Overall, I was unnerved by the disdain for academic training, particularly specialization, and the animosity toward the concept of subjects. There is also more than a hint of Romanticism in the idea that educators trained in a subject are doing damage to students’ ability to learn, as if those students, unencumbered, would become the Postmans and Weingartners of their generations.

Due to the reality that one teacher simply cannot connect with all of their students (150+ a year for an urban high school teacher), and the varied backgrounds and living situations of those students, the only thing a teacher can do effectively and confidently is, as Fish wrote, expose students to bodies of knowledge and inquiry that they hadn’t been aware of, and the skills to navigate them.

The cultural commentary found in Teaching as a Subversive Activity is valuable, combining some important research in cognitive sciences with insight into the culture of the school and local community. Perhaps the most valuable lesson to learn is that we must constantly examine our ways of thinking and our methods of teaching, and refuse to do things a particular way simply because that’s the way we do them.

But from the midpoint this book was a let down. That wouldn’t bother me, as it was published 41 years ago and is clearly a product of its time, but the book is still recommended by a large number of people. The valuable portions of this book are true and important, and are said elsewhere, unattached from the type of overreaching found here.

However, for those who believe the purpose of education or the school system is to create “whole persons” who are “personally empowered”, and “foster a love of learning” while dealing with all of the local and non-local social issues that may arise, you will love this book. If you feel that the imposition of “subjects” on students by teachers is the problem, and the solution is to have no structure except inquiry, you’ll love it, too.

If, on the other hand, you believe that the massive amounts of money being poured into public schooling ($51 billion in Texas last year) should be used to teach your kids something you can’t teach them yourself, you just might loathe it. Be advised.