A Brief History of Teaching

From the scribal schools of ancient Mesopotamia—where boys copied cuneiform tablets until their hands cramped—to the one-room schoolhouses of the American frontier, the factory-model classrooms of the Industrial Revolution, and the Zoom grids of pandemic learning, A Brief History of Teaching traces the unsung profession that transmits civilization itself. This illuminating narrative follows the teacher's journey through the ages: the Greek pedagogues (slaves who led children to school, literally "boy-leaders"), the medieval university masters lecturing to hundreds in Latin, the Enlightenment tutors of aristocratic children, the common school crusaders (Horace Mann and his vision of public education as democracy's foundation), the normal schools that professionalized teaching (especially for women, who flooded the profession in the 19th century), and the modern era of standardized tests, charter schools, and the endless battles over curriculum, tenure, and what children should learn. Along the way, it introduces the legendary teachers—from Socrates (executed for corrupting youth) to Maria Montessori, from Christa McAuliffe (the teacher who died on the Challenger) to the millions of unsung educators who have shaped minds, inspired passions, and changed lives one lesson at a time.

But is teaching a profession, a calling, or a thankless grind—and why does society claim to value it while paying it so poorly? This book confronts the profession's deepest struggles: the overcrowded classrooms and crumbling buildings, the endless culture wars over books and history, the obsession with high-stakes testing, the burnout and exodus driving a teacher shortage crisis, the shocking disparities between wealthy and poor districts, and the perennial disrespect for a profession dominated by women. From the "schoolmaster" of colonial times to the teacher-as-sacrifice-hero narrative of modern media, from the fight for collective bargaining to the rise of Teach for America and alternative certification, A Brief History of Teaching is an essential, deeply human tribute to the men and women who do the work that makes all other work possible—and an urgent call to ask what we truly owe them.