The Alchemy of Teaching: The Transformation of Lives

Education is, or should be, a spiritual act. It concerns the development of consciousness and how we relate to the world. In fact, the desire to affect lives in this deeper sense is what drives many people into teaching in the first place. Yet books on education often neglect this aspect of teaching, which gets buried under comprehensive plans, organizational restructuring, and curriculum reform. The Alchemy of Teaching takes readers into the messy, wondrous struggle for human change that occurs in classrooms. Written by long-time college professor Jeremiah Conway, the book contains teaching stories in which he reflects on the insights he and his students have gained from each other.

Through engaging narrative, he illuminates the transformative effects of education on the “student from hell” who argues with him constantly, a student diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, and a talented student who is just going through the motions, among others.

This book is for teachers at all levels who are hungry to be reminded that teaching is a privilege and lives are at stake in it, students who want an education that is more than job training, and all who are concerned with the educator’s role in developing the whole person.