vipond, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto, uses scholarly literature, historical documents (including some from OISE’s own historical collection), empirical data, and student accounts to write this biography. This book is useful for those interested in understanding how history has shaped the educational policies we see today.
Class Action: An Activist Teacher’s Handbook, edited by Shawn Gude and Bhaskar Sunkara. This handbook is a compilation of articles written by 17 different former and current educators in the United States. Its purpose is to encourage debate and empower educators who are struggling with corporate education reform. Issues of budget cuts and “the industrial classroom” are discussed in relation to the impacts these issues have on students and what needs to be done in order to make a change. This compilation of articles was made by the Jacobin magazine and the Chicago Teachers Union’s CORE Caucus. Jacobin, according to their website, is an American left-leaning magazine that provides socialist perspectives on politics, economics, and culture. The overall goal of this handbook is to critique the neoliberal education reform that is currently happening in the United States. This handbook is useful to those interested in making a difference in educational reform or learning more about the educational climate within the United States.
