Originally published in 1993. This book shows, through the oral histories of ordinary women teachers, that effective prescriptions for change do not come simply from policy-makers. The author focuses on the narratives of three groups of teachers in the USA: Catholic nuns; secular Jewish women; and Black women. For each of these the individual teachers’ narratives have been examined for constructions common to the group and these patterns are assembled into a discourse. Teachers’ self-identities are considered, as are their assessments of the institutions in which they have worked, and...