Fires in the Mind: What Kids Can Tell Us About Motivation and Mastery

Praise for Fires in the Mind

"What a refreshing book! Rather than asking the timeworn question 'How can we motivate these kids?' Kathleen Cushman performs a lovely act of conceptual jujutsu and instead asks 'What can the kids tell us about motivation?' The answers are smart and thoughtful and brimming with good advice." --Mike Rose, author, Why School? Reclaiming Education for All of Us

"The best school reform creates schools that kids want to go to, where learning is meaningful and engaging. This wonderful book builds on the concept that education should be 'asset based, ' not based on telling kids what they don't know and can't do. Read Fires in the Mind and connect to the voices of students about how they learn most eagerly." --Paul Houston, executive director emeritus, American Association of School Administrators

"'Become passionate' is easy to say, hard to do, impossible to compel. Drawing on the insights of young persons, parents, teachers, and experts, Kathleen Cushman reveals the paths to passionate pursuit of something worthwhile." --Howard Gardner, Harvard Graduate School of Education; author, Five Minds for the Future, Multiple Intelligences, and The Unschooled Mind

"An immensely useful, insightful, and indispensable guide to tapping the immense potential in every child. Essential reading for teachers, coaches, and parents alike." --Daniel Coyle, author, The Talent Code

"Every educator would like for students to develop a passion, but many are unsure of how to light that fire. Kathleen Cushman had the wisdom to ask students, and they tell us with clarity what motivates them and how school might be made more inspiring. Anyone who cares about schooling or children should read this book." --Daniel T. Willingham, author, Why Don't Students Like School?