Samuel, an independent scholar of American studies, makes clear from jump that this book is not a research study. Instead, it is an examination of the role of U.S. teachers over the last century. Divided into 10 chapters (one for each decade, starting with the 1920s), the book argues that the evolution of the teaching profession is inexorably tied to historical events and the social mores of the United States. The evolving roles of women and teachers of color, for instance, can be traced through their treatment by school boards, courts, and communities. Another focus is the historical (and ongoing) effort to separate proficient teachers from their less-successful counterparts. To bridge the gap, sometimes there’s teacher training; rarely are there increased salaries for the most skilled teachers. Even into the 2010s, many successful teachers were forced to supplement their meager income with side gigs. Samuel also probes the tension that arises in the United States’ disparate societal understandings of what a teacher does: some see the task of teachers as producing critical thinkers, while others want educators to produce students who work within the status quo. An in-depth look at a profession that is alternately valued and reviled but is consistently a microcosm of society.

Library Journal

In this overview of teachers in the U.S. over the past century, Samuel relies on academic journal articles and more popular fare from the Saturday Evening Post and Time magazine to present a decade-by-decade slog of unrelenting teacher shortages, examples of poorly prepared instructors, understaffed and underfunded programs, and substandard levels of achievement. … Samuel's tone becomes more hopeful as he considers the early 1990s federal educational reforms and creation of national teaching standards before he laments that these seemingly progressive measures resulted in greater reliance on standardized test scores and teachers being shut out of decision-making processes. The book ends with Samuel wondering whether technological advancements will eliminate the need for teachers at all.

Booklist

The American Teacher chronicles some of the educational, political, and sociological issues that shaped perceptions of teachers—including primary, secondary, and university instructors—in the past century. Its chronological organization examines each decade from the 1920s to the present by surveying contemporaneous articles in popular publications such as Life, Saturday Evening Post, and Time magazines and a wide range of academic and educational research journals such as Sociology of Education and Phi Delta Kappan.… Samuel (independent scholar) positions himself as an outsider who tried and rejected university teaching while still empathizing with those in the trenches. His broad overview might serve researchers as an opportunity to identify an issue, time period, or publication for a deeper dive into the role of the teacher in American culture. Recommended.

Choice Reviews