The Essential Conversation: What Parents and Teachers Can Learn from Each Other - Softcover

"Here is a book that will help us all understand what happens when children leave home in order to learn at school: One world meets another, and as a consequence the young witness their elders in an instructive encounter of great significance--all of which is told forthrightly and thoughtfully in an enormously important volume (one soon to be a classic in the literature of education) that will be of continuing value to its readers." --Robert Coles, author of Children of Crisis and Lives of Moral Leadership

"Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot has demonstrated again her instinct for the telling specificity that offers not only insight into matters of broad social concern but also reason for hope. In precise and luminous prose she connects our deepest passions and painful memories to the conversations that will determine our children's futures." --Mary Catherine Bateson, author of Composing a Life

Offers practical guidelines on how to establish an effective dialogue between parents and teachers, examining the dynamics of such conversations, the nature of the learning process, and the diverse principles and practices of improving family-school relationships. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.