Santoro, Doris A. & Cain, Lizabeth. Principled Resistance: How Teachers Resolve Ethical Dilemmas. Harvard Education Press, 2018.
This book is must reading for any teacher or administrator who is feeling beleaguered and whose concerns are being ignored or dismissed. One debilitating aspect of such situations is the feeling of isolation; as though you are the only one who sees or cares about a problem. This edited collection offers stories of those who have resisted conditions they considered to be detrimental to the education of children and/or a violation of their professional ethics. As stated in the description on the book’s cover, “Principled Resistance brings together senior scholars and activist teachers to explore the concept of resistance as a necessary response to mandates that conflict with their understanding of quality teaching. The contributors also show the steps teachers take, in their reasoning and in their actions, to resist policies they are expected to enact. This volume offers a critical and unique resource for teacher educators who are preparing prospective teachers to navigate the contentious terrain of educational politics, teachers who are interested in leading change, and others interested in educational ethics.”