To Have or to Be?
By Erich Fromm (Harper & Row, 1976)
One of the unanticipated outcomes of COVID-19 has been to make those of us in the education profession ask ourselves what exactly are we doing and why.
To Have or to Be? by Erich Fromm, first published in 1976, is a seminal text that can help us to get out of the default pursuit of endless acquisitiveness and to move toward universal well-being. The book arrived at just the right time of my life, as I was completing my undergraduate studies and unsure of what I wanted to do next. It freed me up to chart my own “wild and precious life,” as Mary Oliver calls it, and it showed me I could depart from the straight and narrow road others had laid out before me. Strongly recommended for all educators seeking out new and original ways of building a better future.
Dennis Shirley’s latest for Kappan
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dennis Shirley
Dennis Shirley is a professor of education at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development of Boston College, MA. He is the coauthor of The Age of Identity: Who Do Our Kids Think They Are … and How Do We Help Them Belong? (Corwin Press, 2023).
