The Tao of Teaching: The Special Meaning of the Tao Te Ching as Related to the Art and Pleasures

In 81 brief applications of the ancient Chinese wisdom of the Tao Te Ching to a contemporary public-school setting (at primary, middle and high-school levels), Nagel joins other interpreters who have discerned its relevance in many aspects of living. The reader's skepticism about the plausibility of Taoism in hectic urban classrooms is kept at bay by the author's introduction of three perspicacious teacher-practitioners whose unassuming individualism somehow establishes an egalitarian learning environment for each child. A devotee of Taoism and supervisor of student teaching at California State Polytechnic Univ. at Pomona, Nagel highlights fundamental verities whose rediscovery should encourage burdened teachers. (Dec.)