The Essential Conversation

“Here is a book that will help us all understand what happens when children leave home in order to learn at school: One world meets another, and as a consequence the young witness their elders in an instructive encounter of great significance—all of which is told forthrightly and thoughtfully in an enormously important volume (one soon to be a classic in the literature of education) that will be of continuing value to its readers.”—Robert Coles, author of Children of Crisis and Lives of Moral Leadership

“Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot has demonstrated again her instinct for the telling specificity that offers not only insight into matters of broad social concern but also reason for hope. In precise and luminous prose she connects our deepest passions and painful memories to the conversations that will determine our children’s futures.”—Mary Catherine Bateson, author of Composing a Life

“Lawrence-Lightfoot draws readers in with elegant prose and carefully drawn narrative portraits… . Anyone who has ever sat through a parent/ teacher conference, on either side of the tiny table, will find much to consider in these pages.”—Publishers Weekly

“Full of wisdom and insight, her book will help parents understand what happens when children leave home to learn at school and how to improve their learning experiences.”—Library Journal

Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, a sociologist, is a professor of education at Harvard University, where, since 1972, she has studied the culture of schools, families, and communities. She is the author of eight books, including The Good High School, Respect, I’ve Known Rivers, and Balm in Gilead, which won the 1988 Christopher Award for “literary merit and humanitarian achievement.” In 1984, she was the recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Prize Fellowship. In 1993, she was awarded Harvard’s George Ledlie Prize for research that makes the “most valuable contribution to science” and is to “the benefit of mankind.” She is the first African-American woman in Harvard’s history to have an endowed professorship named in her honor.

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