So other than a few comments about typos and such, Ric and I have gotten few comments about our online teaching portfolios (at www.lamonte-bird.com if you haven’t seen them yet). I’m going to take the silence as approval, but if you do have comments we’re very interested to know what you think.
However I did get some feedback on my teaching portfolio the other day. Although it came from a respected source, it was feedback that I didn’t really agree with. The response I wrote made me think about my basic understanding of what it means to be a teacher, and I thought it worthwhile to share my thoughts with all (3) of you who read this blog.
First the comment:
Well !! I was finally able to find your and Richard’s [teaching portfolio]. Very interesting. I envy you your accomplishments in that sophisticated world of academia but as someone once said,”Give us the tools and we will finish the job.” A [teachers' college professor] of ours would always start her lesson with, “Now, take your little six year old…..” You are paid to give them the tools. To keep happy and effective, think short term. Leave the philosophy with those who have nothing concrete to work on.
And my response:
I had to think long and hard before I sent this response to you. I think I owe it to myself and to you to be intellectually honest, and not repress or hide my thoughts and opinions for any reason. So here you go:
Socrates once said that “an unexamined life is not worth living.” In the same spirit I would say that an teacher unwilling to examine herself, and her teaching practice, is not worth learning from. A teacher who doesn’t consider the implications of what she does in the classroom on a daily basis should not be given the ultimate responsibility of teaching children, who are the future of our society.
Some believe that all a teacher does is give children ‘the tools’ of reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmatic. While I certainly do give my students those basic skills to function in society, I also feel a compunction to give them the ability to understand, critique, and change their world. I must think carefully about who my students are, and who they are becoming, in order to give them the best possible education that I can.
To imply that philosophy is not concrete or valuable is to discard the greatest achievements that humans have made. To ignore the inner world of thought and imagination makes people out to be nothing more than automatons that need to be trained to function well (and not ask questions) in order to keep our economy and status quo stable.
I hope that you were simply playing the devil’s advocate, and that you do not truly believe what you wrote to me about teaching. I find the idea I am simply “paid to give them the tools” and that I should therefore “leave the philosophy with those who have nothing concrete to work on” soul-sapping and depressing. In the same way that Socrates chose death before silence, I would choose to stop teaching rather than stop thinking about how and why I teach.
I appreciate you sharing your point of view with me. I suppose this exchange simply shows how dramatically teacher education, and the teaching profession, have changed. I hope that you can understand and respect my point of view. From the first weeks of teachers’ college I have learned to be a philosophical and self-reflective teacher. I like and respect myself as a teacher, but believe that being critical and philosophical about my practice is the only way to improve.
I’m interested in what other think about this exchange (I just sent the response a few minutes ago, if there are more developments I’ll let you know). Tags: teaching questions
) I’m...
Jon
Well, I guess how and what you teach depends on what kind of people you want to influence. In a bee hive the main difference between a worker bee and a queen bee is what they are feed as they develop. Those destined to be queens get royal jelly for almost the whole time they are developing whereas the workers get it for only a couple of days. So if you want to have only worker bees you give them the basics. That’s all. If on the other hand you want to make or at least have an influence on those whom you hope will become leaders in our society you give them the good stuff. The philosophy, art, ideas …
As for me I hope that you are the kind of teachers that give your students the “royal jelly” and bring us ethical leaders for this world.
Gin, I am not going to comment on your teaching philosophy, as that is your belief and I think as a professional, you have only to answer to yourself, and while others opintions, I know, are needed, only you know who you are and who you wish to become. I can tell you, tho, that I was happy to read your portfolio, it read to me, like a cover letter for the old days of applying for work. What I was appreciating about it, was that in reading it, I felt as if I got a sense of who you are, what your basic drive and pholosophy s about. It is a very “human” kind of self assessment, and even if I didn’t know you before I read that, I still think that in reading that, I would look forward to meeting you. I am not putting this well, but I hope you get the idea. I apologize for not responding earlier, I am still ov the sense that blogs are like reading other peoples mail, and I realize that is why they are there, but …..must get with the times, I guess. My other observation is about the response you mentioned? I think perhaps the goals are the same, but the definition of “tools” being the 3 r’s might be not quite as limiting as it sounds. In my work, I also try to give the other person “tools” and one of those is the unspoken urge to reflect, and assess and alter who we are. If I expressed that aloud to many of the people whose lives I try to touch, it would be received as so much blah de blah, but if I can put in a whole piece about seeking what works for that person, explainig that those needs are going to change constantly, then I see evidence of self reflection more often, but must approach with caution. In giving your students their royal jelly, one is wise to not go barging into the hive. I believe that you don’t do that, and I also know that your students, where ever on the planet, wil be better off for having had you share the jouriney for a time.