Biography

Sam Intrator is a Professor of Education and Child Study and in the Program in Urban Studies at Smith College, U.S.A. He received his PhD. from Stanford University and a Masters in English Literature from the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College. A former high school teacher and administrator, his books and research inquire into what it takes for teachers and students to co-create intellectually vibrant and genuinely meaningful experiences in the classroom. Focusing on the powerful role of the teacher, he explores the role of a teacher''s heart, resourcefulness, capacity for relationship and pedagogic judgment in cultivating impactful learning experiences for students. Intrator''s research concludes that as the critical factor in the educational enterprise, teachers need resources that evoke, sustain and renew their intellectual and emotional vitality. Intrator teaches courses on urban education, teenagers in American culture, and the teaching of writing. He also founded and co-directs the Smith College Urban Education Initiative - an educational outreach program that seeks to deepen students understanding of the theoretical, practical and human issues facing urban educators by engaging them in intensive service learning experience in urban school settings. He is the author of Tuned in and Fired Up: How Teaching Can Inspire Genuine Learning in the Classroom (Yale University Press) and the co-editor of Teaching with Fire: Poetry that Sustains the Courage to Teach (Jossey-Bass), which is currently a finalist for the 2004 Distinguished Achievement Award by the Association of Educational Publishers.