Seasons of Learning

The first in-depth treatment of the school/work transition, this book raises the level of discussion above simple how to strategies. Howard considers the values, choices, responsibilities, and challenges facing the student leaving college or graduate/professional school. The transition from school to work entails a reconstruction of experience and of the self that marks the beginning of a crucial stage in the course of a life. Besides shifts in the aims and values attached to learning for school and for work, there are commitments and costs involved in professional life that require special consideration if one is to avoid the hazards of burnout, narrowness, and the loss of cherished skills. To survive personally and professionally in the new, ruthless economy, one needs to be highly adaptable and able to communicate well. In this thought-provoking book Howard underscores the utility of a broad liberal education as a preparation for work.

"As in his prior works, V.A. Howard once again does not disappoint.... In a single book is an intellectual's version of dealing with mid-life crises while simultaneously an existential perspective on the very meaning and purpose of life. We get a thought-provoking overview on the choices we make and why. Here is a fascinating account of what we expect of ourselves and with an anecdotal rationale for why so many of us seem never to be satisfied. Here also is profound reasoning as to why we must always be learning and why our unhappiest moments are when we are not....This book has something for everyone. It strikes at the very essence of the never ending need for purpose in our work and our lives."-Norman Smith, President Wagner College, "The transition from college to the world of work is a sorely neglected passage of contemporary life. Vernon Howard's guidance in Seasons of Learning is witty, probing, often provocative, and always illuminating."-Dave Perkins Harvard University, "To update William James' Talks to Teachers and address it to all graduates is an inspired but risky undertaking. Howard pulls it off successfully. The combination of powerful themes and telling examples makes for compelling reading for learners of all ages."-Howard Gardner Harvard University, ?[T]he book is at its best dealing with the facts of the corporate marketplace. It adduces a strong list of works that need to be read before making decisions about careers within the "technological aristocracy." And there are some thoughtful pages on academe and its own dangers.?-Journal of Aesthetic Education, ?A thought-provoking commentary on the transition (or transformation) from schoolwork to work, this book goes beyond the typical "how-to" manual of rules for success.?-NACADA Journal

V. A. HOWARD has been Co-Director of the Philosophy of Education Research Center at Harvard University since 1983. Among his previous books are Work, Education, and Leadership with Israel Scheffler (1995), Learning By All Means: Lessons From the Arts (1992), and Thinking on Paper with James H. Bartong (1986).