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rose_peterson's review
3.0
In a lot of ways, this book felt like coming home. I "grew up" as a teacher with Macrorie and Elbow and Parker, and O'Reilley's mentions of them signaled memories of immersing myself in their writing in college. Her writing style, her constant questions, her insistence on pacifism all took me back to a specific time in my pedagogical development, and that was a comfort.
But just as one can be forced to confront feelings of having outgrown their past upon returning home after time away, The Peaceable Classroom felt a little too small for the teacher I've become now. The epilogue resonated most with me, where O'Reilley volunteered to teach writing at a psych ward and had to reckon with this "teaching" experience in the midst of pretentious colleagues at conferences. She drew no trite conclusions and offered no easy truths. That chapter felt true--to her AND to me.
But just as one can be forced to confront feelings of having outgrown their past upon returning home after time away, The Peaceable Classroom felt a little too small for the teacher I've become now. The epilogue resonated most with me, where O'Reilley volunteered to teach writing at a psych ward and had to reckon with this "teaching" experience in the midst of pretentious colleagues at conferences. She drew no trite conclusions and offered no easy truths. That chapter felt true--to her AND to me.
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