For Introduction to Education and Foundations of Education courses. Lively and reader-friendly, this thoughtful text paints a truly realistic picture of teaching. Comprehensive coverage explores teaching as a profession, simultaneously addressing the fundamentals while encouraging students to "try on" the role to see how well it "fits." Chapter after chapter, a continuous process of guided reflection helps students to increase their understanding of the joys and challenges of the profession and encourages them to carefully ponder their place in it. In fact, no other text so carefully takes the students through the process of considering their life experience, knowledge, research, and situation in order to make an informed decision about their path in life.