What do you think?
Rate this book
The Students are Watching: Schools and the Moral Contract
In this groundbreaking book, Theodore and Nancy Sizer insist that students learn not just from their classes but from their school's routines and rituals, especially about matters of character. They convince us once again of what we may have forgotten: that we need to create schools that constantly demonstrate a belief in their students.
160 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1999
24 people are currently reading
239 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
January 7, 2022
@menreadtoo_au on Instagram
#thestudentsarewatching by @nancyfaustsizer and @tedsizer #nancyfaustsizer #tedsizer @penguinaus @beaconpress #penguimnooksaustraloa #beaconpress
…
“Nothing is more important than that each student is known well and that the people who know each student have the authority and flexibility to act on that knowledge”
…
“People teach, but the institutions which people build also teach”
…
“The routines and rituals of a school teach, and teach especially about matters of character. A revealing way to observe those routines and rituals is through the lens provided by verbs, more specifically gerunds. Modeling. Grappling. Bluffing. Sorting. Shoving. Fearing”
…
The Sizers’ have produced a work that deserves reckoning with. Their vision, is a clear, powerful and still relevant one. They want to see students and teachers working together in schools to build a strong, reflective, value-conscious community that transpires beyond the gates of the organisation
…
They present the lens that the morality (aforementioned in the title) comes through in everything from the quality of the school building, the type, purpose and amount of homework, the curriculum design, structuring of the day, and countless other minutiae that invest in a moral overtone. In other words, values are embedded implicitly everywhere and in every action
…
There were some remarkable provocations throughout but none more so, in my opinion, than the zoomed in concept of “shoving”, which was used to ensure teachers to “shove” their way into students lives, by getting to know them, to make informed choices about their learning. This was paradoxical to the different types of physical and verbal shoving (they reference how people receive jokes or work their way into conversations as a form of ‘shove’) that reflect the sometimes conflicting values of education systems, families, school communities and cultures
…
Certainly a worthwhile read for #educators or parents/carers of school aged children
…
Have you #read this #book? What did you think?
#thestudentsarewatching by @nancyfaustsizer and @tedsizer #nancyfaustsizer #tedsizer @penguinaus @beaconpress #penguimnooksaustraloa #beaconpress
…
“Nothing is more important than that each student is known well and that the people who know each student have the authority and flexibility to act on that knowledge”
…
“People teach, but the institutions which people build also teach”
…
“The routines and rituals of a school teach, and teach especially about matters of character. A revealing way to observe those routines and rituals is through the lens provided by verbs, more specifically gerunds. Modeling. Grappling. Bluffing. Sorting. Shoving. Fearing”
…
The Sizers’ have produced a work that deserves reckoning with. Their vision, is a clear, powerful and still relevant one. They want to see students and teachers working together in schools to build a strong, reflective, value-conscious community that transpires beyond the gates of the organisation
…
They present the lens that the morality (aforementioned in the title) comes through in everything from the quality of the school building, the type, purpose and amount of homework, the curriculum design, structuring of the day, and countless other minutiae that invest in a moral overtone. In other words, values are embedded implicitly everywhere and in every action
…
There were some remarkable provocations throughout but none more so, in my opinion, than the zoomed in concept of “shoving”, which was used to ensure teachers to “shove” their way into students lives, by getting to know them, to make informed choices about their learning. This was paradoxical to the different types of physical and verbal shoving (they reference how people receive jokes or work their way into conversations as a form of ‘shove’) that reflect the sometimes conflicting values of education systems, families, school communities and cultures
…
Certainly a worthwhile read for #educators or parents/carers of school aged children
…
Have you #read this #book? What did you think?
August 26, 2007
I first read this a few years ago, as part of an institute on teaching practice. It spoke so resoundingly to who I am as an educator that it holds a very accessible place on my bookshelf.
September 14, 2009
I had to read this for a Library Youth Services course. I found it very hard to get through and I didn't find the discussion very enlightening. It seemed mostly obvious and geared more towards high school students instead of youth/education in general. Although most of the observations could probably be extended to JHS and ES students, I felt that the HS focus was too narrow for the purposes of our class. All in all, I was very bored.
March 12, 2009
I like the way the Sizer incorporates shorts case studies as introductions to the topic he is discussing. It makes the text more interesting and easier to read, as in, I'm not asleep before I finish a chapter.
June 9, 2008
This book is very helpful for first year teachers.
June 25, 2018
Sizer, T., & Sizer, N. F. (2000). The students are watching: Schools and the moral contract. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Purpose of the Text
The text The Students Are Watching: Schools and the Moral Contract by Theodore and Nancy Sizer recognizes that in addition to curricula and content, a school’s culture informs students about how to live, think and act (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). A school’s culture consists of the core beliefs, basic norms, traditions valued, accepted behaviors, and common goals that reflect the underlying principles of a school community (Deal & Patterson, 2018). The text not only draws readers’ attention to the consideration of these mores and routines, but also to processes of educational transformation such as modeling citizenship and encouraging thoughtful engagement by teachers and overcoming obstacles and challenges for students (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). Exposure to an ethical and supportive institutional culture and to transformative instructional processes indirectly and directly facilitate the growth of students into informed, thoughtful, and moral citizens (Sizer & Sizer, 2000).
Authors’ Backgrounds and Credentials
Theodore R. Sizer, Ph.D., earned his undergraduate degree at Yale University and his Master’s and Doctoral degrees at Harvard University (Ilg, 2016) Theodore Sizer is known for his distinguished career, leadership, and writing associated with the education profession (Goldberg, 1993). Sizer is a former professor and Dean at Harvard University, headmaster at Phillips Academy, and researcher at Brown University (Goldberg, 1993). Theodore Sizer is likewise known for his well-received trilogy Horace’s Compromise: The Dilemma of the American High School, Horace’s School: Redesigning the American High School, and Horace’s Hope: What Works for the American High School (Goldberg, 1993). Nancy Sizer, a graduate of Wellesley College, maintained a career in the education field for over 30 years (Heinemann, 2018). Nancy Sizer has taught both in private and public schools such as Cambridge Rindge and Latin, Phillips Academy, and the Wheeler School (Heinemann, 2018). Moreover, Nancy Sizer has taught at both Brown University and at Harvard University (Heinemann, 2018). Theodore and Nancy Sizer initiated the Coalition of Essential Schools which is a collection of schools dedicated to the types of school reform that were outlined in Theodore Sizer’s trilogy (Goldberg, 1993).
Summary of Major Points
Sizer and Sizer argue that students are keen observers of the factors that constitute a school’s culture (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). For example, Sizer and Sizer argue that students should not observe the type of hypocrisy associated with backbiting and undermining the efforts of one another between staff members or colleagues, such as when one teacher criticizes another teacher’s teaching methods or style in front of students (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). Neither should students witness teachers putting convenience before the best interests of students (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). One example of putting convenience before the best interests of students is referred to as the complicity compact which is a tacit agreement between unmotivated teachers and immature students that neither will rigorous make demands on the other or hold each other to high expectations (Young & Celli, 2013). Rather, a school institution and the members of that school community must be models of integrity and good citizenship for students to recognize and incorporate into their lives the values of acting on one’s moral beliefs and the characteristics of self-sacrifice in the service of others (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). This model of good citizenship is referred to in the text as a moral order and can be witnessed by students on two levels (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). When the moral order is witnessed, the first level is with the individuals that make up the school community and the second is observing the practices of the institution (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). Students witness and participate in the moral order when they observe opportunities designed to allow them to grapple with the complexities of moral questions that are associated with personal or cultural values (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). For example, students become aware of the struggles associated with the moral order when community adults take the audacious and vulnerable step of modeling aloud their own struggle living a principled and constructive life in a complex society that is associated with good citizenship (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). Modeling positive social skills can be achieved with simple acts of humility or kindness such as when the teacher offers a sincere apology when wrong, lifts up a community member for praise, or speaks out against some form of injustice such as bullying or excluding some members of the community by others (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). By being made aware that the moral order requires struggle by all members of the community, students learn this requirement of good citizenship (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). This moral order is not imposed on the school community, rather it is a voluntary commitment to the norms, values, and expected behaviors associated with the school’s culture (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). A healthy school culture values inclusion, physical and emotional safety, and an environment dedicated to academic success and to the personal growth of the members of its community (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). Likewise, the moral order of a school institution instills a sense of equilibrium within the school community (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). This equilibrium provides a balance between community and individualism which drives young people to recognize how to be true to oneself while fulfilling the obligations associated with being a member of a community (Sizer & Sizer, 2000).
The transformative processes of education that is recognized when students become engaged scholars and responsible citizens, Sizer and Sizer argue, develop in an environment with activities that offer engaging challenges that inspire youths to take responsibility for, and ownership of, their education (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). Examples of these activities may include collaborative production of texts, analysis of academic texts, research based on original or first-hand sources, science projects, or the production of multimodal resources such as videos, websites, or Prezi presentations (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). The activities under the care and constructive prodding of adults promote independence and initiative in students (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). This type of independence and initiative is known as agency, which is defined as the thoughts and actions taken by people that express their individual power (Cole, 2014). Sizer and Sizer recognize that by focusing on the development of independence and initiative in students, teachers promote imagination, inquisitiveness and skepticism; qualities not often valued by state curriculum frameworks or standardized tests (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). Academic priorities shift from an overview of many curriculum topics through teacher presentation to thoughtful consideration, and deeper understanding of a few core principles recognized by students through active inquiry, and activity guided and supported by classroom teachers (Sizer & Sizer, 2000).
Professional Reflection/Application
Having had the opportunity to teach at a math institute for a Sizer Essential School in Fitchburg Massachusetts, I have long wanted to read books written by Theodore Sizer. Both the experience of teaching at the Essential School and of reading The Students are Watching: Schools and the Moral Contract produced a reflective sense of respect for the ideals and goals of the Sizers. I summarize the Sizer approach as teachers being facilitators of student education through summative projects of the students’ own initiative, choosing, and design in which fewer topics per subject are considered; however, those topics are contemplated to a deeper level than in the typical classroom.. Furthermore, my experiences teaching in Tanzania, China and in the urban public school system of Springfield, Massachusetts make me question how universally applicable the Sizer approach is. Based on my overall experience, the Sizer approach assumes that students have an amount of privilege, social and academic preparedness as well as both independence and initiative that not all students have yet developed. Just as students are keen observers of school culture and will learn to reflect the ethical underpinnings of a school culture, they have already been observing and modeling cultural aspects of their family life, ethnic heritage, religious faith and social interactions. These fundamental influences in lives of students prior to and during their formal education may not value, favor, or instill the type of social and academic preparedness, or the social agency that the Sizer approach relies on. As Sizer and Sizer point out, there is a difficult balance between the needs of student agency and the institutional structure imbedded within classrooms and the school community (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). For some students the Sizer approach can generate internal conflict with the ideals, expectations, and level of initiative and freedom that the Sizer approach intends to cultivate. Certainly, one of the goals of schooling should be to facilitate the development of individual and collective agency for students (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). The point is not that internal conflict is bad for students, but rather the Sizer approach may produce conflicts for some students which must be thoughtfully addressed and prepared for by teachers who plan to use a Sizer approach (Sizer & Sizer, 2000).
Purpose of the Text
The text The Students Are Watching: Schools and the Moral Contract by Theodore and Nancy Sizer recognizes that in addition to curricula and content, a school’s culture informs students about how to live, think and act (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). A school’s culture consists of the core beliefs, basic norms, traditions valued, accepted behaviors, and common goals that reflect the underlying principles of a school community (Deal & Patterson, 2018). The text not only draws readers’ attention to the consideration of these mores and routines, but also to processes of educational transformation such as modeling citizenship and encouraging thoughtful engagement by teachers and overcoming obstacles and challenges for students (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). Exposure to an ethical and supportive institutional culture and to transformative instructional processes indirectly and directly facilitate the growth of students into informed, thoughtful, and moral citizens (Sizer & Sizer, 2000).
Authors’ Backgrounds and Credentials
Theodore R. Sizer, Ph.D., earned his undergraduate degree at Yale University and his Master’s and Doctoral degrees at Harvard University (Ilg, 2016) Theodore Sizer is known for his distinguished career, leadership, and writing associated with the education profession (Goldberg, 1993). Sizer is a former professor and Dean at Harvard University, headmaster at Phillips Academy, and researcher at Brown University (Goldberg, 1993). Theodore Sizer is likewise known for his well-received trilogy Horace’s Compromise: The Dilemma of the American High School, Horace’s School: Redesigning the American High School, and Horace’s Hope: What Works for the American High School (Goldberg, 1993). Nancy Sizer, a graduate of Wellesley College, maintained a career in the education field for over 30 years (Heinemann, 2018). Nancy Sizer has taught both in private and public schools such as Cambridge Rindge and Latin, Phillips Academy, and the Wheeler School (Heinemann, 2018). Moreover, Nancy Sizer has taught at both Brown University and at Harvard University (Heinemann, 2018). Theodore and Nancy Sizer initiated the Coalition of Essential Schools which is a collection of schools dedicated to the types of school reform that were outlined in Theodore Sizer’s trilogy (Goldberg, 1993).
Summary of Major Points
Sizer and Sizer argue that students are keen observers of the factors that constitute a school’s culture (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). For example, Sizer and Sizer argue that students should not observe the type of hypocrisy associated with backbiting and undermining the efforts of one another between staff members or colleagues, such as when one teacher criticizes another teacher’s teaching methods or style in front of students (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). Neither should students witness teachers putting convenience before the best interests of students (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). One example of putting convenience before the best interests of students is referred to as the complicity compact which is a tacit agreement between unmotivated teachers and immature students that neither will rigorous make demands on the other or hold each other to high expectations (Young & Celli, 2013). Rather, a school institution and the members of that school community must be models of integrity and good citizenship for students to recognize and incorporate into their lives the values of acting on one’s moral beliefs and the characteristics of self-sacrifice in the service of others (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). This model of good citizenship is referred to in the text as a moral order and can be witnessed by students on two levels (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). When the moral order is witnessed, the first level is with the individuals that make up the school community and the second is observing the practices of the institution (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). Students witness and participate in the moral order when they observe opportunities designed to allow them to grapple with the complexities of moral questions that are associated with personal or cultural values (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). For example, students become aware of the struggles associated with the moral order when community adults take the audacious and vulnerable step of modeling aloud their own struggle living a principled and constructive life in a complex society that is associated with good citizenship (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). Modeling positive social skills can be achieved with simple acts of humility or kindness such as when the teacher offers a sincere apology when wrong, lifts up a community member for praise, or speaks out against some form of injustice such as bullying or excluding some members of the community by others (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). By being made aware that the moral order requires struggle by all members of the community, students learn this requirement of good citizenship (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). This moral order is not imposed on the school community, rather it is a voluntary commitment to the norms, values, and expected behaviors associated with the school’s culture (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). A healthy school culture values inclusion, physical and emotional safety, and an environment dedicated to academic success and to the personal growth of the members of its community (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). Likewise, the moral order of a school institution instills a sense of equilibrium within the school community (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). This equilibrium provides a balance between community and individualism which drives young people to recognize how to be true to oneself while fulfilling the obligations associated with being a member of a community (Sizer & Sizer, 2000).
The transformative processes of education that is recognized when students become engaged scholars and responsible citizens, Sizer and Sizer argue, develop in an environment with activities that offer engaging challenges that inspire youths to take responsibility for, and ownership of, their education (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). Examples of these activities may include collaborative production of texts, analysis of academic texts, research based on original or first-hand sources, science projects, or the production of multimodal resources such as videos, websites, or Prezi presentations (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). The activities under the care and constructive prodding of adults promote independence and initiative in students (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). This type of independence and initiative is known as agency, which is defined as the thoughts and actions taken by people that express their individual power (Cole, 2014). Sizer and Sizer recognize that by focusing on the development of independence and initiative in students, teachers promote imagination, inquisitiveness and skepticism; qualities not often valued by state curriculum frameworks or standardized tests (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). Academic priorities shift from an overview of many curriculum topics through teacher presentation to thoughtful consideration, and deeper understanding of a few core principles recognized by students through active inquiry, and activity guided and supported by classroom teachers (Sizer & Sizer, 2000).
Professional Reflection/Application
Having had the opportunity to teach at a math institute for a Sizer Essential School in Fitchburg Massachusetts, I have long wanted to read books written by Theodore Sizer. Both the experience of teaching at the Essential School and of reading The Students are Watching: Schools and the Moral Contract produced a reflective sense of respect for the ideals and goals of the Sizers. I summarize the Sizer approach as teachers being facilitators of student education through summative projects of the students’ own initiative, choosing, and design in which fewer topics per subject are considered; however, those topics are contemplated to a deeper level than in the typical classroom.. Furthermore, my experiences teaching in Tanzania, China and in the urban public school system of Springfield, Massachusetts make me question how universally applicable the Sizer approach is. Based on my overall experience, the Sizer approach assumes that students have an amount of privilege, social and academic preparedness as well as both independence and initiative that not all students have yet developed. Just as students are keen observers of school culture and will learn to reflect the ethical underpinnings of a school culture, they have already been observing and modeling cultural aspects of their family life, ethnic heritage, religious faith and social interactions. These fundamental influences in lives of students prior to and during their formal education may not value, favor, or instill the type of social and academic preparedness, or the social agency that the Sizer approach relies on. As Sizer and Sizer point out, there is a difficult balance between the needs of student agency and the institutional structure imbedded within classrooms and the school community (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). For some students the Sizer approach can generate internal conflict with the ideals, expectations, and level of initiative and freedom that the Sizer approach intends to cultivate. Certainly, one of the goals of schooling should be to facilitate the development of individual and collective agency for students (Sizer & Sizer, 2000). The point is not that internal conflict is bad for students, but rather the Sizer approach may produce conflicts for some students which must be thoughtfully addressed and prepared for by teachers who plan to use a Sizer approach (Sizer & Sizer, 2000).
November 23, 2021
A wise and humane book on secondary education, written by one of the experts. As Dean of Harvard Graduate School of education, T.R. Sizer guided it through the turbulent late 1960s. As headmaster of Philips Andover in the 1970s and 80s, he introduced co-education. Here, in a book written late in life, he writes beautifully about the relationship between students and teachers. He emphasizes the importance of relationships, which won't be controversial. He also argues, correctly to my mind, that most public high schools in America are much too large to allow for every student to have a meaningful place to be seen, heard, and known.
July 4, 2017
"Few qualities about adults annoy adolescents more than hypocrisy." This jumped out at me because, unfortunately, this has been the hallmark of my son's 7th grade year in the adults that have been running his various organizations.... and I have seen it. It is pervasive in all areas where we deal with children. For some reason "we" feel we need to lie to them. The children aren't stupid. They know what's going on. However, many adults either don't get that they know or don't care because they are busy fulfilling their own agendas. Sad and too often a tempting trap to fall into. Next up in this book, GRAPPLING. We talk about how important it is to teach students to grapple, but there is literally no time to actually do it in school.....because testing is more important. Sadder. And it goes on....there is a lot in this short book to grapple with for me as an adult that works with and is raising my own children. I love this book because it gives me a lot of hard things to chew on as I move into my next life's adventure: hopefully teaching.
August 13, 2023
The entirety of the book was heavy. I do not think it is a fault to the authors, but more so the nature of the title subject. And, though the tone could get preachy, its highlight of the continuing progressive nature of education still rings as true as the day it was written. It has made me not only want to become a better educator, but it has given me means to do so.
September 27, 2023
Honestly I found it bland and uninspiring. There wasn’t any real discussion or offers of concrete solutions for teachers. It also was almost exclusively about high school, which, as an early childhood teacher, was fully irrelevant to me. If I had known that I probably wouldn’t have bothered in the first place 😕
Read
November 24, 2021This book had good intentions with the content but I found it dry and hard to get through. I did enjoy the discussions over “grappling” and I think that will be helpful in my teaching but, overall it was quite boring. I had to push myself to pick it back up.
September 20, 2025
The first couple of chapters were really strong. And there are some good educational nuggets throughout. Definitely some of the examples are scenarios are dated but the base understanding of meangful education is still relevant.
July 27, 2019
A must read for all middle and high school teachers.
June 28, 2020
Obvious information, repetitive, but highlight worthy language.
March 25, 2023
Some excellent food for thought particularly for high school teachers! Accessible, useful and relevant examples!
February 13, 2025
had to read for class…
March 15, 2016
If you work in an Education related field, you really should read this book. The Sizers do us a great service by laying out the realities of human learning through exposure to other people, through dealing with conflict and through the daily navigation of life. Learning is not all about curriculum and planning. Learning is also about environment, culture and intentional relationship management. This book reminded me that we should never underestimate the complexity of ANYONE's situation, regardless of grade, age, level of achievement, etc... We are all figuring life out as we go.
February 25, 2012
There were some nice examples to illustrate the points made in every chapter. At times I think the book tried to do too much, and arguments may have been stretched a little too thin to hold the entire weight of the ideals that were conveyed. It's a good read though for future educators.
August 3, 2016
This book has some fine insight on some of the psychological aspects of teaching and education. It's not a manual or a how to. It doesn't solve problems, but it does give you conversation starting points.
September 14, 2009
Nothing surprising here.
August 31, 2011
I read this as part of our summer faculty reading. I thought it was boring and obvious.
January 17, 2012
This is a great books for teachers to read. It is amazing how much your students pick up from just watching the faculty interact with each other.
June 18, 2015
Compelling information, but relies mostly on anecdotal evidence and offers no ideas for implementing systematic change.
January 12, 2020
This is great for any education major or current educator out there! I picked this book up for one of my classes right before student teaching and it definitely helped me a lot!
October 1, 2016
Too earnest by half.
April 17, 2010
An accessible critique of how we "do school"
October 17, 2011
Informative & well-intentioned but unbelievably dry & boring.
July 31, 2016
Some pretty hardcore stuff
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews