If ever there was a time to reexamine learning in school, it is now, and the book Wounded by School: Recapturing the Joy in Learning and Standing Up to Old School Culture, by Kirsten Olson, could not have come at a better time. This book asks the most important question of all: "what happened to the joy in learning?" Ms. Olson conducted an in-depth study of why schools no longer function using the "old school culture" methodology. As she explored school traditions when it came to teaching, she found over and over that schools' definitions of learning were no more than "harnessing, filleting, numbing, overworking and over testing students in school."

Olson describes old school culture as a "set of old-fashioned ideas and attitudes in school that construct teaching as hierarchical, learning as passive, and the bureaucratic structures of school as about serving adults, not kids." Olson wishes to harness again the joy that once was in the creative process of learning. Her study showed that instead of showing children how to explore their minds and the wealth of ideas and images, teachers are merely following the programs set before them by the authority.

Yet, Olson doesn’t completely say teachers are the only catalyst in the wounding of students. She says they too are hamstrung by bureaucracy under the guise of the new No Child Left Behind laws, and that they too are wounded without even knowing it. Olson’s biggest complaint is the lack of understanding about different types of learners. No two children learn in the exact same way and, because of that, some are labeled slow and under-performers. This Olson proves is not necessarily the true picture of how children learn; they can become a success at doing it and doing it joyfully.

One section that got my attention was on healing the wounded schools. Olson suggests creating bumper stickers for a new era. For example: Practice Random Acts of Cognitive Tolerance, Rainbows of Learning Styles, and lastly, Cognitive Diversity Makes us Stronger. As the book was intense and exhaustive, I highly recommended it be read by teachers (elementary to high school as well as college professors), parents, and any individuals looking at the future of the next generation. Wounded by School: Recapturing the Joy in Learning and Standing Up to Old School Culture could actually be a required book for future teachers.