A Life In School What The Teacher Learned

Here one of our leading literary scholars looks back on her own life in the classroom, and discovers how much of what she learned there needs to be unlearned. Jane Tompkins' memoir shows how her education shaped her in the mold of a high achiever who could read five languages but had little knowledge of herself. As she slowly awakens to the needs of her body, heart, and spirit, she discards the conventions of classroom teaching and learns what her students' lives are like. A painful and exhilarating story of spiritual awakening, Tompkins' book critiques our educational system while also paying tribute to it.

Jane Tompkins is a professor of English at Duke University. She is the author of Sensational Designs: The Cultural Work of American Fiction, and more recently, West of Everything: The Inner Life of Westerns. She lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.