Renewing the Joys of Teaching : How the Principles of Stoicism Can Return Fulfillment to the Classroom

American education is in a funk. And it has been since the very start of the COVID19 epidemic, during the 4th quarter of the 2019-20 school year when schools across the country closed up shop or turned to what proved to be inadequate virtual learning methods. As if this weren’t alarming enough, much of the malaise that set in then has yet to dissipate. Teacher shortages, lingering and unremediated student learning loss, a lack of substitute teachers, and a dearth of applicants for para-educators and other classified employees, stubbornly persist. So how do we get back to the ‘old days’ when there was still so much joy in coming to school each day? The ancient, yet surprisingly modern, philosophy of Stoicism may hold the key, even in today’s increasingly diverse culture. By examining the underlying principles and a set of practical techniques from this philosophical school, as outlined in this book, school people—teachers, administrators, teachers’ aides and others-- may very well find a way back to happiness and tranquility in the profession they have always loved.