Westminster Administrator Authors Book on Teaching

Beloved Westminster Christian Academy administrator and former English teacher Scott Holley has recently published a book on the art and science of teaching, titled, Becoming the Teacher You Wish You’d Had.

The book, published by Truman State University Press, offers young teachers a field guide for translating academic theory into real-world situations in the classroom. With over 40 years of experience in the education industry, Holley had been encouraged by many friends and colleagues over the years to author a book about teaching.

“I dismissed the idea both because I didn’t have the time to write it and thought that I didn’t have that much to add to the conversation,” said Holley. At a 2014 Christmas party, however, a good friend pressed him to write a book. “Since I was newly retired, I thought that maybe I should actually do it. I interviewed a bunch of retired educators to pick their brain concerning what they had learned from their many years in the classroom, and I combined their perspectives with my own experience and the results of research I had done over the years about what does and does not work in the classroom.”

Holley hopes that the book will serve as helpful tool for educators. “I hope that it will be a good tool for mentors to use with young teachers, for students in education programs in college to read as part of their training, and for even veteran teachers to read as part of their continued development as a career educator. Teaching is hard, and if this book can shorten the learning curve for those who wonder if they are the only ones who find it to be so difficult then I will be happy to have helped.”

Holley’s book is available to order at tsup.truman.edu.