Preface Summary and Analysis

William Ayers believes that a country's love of its children can sometimes become too narrow and narcissistic, sometimes producing indifference. To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher was written to reflect on the true meaning of loving one's children and that the idea of love of children can be the organizing center of efforts to improve teaching. The preface has been added to the second edition. Since the writing of the book, Ayers sees people continually losing hope about the education of American children; he wants to encourage hope. Teachers need an ethical and intellectual vision to sustain this hope and love.

Ayers next laments the enormous number of Americans that are imprisoned, two million at his present count. This symbolizes a retreat from a society that believes in learning, instead locking people away. Literacy and dropping out of school are...