Visiting Scholar: A Reader for Educational Leaders

Luke Lawson is a teacher and administrator in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

It is a rare treat to read a book on education that is written from a
first-person perspective and is replete with lively narratives, personal
reflections, and true emotion. Geoffrey Isherwood, a professor of
education at McGill, had been writing a book on his experiences in
education from the 1960s to the 1990s, when he unexpectedly passed away
in 1998. To fill in some of the gaps, the editors asked former
colleagues and students to write their recollections of Isherwood and to
provide reflections on their own educational practices. The result is a
wonderful quasi-biography/ autobiography of Isherwood that offers an
overview of changing issues in education over the past 40 years. While
at times the reflections by some of the contributors seem a bit
disjointed and long-winded, the overall effect is still compelling.

Visiting Scholar is not only for educators, but for anyone interested
in the story of a man who touched the hearts and minds of numerous
people.