[Xmca-l] Non-academic book learning theory for labor educators

[Helena Worthen]

Hello -

I've just found out that my book, "What Did You Learn at Work Today? The Forbidden Lessons of Labor Education," was awarded the Best Book related to labor education prize for 2014 by the United Association for Labor Education, my professional association. With this in hand, evidence that I am not completely nuts about trying to bring learning theory into classes where nurses and postal workers are trying to learn how to organize to protect and improve their jobs, I want to turn back to my long time friends on XMCA to see if I can get a reaction from someone on this list. 

My primary audience is other labor educators, who tend to come from political science and sociology, not education. But my secondary and perhaps more important audience is teacher trainers, who are being required to feed their students into the grinder of standardized testing, private charter schools an, in higher ed, student learning outcomes and who need to know that there is a theoretical framework out there that provides and alternative. The third audience would be any young kid who is trying to work at a bad job, while going to school and accumulate debt, who wonders if they are wasting their time and not learning anything. 

It's not an academic book and is short on references and footnotes, although I leave trail markers about how to get to richer stuff if the reader is interested. I try to explain what Vygotsky gave us in a couple of short pages. It's written at a level to be "readable," and it seems to have enough stories in it to pull the reader along.

If someone wants a free copy, perhaps to review (if  you like it; not everyone will), I'll get my publisher to send you one.

Thanks -- Helena


Helena Worthen
helenaworthen@gmail.com
hworthen@illinois.edu
21 San Mateo Road
Berkeley, CA 94707
510-828-2745