The Game of School: Observations of a Long-Haul Teacher

In this self-published critique of public high schools, the voice of a 30-year teaching veteran has a particular credibility. The deficiency of America's schools has been written about by theorists and education specialists; Tripp's analysis is as a daily classroom practitioner. He describes his involvement in successful programs, which instead of infantilizing and patronizing students encouraged them to function as independent people responsible for their own progress. We hear from the students as they weigh the influence of nontraditional learning on their lives. Tripp, a realist and a radical who would abolish grades, makes the very basic point that education must involve students; it should give them the tools--and inclination--to use reason, not just rote memory. The author offers an eleven-point ``temporary fix'' for the problems of public high schools as they are presently configured, but the heart of his prescription is ``The Grow/Learn System'' aimed at a rethinking of how we see the role of student, teacher and education. Tripp's impassioned and authoritative voice deserves to be heard. (Sept.)