The craft of teaching?

Richard Sennett's latest publication, The Craftsman, has received a lot of press attention of late and some very positive reviews. As a professor at New York University (and founder of its Institute for the Humanities), MIT and latterly Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics, he already has a strong reputation within his field. When he moved to the UK some years ago the Guardian ran a small feature on him.

The Craftsman, according to the blurb on the cover, asks: "Why do people work hard and take pride in what they do? This book, a philosophically minded enquiry into practical activity of many different kinds, past and present, is about what happens when people try to do a good job. It asks us to think about the true meaning of skill in the 'skills society' and argues that pure competition is a poor way to achieve quality work."

Richard gave a public lecture the other week at the RSA in London you can access it here. You'll find other fascinating talks that can be downloaded to your mp3 player of choice at the RSA's website. He also spoke on BBC Radio's "Thinking Allowed" series in February.