The Best Teacher in You How to Accelerate Learning and Change Lives

What does teaching look like at its very best? How are great teachers able to ignite a love of learning and change students’ lives? In this book you’ll learn from seven remarkable teachers who stretch beyond the conventional foundations of good teaching to transform their classrooms into exciting, dynamic places where teachers and students cocreate the learning experience. Based on six years of extensive work, the book outlines a framework that identifies four dimensions of effective teaching and learning that are integrated in these highly effective teachers’ classrooms—and that all teachers can use to recognize and release the potential in themselves and their students.

Robert E. Quinn is the Margaret Elliott Tracy Collegiate Professor at the University of Michigan.
Katherine Heynoski is senior specialist, powerful practices.
Mike Thomas is senior director, powerful practices, at Battelle for Kids
Gretchen M. Spreitzer is the Keith E. and Valerie J. Alessi Professor of Business Administration at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. Quinn is cofounder, and he and Spreitzer are codirectors, of Ross’s Center for Positive Organizations.

introduction: Learning from Highly Effective Teachers
Chapter 1: Becoming the Best Teacher in You: A Process, Not a Destination
Chapter 2: Embracing Connections: Integrating Essential Elements
Chapter 3: Opening the Mind: Embracing Deep Change
Chapter 4: Opening the Heart: Enhancing Relationships
Chapter 5: Empowering the Soul: Developing Yourself
Chapter 6: Empowering Others: Teaching That Transforms
Chapter 7: A Process for Development: Embedding Self-Reflection
Conclusion: Strategies for Moving Forward
Resource A: The Reflect Assessment
Resource B: Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument for Classrooms
Resource C: Appreciative Inquiry Protocol
Resource D: Interview Protocol
Resource E: Online Tools and Resources
Notes
Glossary
Acknowledgments
Index
About the Authors
About Battelle for Kids
About the Center for Positive Organizations