10 Books I’d Read Right Now If I Was New to Teaching

Someone recently asked me, “What’s your favorite book on teaching and learning?”

It’s a great question, but an impossible one to answer. The truth is: there isn’t a single book that captures everything about teaching. Each one opens a different door. Some are rooted in research, some in personal practice, and some don’t even look like “teaching” books at first glance — but they’ve shaped the way I think about learning.

If I were new to teaching, here are 10 books I’d read right away:

1. Learner-Centered Teaching — Maryellen Weimer
   A foundational text that helps you shift focus from what you do as the instructor to what students experience as learners.

2. Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning — Peter Brown, Henry Roediger, Mark McDaniel
   One of the best books for understanding how memory and retention actually work — and what that means for designing learning experiences.

3. Design for How People Learn — Julie Dirksen
   Technically a learning design book, but it bridges beautifully into teaching and facilitation. Practical, visual, and easy to apply.

4. Small Teaching — James Lang
   A book that reassures you that you don’t have to redesign your whole course at once. Small, intentional moves can make a big difference.

5. How Humans Learn — Josh Eyler
   Rich in research and full of stories, this one explores the science of curiosity, storytelling, and community as foundations for learning.

6. What the Best College Teachers Do — Ken Bain
   A classic that distills patterns from teachers who consistently inspire students. Encouraging and concrete.

7. Unlocking the Magic of Facilitation — Sam Killermann & Meg Bolger
   Not technically about teaching, but essential for anyone who wants to think through the role and purpose of teaching, training, and facilitating.

8. Inclusive Teaching — Kelly Hogan & Viji Sathy
   A practical, evidence-based guide to creating courses where all students feel they belong and can succeed.

9. Failing Our Future — Josh Eyler
   A powerful argument about what happens when we misunderstand students and the conditions of their learning. It challenges us to do better.

10. Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It — James Lang
    Timely, honest, and solution-oriented. It doesn’t shame students (or teachers) but helps us rethink attention in our classrooms.

If you’re new to teaching, my advice would be this:
👉 Don’t read these books as a checklist of strategies to implement.
👉 Read them as perspectives to stretch how you see learning.

Teaching isn’t about mastering tricks. It’s about shaping environments where humans can do the deeply human work of learning.