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This review has been accessed times since August 20, 2009

Major, Marc R. (2008). The Teacher's Survival Guide: Real Classroom Dilemmas and Practical Solutions. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Education Pp. x + 350         ISBN 1-57886-816-5

Reviewed by Eduardo Cavieres Fernández
University of Wisconsin

August 20, 2009

As a student-teacher supervisor, I often reflect critically with my students about the social context of schooling and question the differential power structures that affect their teaching as well as their students’ learning. However, from time to time, in the midst of their novel experiences in the classroom they would prefer to change the focus of our conversations: “It is important to talk about those issues, but how do I make my classroom work on a daily basis? Sometimes we feel that we are thrown into a classroom and we really don’t know where to start.” The teacher’s survival guide, Real classroom dilemmas and practical solutions by Marc R. Major is an excellent resource to help teachers and prospective students start dealing with the practicalities of classroom management. The author offers guidance that will save “hours of work and frustration, and free up your time and energy to devote to your real purpose: teaching students” (p. ix).

First, a note on the structure of the book. The book is organized in such a way that it is almost a step by step plan to help teachers create a good learning environment. Throughout the entire book, the author provides different resources and easy-to-follow suggestions. Although Major is mainly focused on the practical level of teaching, he is constantly connecting it to theoretical frameworks that can better explain the complexities of the issues at hand. Once he briefly provides an overlook of the existing literature, he offers summaries that may take the form of tips, rules, tools, or steps that give teachers synthetic and clear alternatives to deal with the difficulties within their classrooms. In addition, the book offers an array of visual aids, in the form of tables and graphs that provide a panoramic view of the points laid out.

In terms of content, the first chapter centers on cultivating a positive classroom culture, followed by a chapter on how to get to know the students. In the third chapter, Major provides insight on how to carry out the first week of the school year, laying out the foundation of the semesters to come; and in the subsequent chapter, he presents the basics of communicating well with the students and designing effective lessons. In chapters five and six, Major talks extensively about classroom management, the common problems teachers face, and the strategies to resolve them. Finally, chapter seven suggests ways in which teachers can strengthen communication with their students’ parents and with other members of the schools staff.

Major’s main focus is on classroom management. In the chapters in which this topic is discussed, he defines it as “the establishment and maintenance of problem prevention systems, including the regulation of time and space and the active engagement of students” (p. 216). This definition moves away from what the author describes as “crisis management”, that is, actions taken to solve problems that are already there. Instead, Major identifies his approach as being “proactive”. Accordingly, he proposes a set of key elements that every teacher needs to bear in mind, such as keeping students busy; being alert, engaging and consistent as a teacher; and keeping good relations with the students. He warns against those students’ attitudes that can put a good learning environment at risk and lays out some principles to identify them. The author also addresses situations that are particularly disruptive as when students attempt to solve their problem through the use of violence. In order to confront those situations, he proposes using healthy conflict resolution strategies based on dialogue and agreements rather than punishments to improve the behaviors and promote learning within the classroom. One particularly interesting idea he develops is the importance of really getting to know the students having such behavior problems and their motivations and rationales for acting up, which will help to involve them in overcoming those problems and tensions.

Together with the overall content, perhaps the most interesting feature of this book is the reoccurring segment, Teaching Dilemmas. These segments are opened by real life situations presented in the form of short statements as announced by a teacher who is in trouble and requires practical answers. Such problems vary in nature and can relate to problems of behavior in the classroom, cases of theft, unjust accusations against a teacher, or about students being afraid to talk in public, among others. Just as the title of the book promises, these statements are followed by Suggested Solutions through which the author explores the problem at hand, analyzes it, and suggests actions to be taken. In case where the situation is particularly complex, Major proposes alternative perspectives to be considered when trying to address the dilemma presented. Through these teaching dilemmas, the author certainly helps to bridge the gap between theory and practice, providing a space where informed decisions can be made, not by merely looking at ideal normative frames, but also by providing solutions coming from real life experiences.

There are two aspects that can draw some criticism towards the book. Many teachers struggles are due to political, economical, and cultural constraints imposed by the wider society over schools, often whatever is tried out simply doesn’t work or is full of setbacks; if teaching practices are to be improved, changes have to occur at a decision level that is outside the classrooms as teachers are isolated within them with hardly any power to make any real improvements. In such context, Major’s book may be too romantic or uncritical. From my perspective, however that doesn’t have to be the case. While there are things to be done “outside” the classroom, we cannot ignore that teachers’ biggest impact still depends upon their abilities to establish a classroom culture that in Major’s words needs to be based on respect, trust, and a sense of achievement. From this standpoint, this book helps teachers to become knowledgeable in one of the areas in which they need to excel for the benefit of the future generations.

Along similar lines, some may find that the solutions put forward by Major depict a very standard understanding of what classrooms should look like without paying enough attention to the huge diversity that is informing today’s schools. Certainly, any book that tries to generalize some principles or modes of understanding or acting will attract such criticism. Still, in this respect, chapter two of the book, Who are your students? may in part solve this tension. In it, Major suggests that classrooms are places with a very complex system of relationships formed by students that are not ideal or standard but actually bring a big range of diversity. They constitute a teen culture that has different expectations from the ones found in the adult world; and students have different dimensions that need to be taken care of, such as their physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development. So, in order to have classrooms that encourage students’ growth, teachers must take into consideration their students’ real lives and appreciate their youth culture. Furthermore, it is as important to make multicultural connections, which means realizing that students come from different cultural backgrounds and have different ways of valuing and relating to what happens in the classroom. Therefore, as Major continues, teachers should avoid racial bias and should rather promote a classroom environment in which all cultures are respected and honored while providing all student with opportunities to succeed. Such approach can definitely help teachers avoid standardizing their students as if they were all the same.

Overall, the book is a useful and creative resource to be kept at hand by novice practitioners that are starting to walk the path of a teaching career. As a student teacher supervisor, I would definitely recommend this reading to my students. Not only because it will make their teaching easier, but mostly because it will allow them to promote classrooms that are safe, caring, and engaging. Managing a classroom is not the end goal of education but it certainly helps. As Major says at the end of the book, if as a teacher you know how to lead a class environment it “will enhance your impact and legacy in what we hope you’ll agree is one of the most rewarding jobs on earth” (p. 343). From that perspective, maybe the author could have been more ambitious with the title and rather than thinking in a “survival guide”, he could have thought more of it as a guide to a “flourishing” career. If we were all able to do what this book set forward, then our classrooms would always be places where to feel excited and satisfied with the work we do. And for new and veteran teachers alike, this is certainly a great reward.

About the Reviewer

Eduardo Cavieres Fernández is a PhD candidate at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, in the program of Curriculum and Instruction. His research focuses on teachers’ understanding of democracy and social justice. He also supervises elementary student teachers in the department of Curriculum and Instruction.

Copyright is retained by the first or sole author, who grants right of first publication to the Education Review.

Editors: Gene V Glass, Gustavo Fischman, Melissa Cast-Brede

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