These five essays explore curriculum reform, the future of America's schools, inquiry-directed education, rights and responsibilities, and the roles of teachers and schools in an age of confrontation. The central theme is the role of the organized profession in educational change. In the final analysis it is the students, the teachers, and the parents all working together who will make the difference. It is they who will make education an exciting and alive process, and without whom the theories and proposals, however important, mean nothing. "On Staying Awake" stresses the importance of inquiry as the fundamental principle of learning and the need for the teacher to retain a sense of awe at the ability of the human mind. "Putting First Things Last" deals with the tendency to confuse social engineering with education and points to the danger of practice without theory. "In Search of a New Bird" asks for a new symbol of American education to replace the parrot and for freedom from the rigidities of the present educational structure. "How Much Does Gray Matter?" is a plea for more humanity and imagination, both in the school environment and in the curriculum content. "Entrances and Exits" touches in some of the issues and challenges facing the schools in the 70's. This is one of several volumes in the preliminary series of the school for the 70's program. (MBM)