Books
Lessons from the Hawk
Building on the metaphor of a hawk circling a field, Kennedy develops the concept that there are four fundamental approaches that human beings have towards learning, only one of which is the traditional, analytic, professorial model. Written for practical teachers who are looking for better ways to engage all of their students in learning, Kennedy shows how teachers can determine their own dominant learning perspectives and recognize that many of their students approach education with far different viewpoints and expectations.
He follows with specific suggestions how to match each student's approach to learning with the subject matter at hand and to extend their repertoire of talents and perspectives through homework. For Kennedy, classrooms that truly honor each student's individuality must by definition be active, working models of democracy. True educational reform for him fundamentally requires schools that no longer feel compelled to demand standardization and regimentation, but schools that acceptand even encouragegenuine educational diversity and individuality.
Lessons from the Hawk is a wise yet very practical book for teachers and administrators who know that creating good schools involves more than scoring high on national tests, that it really means schools that care about students as individuals by understanding, honoring, and developing the learning perspectives that they bring into the classroom.
*****
“This is a book that not only should a teacher own, but constantly read to better themselves, their class, and the children they hope to raise in an ever changing world. You will be the better for it. The children will be the better for it. The world will be the better for it. Lastly, parents, officials and the government will benefit the most. They only have to get their heads out of the sand.”
— BookWired book review
Classroom Management:
The Dance of the Dolphin
Traditional courses in classroom management usually emphasize a package of techniques a teacher can use to maintain his or her control over a class. At its root, the command-and-control approach is based on the notion that learning can take place only in a tightly controlled, highly structured atmosphere dominated by the teacher. While acknowledging that chaos is hardly conducive to learning and that some students do indeed flourish in such an atmosphere, Mark Kennedy points out other students do not flourish because their learning perspectives are so different. For these students, a teacher-centered approach is simply not enough to engage their full attention.
In this book Kennedy shows how every classroom can be organized so that it takes advantage of all of the four learning perspectives that he first presented in Lessons from the Hawk. The essence of his approach can be found in the metaphor of the Dance of the Dolphin, a process in which the classroom leadership role is constantly changing and evolving, depending on the needs of the moment. The result is student learning that is stronger, more focused and longer lasting.
*****
“In his book Mark Kennedy provides us with a warehouse full of information crunched down to a legitimate easy to navigate teacher's guide to micro-managing a classroom. Not just any classroom mind you, an inner city high profile classroom. His success as an educator in his own district and room give us all hope of having something better.
No, your classroom will not change overnight, but you will be able to translate this book into a working environment helping boys and girls achieve many of the goals they desperately wish to achieve. This is a book you an educator in any field will want to use as a reference the rest of your career. What makes it different than a thousand other classroom guides? This one works.”
— BookWired book review