Beginner's Guide to the Humanities, A (2nd Edition)

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Beginner's Guide to the Humanities, A (2nd Edition)
Philip Bishop
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Adventures in the Human Spirit (5th Edition)

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ASIN: 0132213842

Book Description

This practical beginner's guide to appreciating and experiencing culture provides a handy introduction to the world of art that teaches students how to observe, enjoy, and analyze the arts. Professor Philip Bishop wrote this book because there was no concise handbook on the market covering the arts as a whole. His text provides a succinct and affordable guide to the arts and humanities geared to students who are starting from scratch in their study of the arts. Self-contained chapters provide an essential companion guide to understanding a specific disciplineâincluding painting, sculpture, music, and theaterâwith a clear and insightful explanation of the discipline’s process of creation.

Computing in the Social Sciences and Humanities

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Computing in the Social Sciences and Humanities

Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0252026853

Book Description

A lively, hands-on introduction for teachers and scholars in the humanities and social sciences, this book-and-CD package will inspire even the faint-hearted to take the technological bull by the horns and make efficient, informed use of computer and Internet resources.

New technology is changing the very nature of research and teaching in the social sciences and humanities. From specialized online forums to Web-based teaching and distance learning, computers are being used to expand educational opportunities, promote cooperation and collaboration, stimulate creative thinking, and find answers to previously insoluble research problems. Combining interactive projects in a CD-ROM format with informative printed essays, this volume showcases innovations that are revolutionizing the craft of scholarship. More than that, it examines realistically how applicable the new technology is to learning. Contributors clarify some of the difficulties of using computers and address problems with the philosophy and culture of computers, including concerns about intellectual property protection and the potential for creating a technological underclass of electronically disadvantaged schools and universities.

The accompanying CD features multimedia entries such as an interactive project on owls that educates users about forest ecology; RiverWeb, an interactive archive of information on the history, culture, and science of the Mississippi River; and "Global Jukebox," which recreates the context in which the folklorist Alan Lomax made his pioneering field recordings. The CD includes links to many external sites on the World Wide Web. For those with limited Internet access, a collection of relevant sites is integrated into the CD.

Minimum System Requirements 32 MB available RAM, CD-ROM drive (4x)

Some articles and programs also require 256-color monitor and sound capability

Macintosh®: System 8.5 Windows®: Intel Pentium® processor (or equivalent) running Windows® 95 or Windows NT® 4.0

Book Description

The Best Political Cartoons of the Year, 2006 Edition continues the tradition of being the ultimate collection of political cartoons. Popular editorial cartoonist Daryl Cagle and his staff have chosen more than 150 of the best cartoons world wide and compiled them all in this one, humorous and sometimes sad look-back at 2005. Relive memorable moments like the Michael Jackson trial, steroid and baseball, the rise of gas prices, Terri Shiavo, the Tsunami, and much more in this book that is sure to be a great gift for you or your favorite political junkie. Forewords from Tucker Carlson and Senator Orrin Hatch will also be included.

Last year’s book, The Best Political Cartoons of the Year, 2005 Edition (ISBN: 0789733501), is still available! Start a collection of historical humor that will entertain you for years to come!

Customer Reviews:

Cagle is the Best.......2007-02-11

What can I say? Cagle is unquestionably the best. I read his website every day religiously. So what's not to like about his year-in-review books? They're spectacular.

Br. Randall Horton

a gathering of the best.......2006-11-03

I love Cagle's website, and this book is a gathering up of the best cartoons from there. If you're into political or editorial cartoons you'll love it. It's almost like an almanac of what happened in 2005.

The children of Mauldin have been eclipsed by the children of Herblock........2006-03-13

Cagle's book has a wide variety of cartoons in various styles, but the book is badly hampered by Cagle's insistence that political cartoonists are primarily left-leaning (10 to 1 was the claim, which he ironically justifies by suggesting that liberals think that people are mostly "stupid" and so since that's where humor lies, there are naturally more liberals in cartooning. He also refers to conservatives as humorless - as a stereotype, to be fair - but one that makes you wonder if the man has ever read P.J. O' Rourke, Jonah Goldberg, Rob Long, Mark Steyn, or listened to Rush Limbaugh, just to name a few.) Cagle then goes on to pander to that assumption my placing an overwhelming number of liberal cartoonists in the pages, mildly broken up by the odd conservative cartoon.

The intros to the chapters are full of misinformation (One example is the matter of fact state ment that there's a civil war going on in Iraq...not yet, though sadly I'm sure that's wishful thinking on some leftists' part - but a country whose factions are all working towards a single government is not in civil war - there's a difference between that and a country wracked by terror. Another: In the intro to cartoons on Hurricane Katrina, there wasn't a single mention of Governor Blanco or Mayor Nagin, an appaling omission.)

Even the chapter selections, including a section on Pat Robertson, but leaving out Howard Dean and the DNC which got a fair amount of attention from political cartoonists (and writers) this past year demonstrates a kind of calculated bias on Cagle's part.

The main problem though is that the intellectual quality of political cartooning has diminshed considerably in the past two decades. This was already apparent when Berke Breathhead won a well-deserved award for Bloom County some years back, an award richly deserved over the polemical and often plainly didactic work of the majority of political cartoonists then and unfortunately now.

Cagle's collection is full of works that rely on the most biased, unfair, and extreme take on events, a take which will leave many readers on both left and right scratching or even shaking their heads.

However, to be fair to Cagle, this sort of simplistic bias is well rewarded by the media and the same establishment that liberals always seem to rail against, forgetting that they form a large part of it. Anderson's Pulitzer portfolio was embarrassingly didactic and ham-fisted, and example of an award that seems to have been given out because it was one cartoonist's time.

The art of the cartoons vary and it is still nice to see some artists using brushwork and detail, even in the face of the increasingly small spaces newspapers give their artists to work with.

Ultimately though, Cagle's book is a sad reminder of the fact that the polemics of the overrated Post cartoonist Herblock have trumped the more balanced and thoughful approach of a cartoonist like Mauldin. That probably shouldn't be such a surprise in an age where partisan rancor is extremely high and unbearably dishonest. To see it celebrated though is a kick in the gut to those of us who have followed and admired political cartooning for decades. One hopes this the a deep valley from which this valuable craft shall emerge. Right now though, that's seems a day too far off.

Best of the Best.......2006-01-10

Always great to see another Cagle book of political cartoons. Very informative to see the entire portfolio of 20 cartoons that won the Pulitzer Prize for Nick Anderson in 2005.

Love it!.......2005-12-30

They just keep getting better. This third book by Cagle should't be missed. The cartoons are such a great way to review the year!

Customer Reviews:

Perfecto para quienes detestan la sopa.......2006-09-29

"A buen entendedor, pocas palabras," dice el viejo refran. Cuando se dice Mafalda, quien haya vivido en las ultimas tres decadas en alguna parte de Hispanoamerica (e incluso paises de Europa) probablemente sabe que se esta hablando de ese adorable personaje que desborda en genialidad y gracia con sus ocurrencias de niña precoz, asi que no hace falta elaborar al respecto.

Lo que si merece ser notado es que este espectacular volumen empastado (hardcover) de 658 paginas reune todas las tiras de Mafalda publicadas desde que el popular personaje fue introducido en este planeta por el legendario caricaturista argentino Quino. No tiene tiene desperdicio este libro y es altamente recomendable para el fanatico de Mafalda que detesta la sopa al igual que para el neofito en el mundo de Quino.

Magnificent!!!.......2006-02-22

You will never imagine what kind of surprises are awaiting inside... the imagination is endless.

"Mafalda" is a treat that English speaking readers deserve to have..........2005-09-25

This book is a compilation of all "Mafalda"'s comic strips. Who is "Mafalda", you might ask?. Well, she is a very outspoken little girl who isn't afraid to say exactly what she thinks about many subjects, including her parents, politics, ecology and her enormous distaste of soup :)

"Mafalda" was created by Argentine cartoonist Quino (the pseudonym of Joaquin Salvador Lavador), and has been published in Latin America, France, Greece, Italy, China and Portugal. Even though "Mafalda" first appeared in the '60s, most of the stories you will read in this book maintain their edge. A great part of "Mafalda"'s charm is that these comic strips allow us to see many matters from the point of view of a young but highly intelligent girl, who isn't old enough to know that speaking her mind isn't always the right thing to do.

All the same, her candid but highly accurate views on many issues will make you laugh, and think. Young children, teens and adults will interpret her words differently, based on their diverse experiences. But I bet all of them will enjoy this book.

You must take into account, though, that this book is in Spanish. That being the case, you should at least know some Spanish, or be eager to learn it (and there is no better reason to do that than wanting to read "Mafalda"!). What is more, and in case you are not ready to buy a complete edition of "Mafalda"'s comic strips, you can always find a smaller and less expensive edition in Amazon.

All in all, I think that "Mafalda" is a treat that the English speaking readers deserve to have. The language barrier is there, but it can be broken with some effort. Truth to be told, it is worth it. Highly recommended!

Belen Alcat

A necessity.......2004-10-27

I know Mafalda from its days in the leftist Italian newspapers as a comic strip. Every strip told an important social truth. But you don't need to be political at all to love her and her varied friends.

Es una maravilla.......2004-06-01

A mí siempre me ha encantado Mafalda, y ahora a mi hija
de tres años le encanta, a pesar de que no sabe leer!
Este libro es muy bonito y debe de tenerlo si le gusta
Mafalda.

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Toda Mafalda
Quino
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UGT1PY

Book Description

Cinema is a sensuous object, but in our presence it becomes also a sensing, sensual, sense-making subject. Thus argues Vivian Sobchack as she challenges basic assumptions of current film theory that reduce film to an object of vision and the spectator to victim of a deterministic cinematic apparatus. Maintaining that these premises ignore the material and cultural-historical situations of both the spectator and the film, the author makes the radical proposal that the cinematic experience depends on two 'viewers' viewing: the spectator and the film, each existing as both subject and object of vision.

Address of the Eye, The: A Phenomenology of Film Experience

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Address of the Eye, The: A Phenomenology of Film Experience
Vivian Sobchack
Manufacturer: Princeton Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KX3NQK

Average customer rating:

Perfect

Detailed coverage but lacks "good book" value.

A model of not maintained promises

Pirc Alert

A trustworthy defense for Black

Pirc Alert!: A Complete Defense Against 1. e4
Lev Alburt , and Alex Chernin
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Chess Openings for White, Explained: Winning with 1. E4 (Alburt's Opening Guide, Book 1)

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ASIN: 1889323071

Book Description

Win more games and enjoy chess more as you play and understand it better!

Packed with surprise-weapons, Pirc Alert! gives you everything you need to know to defend against White's most popular way of starting the game. Alburt and Chernin explain both the winning ideas as well as the moves of the Pirc Defense, a dynamic system used by the world's chess elite.

The perfect companion to Alburt's Comprehensive Chess Course, this book makes use of time-tested educational techniques to make it easy for you to read and remember. The most important principles and positions are highlighted in color. Lesson previews and unique "memory markers" lock in what you've learned. Frequent diagrams allow you to study without a board. Pirc Alert! is the first volume of the brand-new three-volume series, Alburt's Chess Openings, which will give you all the opening knowledge essential to playing this phase of the game like a master. Two-color illustrations throughout.

Customer Reviews:

Perfect.......2007-08-29

This is the second Albert's book I have, and I have only good words to say about it (again).
This opening book is close to perfection.
It made me choose this opening simply because of this great book.
He explains the opening very well, not just lines (and in fact the lines are the last chapters of the book), but mainly ideas.
He shows why before the how (or like he says - he teach you how to fish instead of giving you fish).

Lots of diagrams so you can handle without a board.
Lots of new lines (novelty).
Lots of games both for black and white.

I switched to it as a response to e4 (used to play accelerated Sicilian dragon), and even thought it is not easy line, and I did encountered some unpleasant position in my first games, once you get to know it, it is quite good.

highly recommended for anyone who is not master of the pirc.

Detailed coverage but lacks "good book" value........2007-08-10

This is probably a very good book. I have tried on many occasions to learn more about the Pirc by studying this book. It has great ideas. I just thought it was very verbose and lacked instructional value. I gave it three stars for the potential is has. I will use my Botterill book instead.

A model of not maintained promises.......2007-06-15

This book could be considered, in my opinion, as a model sample of non maintained promises.
The first half of the book is absolutely amazing: it starts with a lot of promises (like it or not, this is what every chess player wants from a chess book: the illusion to improve both his play and rating after reading it); then comes a section full of excellent explanation, which brings the reader to the third and final part in a very good mood: "ok, I undestood everything, now let's go to the theory and crush every white guy who dares to play 1. e4 ... with my Pirc letal weapon".
But now comes the bad news: the analytical part is completely disappointing. First of all, the repertoire is the same tired choices that other authors propose: against the Classical, the most boring middlegame positions I've never seen in my life; against the Austrian, the same, usual, Seirawan lines that, with best play by black, leads to a forced perpetual. To be honest, I'm really tired of this stuff: only to demonstrate theoretical equality, those authors ask me to play this kind of chess.

I rate this book 3 start because of the first part (which is really excellent) otherwise I'd given it 1 star.

Pirc Alert.......2007-06-08

I'm NC player. I find this book very interesting and useful. The explanations are very clear and the authors provide the Pirc's ideas and not rote memorization moves only

A trustworthy defense for Black.......2006-03-13

This book is a honest work made by a true connoisseur.

Book Description

Senge's best-selling The Fifth Discipline led Business Week to dub him the "new guru" of the corporate world; here he offers executives a step-by-step guide to building "learning organizations" of their own.

Customer Reviews:

Tools for creating a Learning Culture.......2006-09-11

Peter M Serge, The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook

To quote the first few paragraphs at beginning of book:

Among the tribes of northen Natal in South Africa, the most common greeting, equivalent to "hello" in English, is the expression: Sawu bona. It literally means, "I see you." If you are a member of the tribe, you might reply by saying Sikhona, "I am here." The order of the exchange is important: until you see me, I do not exist. It's as if, when you see me bring me into existence.

This meaning, implicit in the language, is part of the spirit of ubuntu, a frame of mind prevalent among native people in Africa below the Sahara. The word ubuntu stems from the folk saying Umuntu ngumuntu nagabantu, which from Zulu, literally translates as: "A person is a person because of other people."

"I bow in honor and reverence that place within you where to the Universe resides, when you are in that place within you, and I am in that place within me, there is One." ~namaste

The five disciplines are at the CORE of a Learning Organization

1) Personal Mastery: expand your personal capacity and ability

2) Mental Models: see how our internal pictures of the world shape action and decision

3) Shared Vision: group commitment

4) Team Learning: group ability is greater than the sum of individual talents

5) System Thinking:

"When we try to bring about change in our societies, we are treated first with indifference, then with ridicule, then with abuse and then with oppression. And finally, the greatest challenge is thrown at us: We are treated with respect. This is the most dangerous stage." --A. T. Ariyaratne (Speech made at International Community Leadership Summit, Winrock, Arkansas, March 1983. This quote paraphrases and expands upon a well-known statement made by Mahatma Gandhi in his book Satyagraha in South Africa, 1982, 1979, Canon, Me.: Greenleaf books)

"An [organization] is not a machine but a living organism." --Ikujiro Nonaka /****
Fundamentals of epistemology: what is knowledge, the nature of knowledge, and what constitutes learning.
understanding is achieved after internalization.
Without experience, we cannot truly understand.
Internalization: transformation from explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge, habits and culture that we do not recognize in ourselves.
Innovation is a process to capture, create, leverage, and retain knowledge.
What is your belief? A belief about images of the world - you may call it a mental model - is a very subjective thing

information is the flow of a message, while knowledge is created by accumulating information. Thus, information is a necessary medium or material for eliciting and constructing knowledge.

The second difference is that information is something passive. When we switch on a TV set, information comes regardless of my commitment. But knowledge comes from my belief, so it's more proactive.

And the organizational knowledge or intellectual infrastructure of an organization encourages its individual members to develop new knowledge through new experiences.

This dynamic process is the key to organizational knowledge creation - that is, socialization (from individual tacit knowledge to group tacit knowledge), externalization (from tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge), combination (from separate explicit knowledge to systemic explicit knowledge), and internalization (from explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge) [...].

[...]

Three Guiding Ideas

1) The Whole. When you are pointing a finger at the problems, notice how many fingers are pointing back at you. If you fixed the symptoms and ignore the root causes, the problems have not gone away. Another way to look at this is treat the person, not the disease. Of course treat the disease if the patient is dying, but know that the patient will get sick again because the "root causes" are stil there.

2) Community. The self is "a point of view." "The essence of being a person is being in a relationship [with] other people." You will not believe this, but each person before you is there for a reason. The reason this person is there at this moment is for you to learn something about yourself. If you ignore the person, do not ignore or forget the lesson.

3) Language. The map is not the territory. We cannot contain every bit of information that comes to us in the world, so we have to create a "map of the territory" and then refer to the map for our information. By changing a person's map, we change their reality. Language is the map, not the reality.

enlightening concepts about leadership.......2005-10-26

It seems to me that The Fifth Discipline (the previous publication of the series) is more attacting to me. The second book can be more precise and concise in content. Generally speaking I still like these two books as a foreign reader.

The Fifth Discipline.......2003-02-08

This book is a collection of theoretical summaries, reports, analyses, and strategies all quite useful to anyone interested in generating some thinking and action around change. The team of five writers (Peter Senge, Richard Ross, Bryan Smith, Charlotte Roberts, and Art Kleiner) provide some original work, but also serve as editors to a vast quantity of material drawn from practitioners, theorists, and writers in the field of organizational improvement. According to Senge, "great teams are learning organizations - groups of people who, over time, enhance their capacity to create what they truly desire to create." (p.18) This book is really about creating and building great teams. The learning organization develops its ability to reflect on, discuss, question, and change its current and past practices. To do this, people and groups in the organization need to meaningfully pursue the study and practice of the five disciplines - personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, team learning, and systems thinking.

The learning organization - Senge's vision for the productive, competitive, and efficient institutions of the future - is in a continuous state of change. Four fundamental questions continuously serve to check and guide a group's learning and improvement (see page 49): (1) Do you continuously test your experiences? ("Are you willing to examine and challenge your sacred cows - not just during crises, but in good times?") (2) Are you producing knowledge? ("Knowledge, in this case, means the capacity for effective action.") (3) Is knowledge shared? ("Is it accessible to all of the organization's members?") (4) Is the learning relevant? ("Is this learning aimed at the organization's core purpose?") If these questions represent the organization's compass, the five disciplines are its map.

Each of the five disciplines is explained, and elaborated in its own lengthy section of the book. In the section on "Systems Thinking" (a set of practices and perspectives, which views all aspects of life as inter-related and playing a role in some larger system), the authors build on the idea of feedback loops (reinforcing and balancing) and introduce five systems archetypes. They are: "fixes that backfire", "limits to growth", "shifting the burden", "tragedy of the commons", and "accidental adversaries". In the section on "Personal Mastery", the authors argue that learning starts with each person. For organizations to learn and improve, people within the organization (perhaps starting with its core leadership) must learn to reflect on and become aware of their own core beliefs and visions. In "Mental Models", the authors argue that learning organizations need to explore the assumptions and attitudes, which guide their institutional directions, practices, and strategies. Articles on scenario planning, the ladder of inference, the left-hand column, and balancing inquiry and advocacy offer practical strategies to investigate our personal mental models as well as those of others in the organization. In "Shared Vision", the authors make the case for the stakeholders of an organization to continually adapt their vision ("an image of a desired future"), values ("how we get to travel to where we want to go"), purpose ("what the organization is here to do"), and goals ("milestones we expect to reach before too long"). The section offers many strategies and perspectives on how to move an organization toward continuous reflection. In "Team Learning", the authors rely mostly on the work of William Isaacs and others, and make a case for educating organization members in the processes and skills of dialogue and skillful discussion.

This book is enlightening and informative. It has already found a place on my shelf for essential reference books.

A follow up to the legend.......2003-01-27

The Fieldbook attempts at making the esoteric concepts of the fifth discipline more down to earth and contains a treasure trove of strategies, tools, methods and explanations on how to make the learning organization into a reality.

Thus people who have read The fifth discipline will gain the most from this book. It's a must read for people who want to make their organizations transition into a 'learning organization'

A second dose of Inspiration..........2002-02-09

Senge's second serving of the Learning Organization is filled with practical tips and real-life examples from companies and organizations that have embraced the teachings of the Learning Organization successfully.

The Book is a collaboration of several writers who do a superb job of unraveling the web that is the learning organization. At times, it may seem to the reader that the book is a labyrinth of disjointed concepts and ideas. However, if you have read `The Fifth Discipline' you will find no problems following the concepts introduced. In fact, you will even understand why the writers have chosen to introduce them in that fashion. If you have not read "The Fifth Discipline', do not despair, it will take a little longer to get `the whole picture'.
The Book is divided into 8 main sections:

1) Getting Started addresses the basic concepts and ideas of the Learning Organization.
2) Systems Thinking (the fifth discipline) - Many people have argued that Senge should have delegated the fifth discipline until the end, however, without Systems Thinking, your vision is disjointed and incomplete.
3) Personal Mastery covers the area of individual development and learning. The chapters here are among the most valuable in the area of self-growth and self-improvement.
4) Mental Models - These are the pictures that you have in your head which represent reality.
5) Shared Vision - You've seen the whole picture, you've developed and you understand how you see the world. Now you need to find a common cause with the rest of the people in your organization, something that you all work for.
6) Team Learning - As you work with other people in teams or groups, you need to pass the stuff that you have learnt and the wisdom you've acquired to others. At this stage, the learning is no longer that of the individual, but the group.
7) Arenas of Practice - (Self explanatory)
8) Frontiers - Where do we go from here.

If you are interested in development, learning, growth, leadership, gaining a competitive edge whether at an organizational or personal level, then this book is for you. In fact, I'd venture to say that this is book is for everyone.

Average customer rating:

Schools should all be learning organizations

Length appeared overwhelming--but well worth it

A great resource book for educators

Well Researched Current Education for all Student's Success

Helps Design the School of the Future

Schools That Learn: A Fifth Discipline Fieldbook for Educators, Parents, and Everyone Who Cares About Education
Peter M. Senge , Nelda H. Cambron McCabe , Timothy Lucas , Art Kleiner , Janis Dutton , and Bryan Smith
Manufacturer: Currency
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0385493231
Release Date: 2000-09-12

Book Description

Created by bestselling author and MIT senior lecturer Peter Senge and a team of educators and organizational change leaders, this new addition to the Fifth Discipline Resource Book series offers practical advice for educators, administrators, and parents on how to strengthen and rebuild our schools.

Few would argue that schools today are in trouble. The problems are sparking a national debate as educators, school boards, administrators, and parents search for ways to strengthen our school system at all levels, more effectively respond to the rapidly changing world around us, and better educate our children.

Bestselling author Peter Senge and his Fifth Discipline team have written Schools That Learn because educators—who have made up a sizable percentage of the audience for the popular Fifth Discipline books—have asked for a book that focuses specifically on schools and education, to help reclaim schools even in economically depressed or turbulent districts. One of the great strengths of Schools That Learn is its description of practices that are meeting success across the country and around the world, as schools attempt to learn, grow, and reinvent themselves using the principles of organizational learning. Featuring articles, case studies, and anecdotes from prominent educators such as Howard Gardner, Jay Forrester, and 1999 U.S. Superintendent of the Year Gerry House, as well as from impassioned teachers, administrators, parents, and students, the book offers a wealth of practical tools, anecdotes, and advice that people can use to help schools (and the classrooms in them and communities around them) learn to learn.

You'll read about schools, for instance, where principals introduce themselves to parents new to the school as "entering a nine-year conversation" about their children's education; where teachers use computer modeling to galvanize student insight into everything from Romeo and Juliet to the extinction of the mammoths; and where teachers' training is not just bureaucratic ritual but an opportunity to recharge and rethink the classroom.

In a fast-changing world where school violence is a growing concern, where standardized tests are applied as simplistic "quick fixes," where rapid advances in science and technology threaten to outpace schools' effectiveness, where the average tenure of a school district superintendent is less than three years, and where students, parents, and teachers feel weighed down by increasing pressures, Schools That Learn offers much-needed material for the dialogue about the educating of children in the twenty-first century.

Customer Reviews:

Schools should all be learning organizations.......2004-08-07

Senge became famous for his book on learning organizations. In this book, he and his co-authors apply those concepts and ideas specifically to educational institutions. While much of their focus is on K12, the ideas and process are applicable to higher education as well. So many management books are really fads with superficial value, but Senge's books are very practical and valuable. This book in particular demonstrates a great deal of passion on the part of the author's for their topic.

Length appeared overwhelming--but well worth it.......2004-03-14

Having been given the instructions to select a book of vision for a reading group in a graduate class, I didn't expect to choose one of over 500 pages. The length, however, is indicative of the power this book has for changing minds about schools and the way to structure them for learning. I found myself often reading passages aloud to other educators and anyone who would listen. Instead of stifling my curiosity, the book inspired me to dig deeper on the five disciplines. A great book for creating a vision of education that includes schools where students are learning. I may purchase another one to loan out!

A great resource book for educators.......2001-08-31

This is an essential book for anyone interested in education. Its comprehensive coverage gives much background, even at the risk of being distracting when you want to follow-up on the leads to so many interesting source-books and links. Though you are told to dip in anywhere, you must read the first section, esp. "The Industrial Age System of Education" by Senge and "A Primer to the Five Disciplines" (Personal Mastery, Mental Models, Shared Vision, Team Learning and Systems Thinking) (pp. 27-93).

The authors consider this book a "prequel" to their other books about learning organizations (p.7). That's true. Though this is the most recent book, you can start with this one and go on to the others for further depth. Some repetitions may only serve well for mastery.

The whole book is very readable and informative. Concepts are clearly explained. It follows the same excellent editing format as The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook and The Dance of Change.

When you get too enthused by so many ideas and success stories of innovations, heed the advice for "The Strategy of Organizational Change". "Focus on one or two new priorities for change, not twelve. Most school systems are already overwhelmed with change. They don't need a new initiative; they need an approach that consolidates existing initiatives, eliminates "turf battles," and makes it easier for people to work together toward common ends." (p.25)

There are just too many passages that you wish to quote. The book is a treasure mine. However, for those (esp. busy administrators) who find the volume too daunting or verbose (592 pages!) and still want to get a handle on launching into transforming their schools into learning organisations, I would recommend, "Ten Steps to a Learning Organization" and start with the simple questionnaire given there.

Well Researched Current Education for all Student's Success.......2001-03-13

If you are an educator, parent or administrator, this handbook will enable you to obtain the crucial, leading edge knowledge in learning styles, multiple intelligences, personal neuro-physiology that enables one to "know thyself." Self-esteem and self-awareness, cognitive learning, including the necessary skills to make one prepared for "life at 21 years old," are also main considerations when teaching students to capitalize on their individual strenghts and wisdom.

Schools that Learn also emphasizes the importance of mastery, synergizing curricula presented, and authentic assessment vs. basing students knowledge purely on standardized test-taking.

This helpful manual is extremely important for educators, administrators, and parents, to read as it combines the aforementioned information and applies it to "building strengths that will be useful in career decision making."

Finally,Schools that Learn emphasizes the importance of keeping a "spirit-filled" outlook while learning, the extreme helpfulness of a mastermind group, accelerated and lifelong education, and of course giving back what you have learned to the community. This "cause and effect" is often forgotten in busy professtional lives, but truly ensures success for those who "get it."

Helps Design the School of the Future.......2000-11-03

SCHOOLS THAT LEARN is both a visionary and practical guide for how schools must evolve to meet the needs of students in the next 20 years. The use of multiple authors and perspectives mirrors some of the changes our schools must make to meet the needs of a new age. As Professional Development Director at a diverse Jesuit high school in San Francisco, I recommend this book to any educator, K-college. Senge's work will help prepare students for an era requiring a strong traditional academic foundation coupled with the need for creativity, and the social, emotional, and intellectual skills to work in high performing teams needed to rebuild our world.

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