Book excerpt: Originally published in 1993. This book shows, through the oral histories of ordinary women teachers, that effective prescriptions for change do not come simply from policy-makers. The author focuses on the narratives of three groups of teachers in the USA: Catholic nuns; secular Jewish women; and Black women. For each of these the individual teachers’ narratives have been examined for constructions common to the group and these patterns are assembled into a discourse. Teachers’ self-identities are considered, as are their assessments of the institutions in which they have worked, and their relationships with the pupils. The text examines how the social role of the teacher is constructed by the lives of these women. Incorporating this perspective of diversity into the educational debate, this book argues that these less dominant but important voices shouldn’t be ignored.