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Teachers at the Center: A Memoir of the Early Years of the National Writing Project
Teachers at the Center A Memoir of the Early Years of the National Writing Project Author:James Gray Recounts the exciting early years of sthe National Writing Project (NWP) in personal, insightful, and humorous stories that only James Gray, its legendary founder, could tell. NWP, the country's most successful and enduring professional development organization for teachers of writing, evolved from Gray's simple and profound idea: ... more »successful teachers make the best teachers of teachers.
In 1974, Gray and his colleagues convened the first summer institute of the Bay Area Writing Project (BAWP) at the University of California, Berkeley--the first writing project in the country. This was a time when "professional development" in schools generally amounted to required meetings at which outside consultants would deliver lectures on everything but the content of teaching. The two dozen teachers at BAWP's first meeting were astonished to discover that Gray and his colleagues regarded them as the experts and expected them to demonstrate to each other their most effective classroom practices.
Here, Gray looks back on the early years, describing the mentors who influenced his thinking, the mistakes he made and strategies he used to refine the model, and the difficulties he overcame to gain widespread support for the project. Anyone interested in education, literacy, and teacher development will appreciate the insights in this engaging and forthright narrative.« less