Reflecting important issues in the lives of educators, the contents of the nine essays in this book range from hope for the almost unlimited potential of the human brain for learning and thinking, particularly through language and literacy, to despair at the individual and social damage caused by efforts to systematize teaching and learning in educational institutions. The essays in the book were written over a period of a half dozen years, mainly in conjunction with workshops and seminars held with groups of teachers. Essays in the book are: (1) What the Brain Does Well; (2) The Power of Language--First, Second, and Written; (3) What Happens When You Read?; (4) Learning to Read: The Never-Ending Debate; (5) Overselling Literacy; (6) What Good Is a Teacher in the Information Age?; (7) How Schools Must Change; (8) Research: Getting on Top and Out from Under; and (9) Let's Declare Education a Disaster (and Get on with Our Lives). Contains 48 references. (RS)