On Becoming an Effective Teacher

On Becoming an Effective Teacher describes exemplary practices like Teach For America, which highlight the power of person-centered teaching to bring about higher student achievement and emotional intelligence. Lyon situates the classic with the cutting-edge, integrating wisdom with research, anecdote with practical advice, to find truths that reveal paths toward effective teaching.

Jeffrey Cornelius-White, Psy.D., LPC, Professor of Counseling, Missouri State University, USA, Author of Learner Centered Instruction: Building Relationships for Student Success

This fascinating book reveals through current research and contemporary applications that Carl Rogers’ pioneering and radical approach to education is as relevant today as it was in the 1970s and ‘80s.

Brian Thorne, University of East Anglia, UK

Carl Rogers is one of the most influential psychologists of the twentieth century. His influence is similarly outstanding in the fields of education, counselling, psychotherapy, conflict resolution, and peace.

On Becoming an Effective Teacher presents the final unpublished writings of Rogers and as such has, not only unique historical value, but also a vital message for today’s educational crises, and can be read as a prescription against violence in our schools. It documents the research results of four highly relevant, related but independent studies which comprise the biggest collection of data ever accumulated to test a person-centred theory in the field of education. This body of comprehensive research on effective teaching was accomplished over a twenty-year period in 42 U.S. States and in six other countries including the UK, Germany, Brazil, Canada, Israel, and Mexico and is highly relevant to the concerns of teachers, psychologists, students, and parents.

The principal findings of the research in this book show that teachers and schools can significantly improve their effectiveness through programs focusing on facilitative interpersonal relationships. Teachers who either naturally have, or are trained to have empathy, genuineness (congruence), and who prize their students (positive regard) create an important level of trust in the classroom and exert significant positive effects on student outcomes including achievement scores, interpersonal functioning, self-concept, attendance, and violence.

The dialogues between Rogers and Lyon offer a unique and timeless perspective on teaching, counselling and learning. The work of Reinhard Tausch on person-centered teaching for counselors, parents, athletics, and even textbook materials, and the empathic interactions of teachers and students, is among the most thorough and rigorous research ever accomplished on the significance and potential of a person-centered approach to teaching and learning.

This pioneering textbook is highly relevant to educational psychologists and researchers, as well as those in undergraduate and graduate university courses in education, teacher training, counseling, psychology and educational psychology.

Harold C. Lyon, Jr. is a graduate of West Point, former US Director of Education for the Gifted, project offi cer for the development of Sesame Street, assistant to the president of Ohio University, has served on the faculties of Georgetown, Antioch, Dartmouth Medical School, Notre Dame College, Universities of Massachusetts, and Munich where he currently teaches physicians to be more effective teachers. He received the Gold Medal in the 32nd International Film & TV Festival of New York, a CINDY Award, and the Blue Ribbon in the American Film & Video Festival.

Reinhard Tausch is Professor Emeritus at the University of Hamburg and is the author of numerous popular books on psychology and teaching.

The Late Carl R. Rogers (1902–1987) has been called ‘the most infl uential psychologist in American history’. His infl uence in the fi elds of education, counseling, psychotherapy, confl ict resolution, and peace is similarly outstanding. The founder of humanistic psychology, he authored 16 books and more than 200 professional articles.