A Time To Learn by George H. Wood ph.d Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

A Time To Learn by George H. Wood ph.d - Essay Example iter on the very first page where he states that, â€Å"This book is about the work it will take to reinvent our high schools, moving them from institutions to communities (Wood, 1999, Pg. 1)†. The author’s own experiences as an educator in the college as well as high school environment certainly add to the value of the book since the readers understand that the writer has been an active participant in the education process rather than an outsider looking in to act as a researcher or consultant. That is not to say that Wood’s work does not include any research since he worked for more than a decade as a professor of education which certainly entails its own requirements for research and experimentation. The combination of research and the experiential knowledge gained by Dr. Wood makes it possible for readers to understand clearly why most reform initiatives in schools today fail to meet their mark. Reforms which are half baked, non intuitive and do not take into account the needs of the students are hardly useful or even appreciated by those who are most involved in the process. As recommended in the book, teachers as well as students have to be made interested in the changes which are taking place in a school before the changes can lead to meaningful output. At the same time, participation from other stakeholders is also an important factor for the successful implementation of the reforms and these stakeholders include everyone from the parents who send their children to the school to administrative boards who have to maintain the legal guidelines and mandatory guidelines coming from the local, state or federal bodies for the governance of the American education system. Even the community at large can participate in how schools are run at a given location since they too can be affected by the operation and systems used at a school. A typical student spends more than five thousand hours of his/her life in high school and that is a significant portion of time