Rituals of Failure: What Schools Really Teach is a provocative examination of how Canadian schools are failing children and society as a whole. Through candid portraits of life in our schools, Sandro Contenta uncovers the 'hidden curriculum' – the almost invisible ways in which schools are slowly breaking children's spirits and destroying years of education. He proposes a restructuring of schooling based on education for social change and a holistic blend of analysis, storytelling and classroom vignettes.

Sandro Contenta is a journalist with the Toronto Star.