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    Passionate Teaching in Troubled Times

    A Practical Guide

    Author Robert L. Fried
    Paperback
    $26.00 US
    Beacon Press
    6"W x 9"H
    On sale Aug 18, 2026 | 328 Pages | 9780807025338
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    “A deeply felt meditation on the vital role of passion in good teaching”—with useful samples, interviews, and advice (Anthony Rotundo, The Washington Post)
     
    Every teacher can be a passionate teacher—one who engages young people in the excitement of learning and ideas—if teaching is not undermined by the ways we "do business" in schools. In this book, a professor draws on the voices and firsthand accounts of teachers in urban, rural, and suburban classrooms to provide educators everywhere with useful advice and ‘things to try'. Their successes will inspire you to grow and maintain your own passion for teaching in the face of day-to-day obstacles.
     
    This edition of The Passionate Teacher also includes a new chapter for teachers beginning their careers.
    Robert Fried is author of The Passionate Learner and associate professor of education at Northeastern University. He works with teachers in schools around the country, and lives in Concord, New Hampshire.
    Robert L. Fried View titles by Robert L. Fried
    “This is the one book every teacher must have.”
    —Deborah Meier, MacArthur Award–winning educator, reformer, and author

    “I’ve loved The Passionate Teacher and recommended it for years. This new edition greatly enhances the book for today’s educators, laypeople, and students because it underscores a simple truth about learning: Learn what you love and you will learn to love learning. The genius of the teachers and students highlighted in Passionate Teaching in Troubled Times is their ability to make the connections that ignite that passion. Most of all, this book should be required reading for all educators at every level and for those considering joining the profession.”
    —Gregory Prince, president emeritus of Hampshire College

    “When books are pulled from shelves, teachers are told what they cannot say, and public education itself is under siege, Robert Fried offers an eloquent lifeline. Drawing on thirty years of classroom wisdom and the voices of today’s most inspiring teachers, he makes a quietly radical argument: A teacher’s passion for students and honest inquiry is not just good pedagogy. It is an act of resistance. A must-read for anyone who cares about education.”
    —Tony Wagner, best-selling author and senior research fellow, Learning Policy Institute

    “The Passionate Teacher is an indispensable book for educators at all levels and has been a central feature of our new teacher reading list for many years. This new edition addresses vital issues facing educators, recognizing the mounting complexities that teachers face while retaining the inspiring vision of teaching that made the original so powerful.”
    —Page Tompkins, president of the Upper Valley Educators Institute

    About

    “A deeply felt meditation on the vital role of passion in good teaching”—with useful samples, interviews, and advice (Anthony Rotundo, The Washington Post)
     
    Every teacher can be a passionate teacher—one who engages young people in the excitement of learning and ideas—if teaching is not undermined by the ways we "do business" in schools. In this book, a professor draws on the voices and firsthand accounts of teachers in urban, rural, and suburban classrooms to provide educators everywhere with useful advice and ‘things to try'. Their successes will inspire you to grow and maintain your own passion for teaching in the face of day-to-day obstacles.
     
    This edition of The Passionate Teacher also includes a new chapter for teachers beginning their careers.

    Author

    Robert Fried is author of The Passionate Learner and associate professor of education at Northeastern University. He works with teachers in schools around the country, and lives in Concord, New Hampshire.
    Robert L. Fried View titles by Robert L. Fried

    Praise

    “This is the one book every teacher must have.”
    —Deborah Meier, MacArthur Award–winning educator, reformer, and author

    “I’ve loved The Passionate Teacher and recommended it for years. This new edition greatly enhances the book for today’s educators, laypeople, and students because it underscores a simple truth about learning: Learn what you love and you will learn to love learning. The genius of the teachers and students highlighted in Passionate Teaching in Troubled Times is their ability to make the connections that ignite that passion. Most of all, this book should be required reading for all educators at every level and for those considering joining the profession.”
    —Gregory Prince, president emeritus of Hampshire College

    “When books are pulled from shelves, teachers are told what they cannot say, and public education itself is under siege, Robert Fried offers an eloquent lifeline. Drawing on thirty years of classroom wisdom and the voices of today’s most inspiring teachers, he makes a quietly radical argument: A teacher’s passion for students and honest inquiry is not just good pedagogy. It is an act of resistance. A must-read for anyone who cares about education.”
    —Tony Wagner, best-selling author and senior research fellow, Learning Policy Institute

    “The Passionate Teacher is an indispensable book for educators at all levels and has been a central feature of our new teacher reading list for many years. This new edition addresses vital issues facing educators, recognizing the mounting complexities that teachers face while retaining the inspiring vision of teaching that made the original so powerful.”
    —Page Tompkins, president of the Upper Valley Educators Institute

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