Why Don’t Students Like School? 2nd Edition by Daniel T. Willingham, ISBN-13: 978-1119715665

In Why Don’t Students Like School?, distinguished researcher and accomplished author Daniel Willingham delivers tangible, accessible ways that educators can improve learning outcomes for students. The book offers practical strategies backed by scientific evidence that can be put to immediate use by classroom teachers.

In this eminently readable book, Willingham takes findings from cognitive science and applies them to the classroom in a straightforward and practical way. A central claim in this book is that while we are naturally curious, we are not naturally good at thinking and can only truly think about things we know. It also contains one of the best lines ever to feature in a book on education: “Memory is the residue of thought.”

Praise for WHY DON’T STUDENTS Like SCHOOL?

“A critical addition to the literature on teaching and learning.”
—John B. King, Jr., 10th U.S. Secretary of Education and President and CEO of The Education Trust

“Willingham’s clear explanation of what it takes to learn and think well gives teachers and policymakers a strong blueprint for helping our youth not only tackle COVID’s aftermath, but thrive.”
—Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers

“A rare pairing of intelligible theoretical principles and practical strategies crafted with teachers in mind. Willingham’s book is one that educators can revisit and appreciate anew with every year of teaching.”
—Jasmine Lane, High School English Teacher, Minnesota