Wholehearted Teaching

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Wholehearted Teaching of Gifted Young Women: Cultivating Courage, Connection, and Self-Care in Schools

Order your copy of Wholehearted Teaching today! 

DESCRIPTION: Wholehearted Teaching of Gifted Young Women explores the important role school communities play in supporting the social and emotional needs of high-achieving young women. Using a youth participatory action research model, this project follows 20 student researchers from high school through college. This longitudinal study leads to “Wholehearted Teaching,” a new framework for cultivating courage, connection, and self-care in schools. Framed with personal stories and filled with practical suggestions, this book offers strategies for teachers, counselors, parents, and high-achieving young women as they navigate the precipice of youth and everything after.

Publisher: Prufrock Academic Press (Waco, TX)

Wholehearted Teaching of Gifted Young Women is available everywhere books are sold. Order your copy from any of the retailers linked below:


Listen to this 90-second excerpt read by Dr. Fishman-Weaver.

Praise for Wholehearted Teaching of Gifted Young Women

  • “A book about storytelling and relationships and the deep connection between student support and classroom culture. I highly recommend this book to any educator committed to nurturing an environment of courage, creativity, and wellness in our schools.”
  • “It is the rare work, such as this book by Dr. Fishman-Weaver, that has the guts to interweave mind AND heart AND spirit into a tapestry of pure courage and hope. Achieving perfect balance, Dr. Fishman-Weaver’s text navigates between logical theory and endearing, buoying stories, just as her teaching methods find equilibrium between academics and affective development. She demonstrates and emulates the emotion and growth that becomes possible when we are vulnerable enough to be both teacher and learner, listener and guide, or even both gifted and challenged. Acknowledging we are all works in progress, Dr. Fishman-Weaver and her research teams give all teachers a set of tools, a framework, and an encouragement to be heart-y teachers…not just of students, but of human beings.”
  • “Cultivating spaces for story-sharing and reflection results in both a practical guide for implementation as well as a call for care and deeper human connection. “
  • “I highly recommend this poignant and engaging scholarly work for parents, researchers, teachers, school counselors, and mentors who are seeking ways to empower young women as they traverse K-12 and higher education.”