If you’re anything like me, you have plenty of unread books on the shelves. Admittedly, the variety of titles often serve as an exhibit in genre competition. Should I read a novel or a business book? A literary journal or a biography? When it is time to read texts that will support my professional development, I want to be strategic with my choices.
While my shelves have plenty of great education books published by ASCD, it’s deceptively easy to use ASCD as the only source of professional development material. Here are three books that appeal to a wider audience interested in psychology, social sciences, and organizational innovation that also have obvious implications for educators.
1. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
This book is full of research proving that meaningful achievement happens as a result of focused persistence. There are plenty of practical suggestions for teachers such as how to discuss grit with your students, train them in more effective academic habits, and offer more productive feedback. Duckworth is an accomplished researcher and professor who has collaborated with many notable researchers, including Carol Dweck whose work on the growth mindset has become a popular topic of ASCD publications. If you only read one book for professional development, read Grit.
2. Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant
Written in much the same style as Grit, each chapter is full of research from multiple industries to give life to the original thinkers among us. Grant makes a compelling case that creativity is not just for artists, but rather that creativity is needed for independent thought, entrepreneurial innovation, and organizational advancement. Teachers will read this book and immediately think of ways that they can apply the research to encourage more original thinking in their students. In much the same way, leaders will naturally assess their school culture as it relates to teacher leadership and academic innovation. Originals has something insightful to offer every educator and leader.
3. The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds by Michael Lewis
At first glance, it may be hard to understand why The Undoing Project is showing up on the bestsellers list as it chronicles the relationship between two leading psychologists. The book is fueled by the surprisingly academic love story that emerges between Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky and yet Lewis deliberately counters this emotional undercurrent with a methodical outlining of the pair’s advancements in psychology. As educators encounter the research about our limitations in making rational decisions and perceiving reality accurately, we will also see our struggling students anew. Let the story tell itself—the educational applications will be hiding in plain sight after you’ve fallen for the unlikely story of Kahneman and Tversky.
The above titles tackle some of the most important “how” questions that educators face today. How do we teach students to be more resilient? How do we train students to think new thoughts and freely share their ideas? How do we minimize perceptions of risk and loss in the classroom? While there is no single text that offers all of the answers we seek, these three titles will elevate your understanding of the research and give you some new ideas to implement in 2017. Happy reading!