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Kaleidoscope
This page intentionally left blank
Kaleidoscope
Contemporary
and Classic Readings
in Education

KEVIN RYAN
Boston University

JAMES M. COOPER
University of Virginia

twelfth
EDITION

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 © 2010, 2007 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning
Kaleidoscope
Contemporary and Classic Readings in Education ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the
copyright herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored,
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 12 11 10 09
 CONTENTS

Preface ix 8. Paris S. Strom and Robert D. Strom

Cheating in Middle and High School / 49
Describes the prevalence of dishonesty in testing, motivations
for student cheating, and ways that educators and parents can
minimize cheating.
PART 1
t 9. Carol S. Dweck
Teachers 1
The Perils and Promises of Praise / 57
Examines the positive and negative effects of different kinds of
1. Simon Hole and Grace Hall McEntee praise on student motivation and resilience.
Reflection Is at the Heart of Practice / 2
10. M. Mark Wasicsko and Steven M. Ross
Two practicing teachers provide a concrete strategy for improving
one’s teaching. How to Create Discipline Problems / 62
With tongue in cheek, the authors describe common mistakes that
2. Edward R. Ducharme teachers make that increase the probability of creating discipline
problems and provide suggestions for appropriate behavior instead.
The Great Teacher Question: Beyond
Competencies / 7 11. Dennis L. Cates, Marc A. Markell, and Sherrie Bettenhausen
Some of the key factors or qualities of excellent teachers are At Risk for Abuse: A Teacher’s Guide
revealed here.
for Recognizing and Reporting Child Neglect
3. Thomas S. Mawhinney and Laura L. Sagan and Abuse / 67
The Power of Personal Relationships / 13 As child abuse becomes increasingly common, the authors outline
the classroom teacher’s responsibilities when abuse is suspected.
At its core, teaching is a connection among people.

4. Leslie Baldacci
Why New Teachers Leave . . . / 19 PART 3
An urban school teacher describes the challenges she and other t
new teachers face. Schools 73

5. Susan Moore Johnson

. . . And Why New Teachers Stay / 24 12. Joan Lipsitz and Teri West
The factors related to success in the beginning of a teaching career What Makes a Good School? / 74
are described. A useful review of the factors contributing to a first class learning
environment for children.
6. Henry Giroux
Teachers as Transformative Intellectuals / 35 13. Larry Cuban
A call to teachers to change our schools and the culture. A Tale of Two Schools / 85
A balanced examination of two educational philosophies in action.

14. Deborah Meier

PART 2 “As Though They Owned the Place”: Small
t Schools as Membership Communities / 89
Students 41
A leader in the “small schools” movement provides a description of
her reform ideas.
7. Donna M. San Antonio and Elizabeth A. Salzfass
15. Alfie Kohn
How We Treat One Another in School / 42
Safety from the Inside Out: Rethinking
Examines middle school students’ experiences with bullying and
describes ways that schools can create emotionally and socially Traditional Approaches / 95
safe environments. A long-time child advocate offers a different look at school safety.
C v B
C vi B Contents

16. Karin Chenoweth 24. E. D. Hirsch, Jr.

Uncovering Academic Success / 101 The Core Knowledge Curriculum—What’s Behind
Several keys to promoting higher levels of school learning are Its Success? / 143
examined. The author asserts that a common curriculum is needed, at least
through middle school, so students can have a shared body of
17. Margaret Finders and Cynthia Lewis knowledge.
Why Some Parents Don’t Come to School / 106
The authors provide a sympathetic view of this problem and how 25. Nel Noddings
it can be addressed. Teaching Themes of Care / 148
This scholar argues for a reorganization of the school’s curriculum
around themes of caring—caring for self, for intimate others, for
strangers, and for global others.
PART 4
t
Curriculum and Standards 112
PART 5
t
18. W. James Popham Instruction 154
Curriculum Matters / 113
An assessment expert examines how the No Child Left Behind Act
affects how state standards are taught in schools and the way 26. David Gardner
assessments are employed. Confronting the Achievement Gap / 155
An experienced teacher asks and tries to answer the questions:
19. J. Abner Peddiwell “What causes so many children of color to underachieve
The Saber-Tooth Curriculum / 118 throughout school, and what are the remedies?”
A classic, metaphorical story of how curricula become outdated to
meet the needs of the time. 27. Robert J. Marzano and Jana S. Marzano
The Key to Classroom Management / 160
20. Chester E. Finn, Jr. The authors argue that establishing effective teacher-student
Faulty Engineering / 123 relationships is the key to effective management and instruction.
A leading conservative, educational policy analyst argues that the
diversity of values within American society renders public schools 28. Margaret M. Clifford
ill-equipped to produce the engaged citizens our democracy requires. Students Need Challenge, Not Easy Success / 168
The author examines four educational practices that decrease student
21. William Glasser motivation and offers suggestions for reforming these practices.
The Quality School Curriculum / 128
A noted psychiatrist offers a different curriculum designed to meet 29. Jay McTighe and Ken O’Connor
students’ needs for friendship, freedom, fun, and power. Seven Practices for Effective Learning / 174
Seven assessment and grading practices are suggested to enhance
22. John I. Goodlad learning and teaching.
Teaching What We Hold to Be Sacred / 134
Arguing that one of the primary functions of schools is to prepare 30. Martin G. Brooks and Jacqueline Grennon Brooks
citizens to operate in a democracy, the author emphasizes the The Courage to Be Constructivist / 181
principles of equality and social justice in schools. The authors describe constructivist practices in the classroom and
how high-stakes accountability tests impede these practices.
23. Warren A. Nord
The Relevance of Religion to the Curriculum / 138 31. Seana Moran, Mindy Kornhaber, and Howard Gardner
Rather than ignoring religion in the school’s curriculum, the Orchestrating Multiple Intelligences / 188
author argues that religious studies have a rightful place in the The authors describe how classroom teachers can design classroom
preparation of a well-rounded individual. practices to take advantage of multiple intelligences.
Contents C vii B

32. David W. Johnson and Roger T. Johnson 41. Thomas R. McDaniel

Making Cooperative Learning Work / 194 The Teacher’s Ten Commandments: School Law
The authors describe research-based benefits of employing in the Classroom / 247
cooperative learning strategies in classrooms. The core legal issues affecting teachers are described.

33. Carol Ann Tomlinson

Mapping a Route Toward Differentiated
Instruction / 202 PART 7
The leading proponent of differentiated instruction describes the t
initial steps toward this goal. Educational Reform 258

34. Lorrie A. Shepard

42. Jack Jennings and Diane Stark Rentner
Linking Formative Assessment to Scaffolding / 208
Ten Big Effects of the No Child Left Behind Act
A leading scholar examines how formative assessment can be used
to transform the cultures of classrooms. on Public Schools / 259
The effects of this key educational legislation are examined.

43. Linda Darling-Hammond

PART 6 What Matters Most: A Competent Teacher
t for Every Child / 264
Foundations 214
A leading educational reformer makes the case for improved
teacher preparation as an essential feature of school improvement.
35. John Dewey
44. Elliot W. Eisner
My Pedagogic Creed / 215
The Kind of Schools We Need / 275
A concise statement of beliefs by America’s leading educational
thinker. A curriculum specialist addresses the content changes necessary for
true reform.
36. Carl Rogers
45. Richard Rothstein
Personal Thoughts on Teaching and Learning / 222
Class and the Classroom / 283
The leading spokesman for the non-directive school of education
has his say. The destructive effects of poverty on students’ learning are examined.

37. Ernest L. Boyer 46. Karen Hawley Miles

The Educated Person / 225 Putting Money Where It Matters / 290
An educational vision by one of the late 20th century’s leading A thoughtful plan to get the greatest bang for our educational buck.
practitioners.

38. Lawrence Baines and Hal Foster

A School for the Common Good / 232 PART 8
t
An account of one of America’s most noble achievements and how Educational Technology 295
it has been eroded.

39. William Damon 47. Lowell W. Monke

Good? Bad? or None of the Above? / 237 The Overdominance of Computers / 296
A leading educational psychologist’s view of the role of teachers in The author argues that extensive technology use in schools should
character formation. be delayed until high school so students can have more firsthand
experiences as a basis for understanding and moral development.
40. Kenneth A. Strike
The Ethics of Teaching / 243 48. Paul Gow
Examines different ways for educators to look at and make moral Technology and the Culture of Learning / 301
decisions. The author examines the effects, good and bad, that technology
has on the culture of schools.
C viii B Contents

49. Marc Prensky 52. Charles Glenn

Listen to the Natives / 306 The Challenge of Diversity and Choice / 322
Stating that modern students are “digital natives,” the author The author argues for creating schools that are truly distinctive
argues that schools need to catch up to them and radically change and allowing parents to choose among them.
the way schooling is conducted.
53. James M. Kauffman, Kathleen McGee, and Michele Brigham
Enabling or Disabling? Observations on Changes
in Special Education / 328
PART 9
t The authors express concern that the pendulum of full inclusion
Diversity and Social Issues 311 may have swung too far, thus reducing special education services
for students who might need them.

50. Diane Ravitch 54. Richard A. Villa and Jacqueline S. Thousand

A Considered Opinion: Diversity, Tragedy, Making Inclusive Education Work / 336
and the Schools / 312 The authors, who are advocates for full inclusion, suggest
strategies to bridge the gap between what schools are doing well
The author, a leading educational historian, expresses concern and what they can do better to make inclusion work.
about the appropriate balance between teaching an American
culture, on the one hand, and teaching about the contributions of
various ethnic and racial minorities, on the other hand. 55. Michael Gurian and Kathy Stevens
With Boys and Girls in Mind / 342
51. James A. Banks, Peter Cookson, Geneva Gay, Willis D. The authors examine how boys’ and girls’ brains differ and what
Hawley, Jacqueline Jordan Irvine, Sonia Nieto, Janet Ward the implications are for teaching practices.
Schofield, and Walter G. Stephan
Diversity within Unity: Essential Principles
for Teaching and Learning in a Multicultural
Society / 315 Appendix / 349
As leaders in multicultural education, the authors offer a set of
design principles to help educators increase student achievement
Glossary / 363
and meet the challenges of—and benefits from—the diversity that Index / 369
characterizes the United States.
 PREFACE

After we finished putting together this collection of Endless Variety of Patterns: The Parts
educational articles, we went in search of a title. Our in-
tention for the book was to offer educators an anthol- Kaleidoscope is divided into nine parts. Part 1 concen-
ogy rich in ways to conceive of teaching and learning. trates on teachers, with articles ranging from personal
Our primary focus was on the quality of the individual reports by teachers to an article about what constitutes
entries, but we especially wanted to engage readers in great teaching. Part 2 contains selections about stu-
a wide array of (often competing) points of view. As we dents, dealing with topics from the changing nature
struggled for a title, we remembered a favorite child- of childhood in the United States to student cheating.
hood toy: the kaleidoscope. This cylindrical instrument Part 3 looks at schools, specifically the characteristics
contains loose bits of colored glass between two flat of good schools and ways to improve them. Part 4 ex-
plates and two mirrors. When the cylinder is shaken or amines curriculum issues (a mainstay of past editions
rotated, it causes the bits of glass to be reflected in an of Kaleidoscope) and deals with the classic question:
endless variety of patterns. Somehow, the image of a “What is most worth knowing?” Part 4 also continues
kaleidoscope captured our goal for this book. to focus on what we believe is the major curricular issue
facing today’s educators: content standards and their
accompanying high-stakes testing and assessment. The
Our Endless Variety of Patterns effects of the movement to increase students’ academic
achievement are reflected in a number of articles in
Kaleidoscope is intended for use either as a supplemen- other sections. Part 5 focuses on instruction and in-
tal book of readings to accompany any “Introduction cludes selections on cooperative learning, classroom
to Education,” “Foundations of Education,” or “Issues management, constructivist learning, differentiated
in Education” textbook, or as a core textbook itself. instruction, and multiple intelligences. Part 6 contains
The book’s wide range of sources and writers—from articles on the foundations of education that discuss
classic writers like John Dewey and Carl Rogers to con- the historical, philosophical, psychological, and legal
temporary authors like Diane Ravitch, Elliot Eisner, roots of contemporary education. Part 7 contains arti-
Linda Darling-Hammond, and Alfie Kohn—makes it cles on contemporary educational reform efforts in the
highly flexible and responsive to a broad variety of United States, focusing on several different avenues to-
course needs. The text’s mixture of topic areas includes ward reform, including the No Child Left Behind Act.
students and teachers; schools and instruction; cur- Part 8 examines various aspects of how educational
riculum and standards; foundations, philosophy, and technology is affecting—or is likely to affect—teaching
reform; educational technology; and diversity and so- and learning. Finally, Part 9 focuses on various social
cial issues. issues affecting education in the United States today,
The material we have selected for Kaleidoscope is with particular attention to ethnic and linguistic di-
not technical and can be understood, we believe, by versity as well as gender issues and special education
people without extensive professional backgrounds in inclusion efforts.
education. The articles are relatively brief and come
from classroom teachers, educational researchers,
journalists, and educational reformers. Some selec- New Bits of Colored Glass:
tions are summaries of research. Some are classic writ-
ings by noted educators. Some are descriptions of
Features of the New Edition
educational problems and proposed solutions. And, We have completely revised and updated the twelfth edi-
we hasten to add, we agree with the perspectives of tion in response to extensive surveying of the market. As
some articles and do not agree with others. Our aim is a result, you will see the following improvements.
to present a wide variety of philosophical and social
1. We have organized the text, beginning
science positions to reflect the varied voices heard in
with the new subtitle, “Contemporary and
education today.

C ix B
C x B Preface

Classic Readings in Education,” around con- t
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temporary and classic writings from a variety duced a FOCUS Question to guide the reader as to
of authors. Articles marked with special “Education the most important point or issue to think about as
Classic” icons provide readers with a foundation in he or she reads the article.
some of the ideas that have stood the test of time and t
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biographical sketch of each author
shifts in educational priorities over many years. As we appears at the beginning of each article. So, too,
explain in the postnotes for these articles, they were is a designation as to whether the article is a
chosen because the article’s author has been highly contemporary work or an educational classic.
influential, the author is well known, or the article ad-
t
Key terms are introduced at the beginning of each
dresses an enduring idea or controversy in American
article, providing students valuable additions to
education.
their educational vocabularies and reminding them
2. We have reduced the number of read-
that a glossary of these terms is included at the end
ings from seventy to around fifty-five to allow
of the book. Students can test their knowledge of
room for additional pedagogical features to
key terms with the interactive glossary flashcards
enhance each article. Given that almost 50 percent
on the companion website.
of the selections are new to this edition, Kaleidoscope
covers current topics such as multicultural education, t
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standards-based education, professional development eral discussion questions, and, new to this edi-
of teachers, teacher reflection, technology, classroom tion, relevant websites and award-winning
management, brain research, inclusion, school reform, video cases.
gender issues, student cheating, and curriculum re- t
Postnotes comment on the issues raised by the
form. The website includes additional articles that no article.
longer appear in the text. t
Discussion questions prompt readers to do
3. We have added new video cases. Approxi- some additional thinking about the major points
mately half of the articles are now followed by rec- made in the article.
ommended video cases from the Cengage Learning
collection. These video cases bring the articles to life! t
Websites point to further information on issues
They are opportunities to see subjects and issues raised raised by the articles.
by the articles worked by actual practicing teachers. We t
Video cases offer opportunities to see subjects
also provide several questions concerning each video and issues raised by the articles worked by actual
case, helping the reader to focus on important aspects practicing teachers.
of the video case. t
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4. We have added a new Appendix, “Tips readers to be captive of a single point of view.
for Teaching: Educator’s Resource Guide.” This Therefore, in some of the articles, we point readers
thirteen-page multi-part special feature will assist your to “For Another Perspective” articles on the
students in making classroom observations and partic- website that offer a different perspective than the
ipating in classroom discussions. Written in a student- article in the text.
centered fashion, it provides valuable information
t
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Glossary of key terms at the end of the book is
on issues related to classroom observation and data-
especially useful to those students taking their first
gathering techniques. It also offers study tips both in
course in education or those using this book as a
the Appendix itself and by including relevant lists of
primary text. A detailed subject index also appears
websites for both students and educators.
at the end of the book.
t
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Article Review Form, found at the end of
the book, will help you to analyze and discuss the
Special Learning Features of the Book articles in the text.
t
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Correlating Table, arranged alphabetically
To facilitate understanding of the selections in this
by topic, relates each Kaleidoscope selection to spe-
book, the twelfth edition of Kaleidoscope includes a
cific chapters in Those Who Can, Teach, twelfth
number of especially helpful features.
edition, by Kevin Ryan and James M. Cooper. We
t
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hope this chart will serve as a handy cross-reference
section-opening overview to place the readings for users of this book. This chart is printed on the
into a broader context. inside covers of the text for easy reference.
Preface C xi B

Accompanying Website Resource New Mexico University; Judy Hassen, Pacific Lutheran
University; Christie Herbert, Landmark College; Carol
A premium website for instructors and students accom- Kennett, Trinity International University; Kelly Ann
panies the text. This edition’s website is enhanced with Kolodny, Framingham State College; David LaVere,
Cengage Learning video cases—four- to six-minute Clemson University; David Locascio, Longwood Uni-
video clips filmed in actual classrooms and accompanied versity; Patricia K. Lowry, Jacksonville State University;
CZ
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Christopher Maglio, Truman State University; Joseph
questions—that bring the topics in this text to life. In Mannion, Concordia University; Chuck McCombie,
addition, the website offers nine articles from previous Lynchburg College; Charlotte Mendoza, Colorado Col-
editions of Kaleidoscope. Glossary flashcards and an article lege; Lourdes Mitchel, Seton Hall University; Michelle
review form are also included. Finally, an Education Morris, Northwestern State University; Steve Oates,
Portfolio Building Tutorial, an interactive tool that Northern Michigan University; Robert Oprandy, Uni-
helps preservice teachers learn about the portfolio build- versity of the Pacific; Paul T. Parkison, University of
ing process, is also included. Go to www.cengage.com/ Southern Indiana; Nancy B. Powers, Longwood Uni-
login to register your access code. versity; Jonathan Silverman, Saint Michael’s College;
Miriam J. Singer, Fairleigh Dickinson University; Dale
Spector, San Diego State University; Cathleen Stutz,
Acknowledgments Assumption College; Phil Tate, Boston University;
We are especially grateful to a number of reviewers and Catherine C. Wasson, Belhaven College; Cynthia W.
survey respondents for their excellent recommenda- Wilkins, Belhaven College; Patricia Wojtowicz, Rari-
tions and suggestions, most notably: Peter Bastardo, tan Valley Community College; Susan Skinner Wyatt,
Rutgers University; Sally R. Beisser, Drake University; &BTUmFME
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Christine Belongia, Genesee Community College; In addition, we would like to offer a special note of
Jeannine Boutte, University of New Orleans; Donna thanks to the many users of this book who have been
Brent, Skidmore College; Timothy M. Briles, Georgian kind enough to share with us their impressions of it
Court University; C. M. Bunch, Hannibal LaGrange and their suggestions for how we might improve it in
College; Patricia Clanton, Southern Arkansas Uni- subsequent editions. We hope this tradition will con-
versity; John F. Covaleskie, University of Oklahoma; tinue as you send us your comments via the Cengage
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Kevin Ryan and James M. Cooper
This page intentionally left blank
 R
PA T

Teachers
Being a teacher today has special drawbacks. It is difficult to be a
teacher in an age that mocks idealism. It is also difficult to be a
teacher without the traditional authority and respect that once came
with the title. Being a teacher in a time of permissive childrearing
causes special strains, given that many students and some parents
are filled with anti-authoritarian attitudes. It is punishing to work at
an occupation that is not keeping up economically. It is painful to
be part of a profession that is continually asked to solve deep social
problems, do the essential job of educating children, and then is
regularly criticized for its failings. A good case can be made for dis-
couragement among teachers . . . even for self-pity.
This negativism, or at least acknowledgment of the negative,
obscures the fact that teaching is one of the truly great professions.
These passing conditions overlook the greatness that resides in the
teacher’s work. These current conditions are coming under increased
scrutiny as the public and our leaders realize the need for a world
class teaching force. Change is coming.
Even amid the difficulties just cited, teachers are buoyed up by a
deep conviction. While many adults struggle with the work-life ques-
tion, “Am I engaged in significant work?” teachers have the luxury of
always knowing that they are engaged in crucial, life-shaping work.

C 1 B
 1 Reflection Is at the Heart of Practice
Simon Hole and Grace Hall McEntee

Simon Hole is a fourth-grade teacher at Narragansett Elementary “Reflection Is at the Heart of Practice” by Simon Hole and Grace
School in Narragansett, Rhode Island. Grace Hall McEntee is co- Hall McEntee, Educational Leadership, May 1999, pp. 34–37. Used
founder of Educators Writing for Change. Together they have writ- with permission. The Association for Supervision and Curriculum
ten At the Heart of Teaching: A Guide to Reflective Practice (Teachers Development is a worldwide community of educators advocating
College Press, 2003). Ms. McEntee may be reached at Box 301, sound policies and sharing best practices to achieve the success
Prudence Island, RI 02872 (e-mail: Gmcente\@aol.com). of each learner. To learn more, visit ASCD at www.ascd.org.

|F|O|C|U|S|Q U E S T I O N
What is one habit that separates The life force of teaching practice is thinking and wondering. We carry home
those moments of the day that touch us, and we question decisions made. Dur-
ordinary teachers from constantly
ing these times of reflection, we realize when something needs to change.
improving teachers? A protocol, or guide, enables teachers to refine the process of reflection,
alone or with colleagues. The Guided Reflection Protocol is useful for teachers
who choose to reflect alone. The Critical Incidents Protocol, which we devel-
KEY TERM
oped through our work with the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at
Brown University, is used for shared reflection. The steps for each protocol are
Guided reflection protocol similar; both include writing.

Guided Reflection Protocol

The first step in guided reflection is to collect possible episodes for reflec-
tion. In his book Critical Incidents in Teaching: Developing Professional Judgment
(1993), David Tripp encourages us to think about ordinary events, which often
have much to tell us about the underlying trends, motives, and structures of
our practice. Simon’s story, “The Geese and the Blinds,” exemplifies this use
of an ordinary event.

STEP ONE: WHAT HAPPENED?

Wednesday, September 24, 9:30 A.M. I stand to one side of the classroom, taking the
morning attendance. One student glances out the window and sees a dozen Canada
geese grazing on the playground. Hopping from his seat, he calls out as he heads
to the window for a better view. Within moments, six students cluster around the
window. Others start from their seats to join them. I call for attention and ask them
to return to their desks. When none of the students respond, I walk to the window
and lower the blinds.

Answering the question What happened? is more difficult than it sounds.

We all have a tendency to jump into an interpretive or a judgmental mode,
but it is important to begin by simply telling the story. Writing down what
happened—without analysis or judgment—aids in creating a brief narrative.
Only then are we ready to move to the second step.
C 2 B
Reflection Is at the Heart of Practice C 3 B

give directions, or conduct a lesson. The hectic

Guided Reflection Protocol (For Individual Reflection) schedule and the need to prepare the class for
a substitute added to the difficulty I’ve had
1. Collect stories. Some educators find that keeping a set of index “controlling” the class, so I closed the blinds.
cards or a steno book close at hand provides a way to jot There’s something satisfying about
down stories as they occur. Others prefer to wait until the end answering the question Why did it hap-
of the day and write in a journal. pen? Reflection often stops here. If the
2. What happened? Choose a story that strikes you as particularly goal is to become a reflective practitioner,
interesting. Write it succinctly. however, we need to look more deeply.
3. Why did it happen? Fill in enough of the context to give the The search for meaning is step three.
story meaning. Answer the question in a way that makes
sense to you. STEP THREE: WHAT MIGHT IT MEAN?
4. What might it mean? Recognizing that there is no one answer Assigning meaning to the ordinary epi-
is an important step. Explore possible meanings rather than sodes that make up our days can feel like
determine the meaning. overkill. Is there really meaning behind
all those events? Wouldn’t it be more
5. What are the implications for practice? Consider how your prac-
productive to wait for something extraor-
tice might change given any new understandings that have
dinary to happen, an event marked with
emerged from the earlier steps.
a sign: “Pay attention! Something im-
portant is happening.” Guided reflection
is a way to find the meaning within the
STEP TWO: WHY DID IT HAPPEN? mundane. Split-second decision making is a crucial
Attempting to understand why an event happened
aspect of teaching. Given the daily madness of life in
the way it did is the beginning of reflection. We must
a classroom, considering all the options and conse-
search the context within which the event occurred for
quences is difficult. Often, it is only through reflection
explanations. Simon reflects:
that we even recognize that we had a choice, that we
It’s not hard to imagine why the students reacted to the could have done something differently.
geese as they did. As 9-year-olds, they are incredibly curi-
Like a football quarterback, I often make bad decisions
ous about their world. Explaining my reaction is more
because of pressure. Unlike a quarterback, I don’t have an
difficult. Even as I was lowering the blinds, I was kick-
offensive line to blame for letting the pressure get to me.
ing myself. Here was a natural opportunity to explore the
While it would be nice to believe that I could somehow
students’ interests. Had I stood at the window with them
make the pressure go away, the fact is that it will always
for five minutes, asking questions to see what they knew
be with me. Being a teacher means learning to live within
about geese, or even just listening to them, I’d be telling
that pressure, learning from the decisions I make and
a story about seizing the moment or taking advantage of
learning to make better decisions.
a learning opportunity. I knew that even as I lowered the
blinds. So, why? Our growing awareness of how all events carry
Searching deeper, we may find that a specific event some meaning is not a new concept. In Experience and
serves as an example of a more general category of Education (1938), John Dewey wrote about experience
events. We need to consider the underlying structures and its relationship to learning and teaching: “Ev-
within the school that may be a part of the event and ery experience affects for better or worse the attitudes
examine deeply held values. As we search, we often which help decide the quality of further experience”
find more questions than answers. (p. 37). He believed that teachers must be aware of the
“possibilities inherent in ordinary experience” (p. 89),
Two key things stand out concerning that morning. First, that the “business of the educator [is] to see in what
the schedule. On Wednesdays, students leave the room direction an experience is heading” (p. 38). Rediscover-
at 10:00 A.M. and do not return until 15 minutes before
ing this concept through the examination of ordinary
lunch. I would be out of the classroom all afternoon at-
tending a meeting, and so this half hour was all the time
events creates a fresh awareness of its meaning.
I would have with my students. The search for meaning is an integral part of be-
Second, this is the most challenging class I’ve had in ing human. But understanding by itself doesn’t create
22 years of teaching. The first three weeks of school had changes in classroom practice. The last phase of guided
been a constant struggle as I tried strategy after strategy reflection is more action oriented and involves holding
to hold their attention long enough to have a discussion, our practice to the light of those new understandings.
C 4 B Teachers

STEP FOUR: WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS

FOR MY PRACTICE?
Critical Incidents Protocol
Simon continues:
(For Shared Reflection)
My reaction to the pressure this year has been to resort to 1. Write stories. Each group member writes briefly
methods of control. I seem to be forever pulling down the in response to the question: What happened?
blinds. I’m thinking about how I might better deal with (10 minutes)
the pressure.
But there is something else that needs attention. Where 2. Choose a story. The group decides which story to
is the pressure coming from? I’m sensing from administra- use. (5 minutes)
tion and parents that they feel I should be doing things 3. What happened? The presenter reads the written
differently. I’ve gotten subtle and overt messages that I account of what happened and sets it within the
need to pay more attention to “covering” the curriculum,
context of professional goals. (10 minutes)
that I should be finding a more equal balance between
process and product. 4. Why did it happen? Colleagues ask clarifying
Maybe they’re right. What I’ve been doing hasn’t ex- questions. (5 minutes)
actly been a spectacular success. But I think that what is
5. What might it mean? The group raises questions
causing the lowering of the blinds stems from my not
about the incident in the context of the pre-
trusting enough in the process. Controlling the class in a
fairly traditional sense isn’t going to work in the long run.
senter’s work. They discuss it as professional,
Establishing a process that allows the class to control itself caring colleagues while the presenter listens.
will help keep the blinds up. (15 minutes)
6. What are the implications for practice? The presenter
Cultivating deep reflection through the use of
responds, then the group engages in conversa-
a guiding protocol is an entry into rethinking and
tion about the implications for the presenter’s
changing practice. Alone, each of us can proceed step-
practice and for the participants’ own practice.
by-step through the examination of a particular event.
A useful question at this stage might be, “What
Through the process, we gain new insights into the
new insights occurred?” (15 minutes)
implications of ordinary events, as Simon did when he
analyzed “The Geese and the Blinds.” 7. Debrief the process. The group talks about what
Whereas Guided Reflection is for use by individu- just happened. How did the process work?
als, the Critical Incidents Protocol is used with col- (10 minutes)
leagues. The goal is the same: to get to the heart of our
practice, the place that pumps the lifeblood into our
teaching, where we reflect, gain insight, and change
what we do with our students. In addition, the Criti- that the sharing of their writing will be for the purpose
cal Incidents Protocol encourages the establishment of of getting feedback on what happened rather than on
collegial relationships. the quality of the writing itself.
Next, the group decides which story to use with the
Critical Incidents Protocol protocol. The presenter for the session then reads the
story while the group listens carefully to understand
Schools are social places. Although too often educators the incident and the context. Colleagues ask clarifying
think and act alone, in most schools colleagues do share questions about what happened or why the incident
daily events. Stories told in teachers’ lounges are a po- occurred, then they discuss what the incident might
tential source of rich insight into issues of teaching and mean in terms of the presenter’s practice. During this
learning and can open doors to professional dialogue. time, the presenter listens and takes notes. The pre-
Telling stories has the potential for changing in- senter then responds, and the participants discuss the
dividual practice and the culture of our schools. The implications for their own practice. To conclude, one
Critical Incidents Protocol allows practitioners to share member leads a conversation about what happened
stories in a way that is useful to their own thinking and during the session, how well the process worked, and
to that of the group. how the group might change the process.
Three to five colleagues meet for the purpose of ex- The sharing of individual stories raises issues in the
ploring a “critical incident.” For 10 minutes, all write a fresh air of collegial support. If open dialogue is not
brief account of an incident. Participants should know already part of a school’s culture, however, colleagues
Reflection Is at the Heart of Practice C 5 B

may feel insecure about beginning. To gain confidence, When he had expended his wrathful energy, I said softly,
they may choose to run through the protocol first with “You know, TJ, you are a natural-born leader.” I waited.
a story that is not theirs. For this purpose, Grace offers Breathed in and out. “You did not choose to be a leader;
a story about an incident in the writing lab from her it was thrust upon you. But there you are. People follow
you. So you have a tremendous responsibility, to lead in
practice as a high school English teacher.
a positive and productive way. Do you understand what
I am saying?”
STEP ONE: WHAT HAPPENED? Like an exhalation after a long in-breath, his body vis-
We went into the computer lab to work on essay drafts. ibly relaxed. He looked down at me and nodded his head.
TJ, Neptune, Ronny, and Mick sat as a foursome. Their Then he held out his hand to me and said, “I’m sorry.”
Back in the room, he picked up his stuff and, without
sitting together had not worked last time. On their
a word, moved to the next bay of computers.
single printer an obscene message had appeared. All
four had denied writing it.
The next day Ronny, Neptune, and Mick had al- STEP TWO: USING THE CRITICAL INCIDENTS PROTOCOL
ready sat together. Just as TJ was about to take his seat, I At first you’ll think that you need more information
asked him if he would mind sitting over at the next bay than this, but we think that you have enough here.
of computers. He exploded. “You think I’m the cause of One member of the group will take the role of Grace.
the problem, don’t you?” Your “Grace” can answer clarifying questions about
Actually I did think he might be, but I wasn’t at all what happened or why it happened in whatever way
certain. “No,” I said, “but I do want you to sit over here he or she sees fit. Work through the protocol to fig-
for today.” He got red in the face, plunked down in the ure out what the incident might mean in terms of
chair near the three other boys, and refused to move. “Grace’s” practice. Finally, discuss what implications
I motioned for him to come with me. Out in the the incident in the writing lab might have for her prac-
hall, I said to him quietly, “The bottom line is that all tice and for your own as reflective educators. Then, try
of you need to get your work done.” Out of control, an event of your own.
body shaking, TJ angrily spewed out, “You always pick We think that you will find that whether the group
on me. Those guys . . . You . . .” I could hardly hear his uses your story or someone else’s, building reflective
words, so fascinated was I with his intense emotion practice together is a sure way to get to the heart of
and his whole-body animation. teaching and learning.
Contrary to my ordinary response to students who
yell, I felt perfectly calm. I knew I needed to wait. Out REFERENCES
of the corner of my eye, I saw two male teachers rise out
of their chairs in the hallway about 25 feet away. They Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. New York:
obviously thought that I, a woman of small stature, Macmillan.
Tripp, D. (1993). Critical incidents in teaching: Developing
needed protection. But I did not look at them. I looked
professional judgment. New York: Routledge.
at TJ and waited.

POSTNOTE

Teachers often note that they don’t have enough time to your teaching without seriously reflecting on it is virtually
do all the things that they either need or want to do. The impossible.
day just doesn’t seem to have enough hours. When time Reflective teaching involves the process of examina-
is precious, making the time to reflect on one’s teaching tion and evaluation in which you develop the habits of
seems extravagant. After all, there are so many more inquiry and reflection. By describing two structured ways
pressing items. However, if teachers are asked if they of reflecting, one individually and one with colleagues, the
want to improve their teaching, it’s hard to imagine one authors give us useful protocols for conducting a reflective
saying, “No.” The authors of this article make the case process. The use of journal writing, observation instru-
that teacher reflection is the key component for improv- ments, simulations, and videotaping can also help you ex-
ing our teaching. And, if you think about it, improving amine teaching, learning, and the contexts in which they
C 6 B Teachers

occur. Comparing your perspectives with those of fellow long student of teaching—you will become an effective,
students, professors, and school personnel will broaden professional teacher.
your interpretations and give you new insights. As you
reflect on your experiences, you will come to distrust Discussion Questions
simple answers and explanations. Nuances and subtle-
ties will start to become clear, and situations that once 1. What do you see as the primary benefits of reflecting on
seemed simple will reveal their complexities. Moral and your teaching? What concerns do you have about it?
ethical issues are likely to be encountered and thought 2. What case do the authors make for reflecting on ordi-
about. By practicing reflective teaching, you will grow nary, as opposed to special, events? Do you agree?
and develop the attitudes and skills to become a life- 3. Are you more likely to use an individual or a coopera-
tive form of reflection? Why?

RELATED WEBSITE RESOURCES AND VIDEO CASES

Web Resources: Video Case:

Becoming a Reflective Practitioner. Available at: Mentoring First Year Teachers:
Keys to Professional Success
http://www.education.umd.edu/teacher_education/
sthandbook/reflection.html. In this video case, you will see a new teacher, Dania Diaz,
working with a mentor teacher, Abdi Ali. First, Dania lays
This site, which is part of a larger, more comprehensive
out her expectations to students for an upcoming lesson.
site, is sponsored by the University of Maryland’s College of
Education and treats several key issues and methodologies
Then we watch Dania raise a question in a faculty meet-
for improving teaching. ing about plagiarism. Related to the theme of this article,
notice how Dania is developing the habit of reflecting on
Demonstrating Capacity for Reflective Practice: The Reflec- her practice. As you watch the clip, reflect upon the follow-
tive Practitioner. Available at: ing questions:
http://www.lcsc.edu/education/teacherprep/
1. Dania keeps a “reflective journal.” Do you think it
standards/rp.shtml.
would be useful for her to regularly share her journal
Focused on a number of issues, the Division of Education of with her mentor, Abdi?
Lewis-Clark State College maintains this site for its students 2. Having viewed Dania’s interaction with her mentor,
and the profession in general. how comfortable do you believe you would be “open-
ing up” your teaching to a mentor teacher?
The Great Teacher Question:
Beyond Competencies
2
Edward R. Ducharme

Edward R. Ducharme, a former teacher and teacher educator, is “The Great Teacher Question: Beyond Competencies” by Edward R.
now a writer and consultant living in Brewster, Massachusetts. Ducharme, Journal of Human Behavior and Learning, Vol. 7, No. 2,
1991. Reprinted by permission of the author.

|F|O|C|U|S|Q U E S T I O N
I begin this essay by defining a great teacher as one who influences others in How can the teacher qualities
positive ways so that their lives are forever altered, and then asking a question
mentioned by the author be learned?
I have asked groups many times. How many teachers fitting that description
have you had in your lifetime? It is rare for anyone to claim more than five in
a lifetime; the usual answer is one or two.
I ask this question of groups whose members have at least master’s degrees, KEY TERMS
often doctorates. They have experienced anywhere from eighty to one hun- Aesthetic
dred or more teachers in their lifetimes and usually describe no more than At-homeness
2% of them as great. Those voting are among the ones who stayed in school
Teacher competencies
considerably longer than most people do; one wonders how many great teach-
ers those dropping out in the 9th or 10th grade experience in their lifetimes.
My little experiment, repeated many times over the years, suggests that the
number of great teachers is very limited. They should be cherished and trea-
sured because they are so rare; we should do all that we can to develop more
of them.
This paper is purely speculative; no data corrupt it; no references or cita-
tions burden it. It began as I sat with a colleague at a meeting in 1987 in
Washington; we were listening to a speaker drone on about the competencies
teachers need. I asked my friend: “How would you like to write a paper about
qualities great teachers have that do not lend themselves to competency mea-
surements?” The proposed shared writing exercise did not get much beyond
our talking about it the next couple of times we saw each other, but I have
continued to speculate on these qualities as I have read, taught, studied, talked
with others, and relived my own learning experiences.
The remarks result from years of being with teachers, students, and schools;
of three decades of being a teacher; of five decades of being a learner. There
is no science in the remarks, no cool, objective look at teaching. These are
personal reflections and observations to provoke, to get some of us thinking
beyond numbers, test scores, attendance rates, and demographics, to reflect on
the notion of the Great Teacher.
I am weary of competencies even though I recognize the need for specific
indicators that teachers possess certain skills and knowledge. I believe, how-
ever, that good teacher preparation programs do more than a reasonable job
on these and are doing better and better. Three conditions lead me to believe
that most future graduates of teacher education programs will be competent.
First, the overall quality of teacher candidates is improving; second, there is
a great deal more known about helping to develop people to the point where
C 7 B
C 8 B Teachers

they are competent; third, the level of the education E. D. Hirsch, in Cultural Literacy: What Every Ameri-
professoriate has improved dramatically. Thus, I think can Needs to Know, has a series of provocative listings
that most preparation programs will be graduating under each letter of the alphabet. His point is that in
competent teachers. We should begin to worry about order to grasp the meanings of words on pages, readers
what lies beyond competency. must know things not part of the page. Hirsch’s book
My interests extend beyond competencies to quali- contains pages of items. Under the letter C, he lists
ties that I see from time to time as I visit classrooms. caste, cool one’s heels, Crime and Punishment, coral reef,
Few teachers possess even several of the qualities I will and czar. One would “know” such things by studying
describe—no great teacher lacks all of them. In the sociology, language, literature, biology, and history or,
remainder of this paper, I will name and describe the perhaps equally often, simply by living for a period of
qualities and show what these qualities might look like time and reading newspapers, watching movies, and so
in prospective teachers. forth. Hirsch’s point is that when one hears a sentence
like “He runs his business as though he were the czar,”
1. Penchant for and Skill in Relating One Thing one would think of autocratic, harsh rule, tyranny, Rus-
sia, lack of human rights. Some might think of how the
with Another with Another and with Another word is sometimes spelled tsar and wonder why. Oth-
John Donne, the 17th century English poet and cleric, ers might think of the song about the czar/tsar from
once wrote “The new science calls all into doubt.” He Fiddler on the Roof, while a few would think the person
was referring to the Copernican contention that the incapable of pronouncing the word tsar. Hirsch has in
earth is not the center of the universe, that humankind mind one kind of “relating one field to another”: that
may not be the cynosure of divine interest, countering which occurs when one sees a known reference and
beliefs that the old Ptolemaic system of earthcentered- makes the associative leap.
ness had fostered. Edna St. Vincent Millay, in her poem on Euclid’s
Donne saw relationships among things not read- geometry, also drew associations from seemingly un-
ily apparent to many others. He recognized a new related things. She saw the design and texture in po-
truth cancelled another belief, one that had affected etry related to the design and texture of a geometric
attitudes and actions among his fellow Christians for a theorem. The quality described here is the same quality
long time, and would have a dramatic effect. He knew that Donne and Steinbeck manifested: seeing the inter-
that if something held eternally true were suddenly relatedness of things.
shown to be false, conclusively false, then other things What does that quality look like in prospective
would be questioned; nothing would be steadfast. teachers? Sometimes it is the person who sees the con-
Many of us do not see the implications and rela- nections between sociological and educational themes;
tionships among seemingly unrelated events, people, sometimes, the person who wants to introduce stu-
places, works of art, scientific principles. Some great dents to the variety of language by teaching them
teachers have the ability to see these relationships and, about snowflakes and the vast number of words Eski-
equally important, help others see them. Donne saw mos have for them; sometimes, the person who under-
them. His collected sermons evidence the intellectual stands mathematics through music, in fact, it may be
force of great teachers. the person who says mathematics is a kind of music or
I once took a course in which John Steinbeck’s The that music is a kind of mathematics.
Sea of Cortez and The Grapes of Wrath were among the
readings. The Sea of Cortez is Steinbeck’s ruminations on 2. Lack of Fondness for Closure or, Put Another
the vast complexity and interrelatedness of life under
the water; The Grapes of Wrath, his ruminations on the
Way, Fondness for Questions over Answers
complexities of life on land, on what happens when a Many of us are constantly on the lookout for answers
natural disaster combines with human ineptness and to questions. For example, we might give a great deal to
lack of concern, one for the other. The professor used know the answer to the two-part question: What makes
a word not much in vogue in those ancient days: ecol- a great teacher and how do we produce one? Of course,
ogy. He defined it as the “interrelatedness of all living the answer to the first part of the question depends on
things.” He raised questions about the relationships of who is answering it. For someone in need of specific
these issues to the problems of New York City and its guidance at some point in life, the great teacher may
schools, as we sat in class in Memorial Lounge at Teach- be the one pointing the way to a different kind of ex-
ers College, Columbia. istence, the one making the individual feel strong. To
The Great Teacher Question: Beyond Competencies C 9 B

another person, confident about life, the great teacher are but tentative, that today’s answers provoke tomor-
may be the one raising questions, challenging, making row’s uneasiness. As prospective teachers, they show a
the person wonder about certitudes once held dearly. disrespect for finite answers to questions about human
I teach Leadership and the Creative Imagination, development, the limits of knowledge, the ways of
a course designed as a humanities experience for doc- knowing, the ways of doing. They itch to know even
toral students in educational administration. In the though they have begun to believe that they can never
course, students read twelve novels and plays, discuss really know, that there is always another word to be
them effectively, and write about them in ways related said on every subject of consequence. Often, to answer-
to the leadership theory literature, their own experi- oriented teacher educators, these students are seen as
ence, and the works themselves. In the fall semester of hindrances instead of prospective great teachers. In
1987, I had what has become a redundant experience. truth, they stand the chance of provoking in their fu-
A student in the course stopped me in the hall after ture students the quest to explore, to question, to imag-
class one night in November. She said that she had ine, to be comfortable with the discomfort of never
taken the course because her advisor had said it would “really knowing,” of lifelong pursuit of knowledge.
be a good experience for her. And, said she, she had
truly enjoyed the early readings and the discussions.
But now she found the readings troubling; they were 3. Growing Knowledge, Understanding,
causing her to question things she does, ways she re- and Commitment to Some Aspect of Human
lates to people, habits of thinking. She said that she was Endeavor; for Example, Science, Literature,
losing a sense of assuredness of what life was all about.
The books, she said, just kept raising questions. “When
Mathematics, or Blizzards
do we get answers?” she asked. In the last several years, the point that teachers must
We talked for a while, and I reminded her of a know something before they can teach it has been
point I had made repeatedly during the first couple of made ad nauseam. We have admonitions from the
classes: there are two kinds of books, answer books and Carnegie Forum to the Holmes Group to Secretary
question books. Writers of answer books raise provoca- Bennett to the person on the street to all the teachers
tive questions and then provide comfortable, assuring in the field who prepared with BS degrees in education
answers. Then there are the writers who raise the pro- all belaboring the obvious need for knowledge, albeit
vocative issues—“Thou know’st ’tis common,—all that with a slightly different twist than the argument had
lives must die, passing through nature into eternity,” the first twenty times around: teachers must have a
(if you get the source of that, Hirsch will like you)—and bachelor’s degree in an academic major before being
then frustrate the reader looking for facile answers by admitted to a teacher preparation program.
showing that the realization in the statement prompts But we all know that to know is not enough. Merely
questions: Why must all that lives die? What does it holding a bachelor of arts does not answer the question
mean to pass through nature into eternity? What or of the relationship between teacher and knowledge.
when is eternity? Are we supposed to know that all that What answers the question?
lives must die? Teachers are rightfully and powerfully connected
The predisposition to raise questions is present in with knowledge when, even early in their learning
all of us to varying degrees. In young, prospective careers, they begin to make metaphors to explain their
teachers, the predisposition takes on various shades existence, their issues and dilemmas, their joys and sor-
and hues. They ask questions like: Why do some chil- rows, from the knowledge they are acquiring. I speak
dren learn more slowly than others? Tell me, why not of that jaded notion of students being excited
is that, whatever that may be, a better way to do it? by what they are learning. I get excited watching a
But how do I know they learned it? In more mature baseball game, but it doesn’t have much meaning for
prospective teachers coming back for a fifth year and me the next day. I mean something including and
certification, it might look different: Why is this more transcending excitement. Great teachers are driven by
meaningful than that? Why should we teach this in- the power, beauty, force, logic, illogic, color, vitality,
stead of that? Why does my experience teach me that relatedness, uniqueness of what they know and love.
this is wrong? What happens next? How do I know if They make metaphors from it to explain the world;
this is right or wrong? they are forever trying to understand the thing itself,
Persons with fondness for questions over answers always falling a bit short yet still urging others on. They
recognize that most “answers” to complex questions are the teachers who make learners think what is being
C 10 B Teachers

taught has value and meaning and may actually touch to recognize this quality in students. What does it look
individual lives. like? In its evolutionary phases, it might be an impulse
This quality shows itself in a variety of ways in to make the secondary methods classroom more attrac-
prospective teachers. Often, it is hidden because that tive; it might be a choice of book covers; it might be in
which captures the imagination and interest of a stu- the selection of course materials for young people; it
dent may not be part of the course, may have no way of might be in the habits of an individual. I’m uncertain
being known. I have never forgotten a young woman as to its many forms, but I am quite certain that when
in a class I taught fifteen years ago. She was a freshman we see it we should treasure its existence and support
in one of those horrible introduction to education its development.
courses. For the last assignment, each student in the
class had to teach something to the class. This young
woman, who had spoken, but rarely and only when
5. Willingness to Assume Risks
challenged during the semester, asked if the class might There are teachers who say the right things, prescribe
go to the student lounge when her turn came. I agreed; the right books, associate with the right people, but
we went as a group. There was a piano in the room and never take risks on behalf of others, beliefs, and ideas,
she proceeded to play a piece by Chopin and explain never do more than verbalize. They are hollow shams.
to the class why it was an important piece of music. I The quality of risk-taking of great teachers is subtle,
suspected—and subsequent discussions with her bore not necessarily that which puts people on picket lines,
out my thought—that this young woman saw the at the barricades, although it might be. The quality
world through music, that she could explain almost is critical to teacher modeling, for great teachers go
anything better if she could use music as the meta- beyond the statement of principles and ideas, beyond
phor, the carrier of her thoughts. the endorsement of the importance of friendships, as
Most of us do not have students in our classes they move students from the consideration of abstract
capable of playing a piece by Chopin, but we all have principles to the actualization of deeds.
students who understand the world through a medium The 1960s and 1970s were filled with risk-taking
different from what the rest of the group may be using. teachers. While neither praising nor disparaging these
Experience has taught many young people to hide this obvious examples, I urge other instances for consider-
quality because it is not honored in classrooms. ation inasmuch as the “opportunity” for collective risk-
taking is a rare occurrence in the lives of most of us.
While it was not easy to be a risk-taker then, it wasn’t
4. A Sense of the Aesthetic very lonely either. Other instances, some more prosaic,
The development of the aesthetic domain in young abound: teachers in certain parts of the country who
people is critical to their growth and development; it persist in teaching evolution despite pressure to desist,
is a fundamental right. The ability to grasp the beauti- teachers who assign controversial books despite ad-
ful makes us human; to deny that to young people verse criticism, teachers who teach the Civil War and
is to deny their humanity. Great teachers often have the Vietnam War without partisanship or chauvinism.
an acutely developed sense of the aesthetic; they are These quiet acts of risk-taking occur daily in schools
unafraid to show their fondness for beauty in front of and universities; they instruct students of the impor-
young people; they do so in such a manner as to make tance of ideas joined with actions.
the young people themselves value beauty and their I recall my high school art teacher who took abuse
own perceptions of it. from the principal because she demanded the right for
For many young people, the world is a harsh and her students to use the gymnasium to prepare for a
barren place, devoid of beauty. But in every genera- dance. He rebuked and embarrassed her in front of the
tion, there are those who emerge spiritually changed students for “daring to question [my] authority.” His
from their schooling experiences, eager to face what act prompted some of us to go to the superintendent to
is at times a hostile world. The changes are sometimes complain about him; we got the gym. But we also each
the result of a teacher with a sense of the aesthetic, one had a private interview with the principal in which he
able to see beyond the everydayness and blandness of shared his scorn and derision for us for having “gone
institutional life. over [my] head to the superintendent.” We learned
In a world stultified by the commercial definitions that acting on principles is sometimes risky, that we
of beauty, individuals preparing to teach with this em- had to support a teacher who took risks for us, that ac-
bryonic sense of the aesthetic are rare. Our own jaded- tions have consequences, that a “good” act like defend-
ness and mass-produced tastes make it difficult for us ing a brave teacher can lead to punishment. But her
The Great Teacher Question: Beyond Competencies C 11 B

risk-taking led us to risk-taking on behalf of another quality alluded to earlier, the sense on inter-relatedness
person and the resolution of a mild injustice. of things.) I am uncertain what I learned about “In Me-
Detecting this quality in the young is difficult. The moriam” that morning, but I know I learned that this
young often appear cause-driven and it is hard to dis- man who earlier in the semester had pointed out the
tinguish when students are merely following a popular, delicate beauty of some of Tennyson’s lyrics had inte-
low-risk cause and when they are standing for some- grated death into his life while remaining sensitive to
thing involving personal decisions and risk. We might beauty, to love. It was partly through him that I began
see it in its evolutionary form in some quite simple to see that the parts of life I did not like were not to be
instances. Many teacher educators suffer the indignity ignored nor to be paralyzed about. All this in the death
of seeing their ideas and principles distorted by the of a bird? No, all this in a powerful teacher’s reaction to
wisdom of the workplace, of having their students the death of a bird in the midst of life.
grow disenchanted with what they have been taught as And what does at-homeness in the world look like
they encounter the world of the school: “We’ll knock in prospective teachers? I am quite uncertain, very
that Ivory Tower stuff out of you here. This is the real tentative about this one. Perhaps it shows itself in
world.” Of course, we all know some of it should be a combination of things like joy in life one day and
knocked out, but much of it should remain. It is a rare despair over life the next as the young slowly come to
student who during practical, internship, and early grips with the enigmas of life, its vicissitudes and sor-
years of teaching remains steadfast to such principles rows. The young are often studies in extremes as they
as: all student answers, honestly given, merit serious make order of life, of their lives. As a consequence, one
consideration; or worksheets are rarely good instruc- sees a few students with vast energy both to live life
tional materials. It is risky for young pre-professionals and to anguish over its difficulties. But one cannot ar-
and beginning professionals to dispute the wisdom of rive at the point of my professor with his lovely garden
the workplace and maintain fidelity to earlier acquired and dead robin simultaneously entertained in his head
principles. Perhaps in these seemingly small matters without a sense of the joyful and the tragic in life, with-
lies the quality to be writ large during the full career. out a constant attempt to deal with the wholeness that
is life, without a sense of being at home in the world.
All prospective teachers have touches of each of
6. At-Homeness in the World these qualities which should be supported and nur-
Great teachers live effectively in what often seems a tured so that their presence is ever more manifest in
perverse world. Acutely aware of life’s unevenness, the classrooms. But a few students have some of these
disparities in the distribution of the world’s goods, qualities writ large. Buttressed by programs that guar-
talents, and resources, they cry out for justice in their antee competency in instructional skills, these indi-
own special ways while continuing to live with a sense viduals have the potential to become great teachers
of equanimity and contribute to the world. They dem- themselves, to be the teachers who take the students
onstrate that life is to be lived as fully as one can de- beyond knowledge acquisition and skill development
spite problems and issues. They show that one can be a to questioning, to wondering, to striving. We must,
sensitive human being caring about and doing things first, find these prospective teachers, help them grow
about the problems and issues, and, at the same time, and develop, treasure them, and give them to the
live a life of personal fulfillment. They are not over- young people of America, each one of whom deserves
whelmed by the insolubility of things on the grand several great teachers during thirteen years of public
scale, for they are able to make sense of things on the schooling.
personal level. And what has all this to do with the preparation of
I once had a professor for a course in Victorian teachers? Surely, preparing teachers to be competent in
poetry. In addition to his academic accomplishments, providing basic instruction to as many students as pos-
the professor was a fine gardener, each year producing sible is enough of a major task. Clearly, the raising of
a beautifully crafted flower garden, filled with design reading scores, of math achievement levels, of writing
and beauty. skills, of thinking processes are significant accomplish-
We were reading “In Memoriam,” the part in which ments. Of course, all these things must be accom-
Tennyson refers to nature, red in tooth and claw. All of a plished, and teacher preparation programs around the
sudden, the professor talked about how, that morning, country are getting better and better at these matters.
while eating his breakfast, he had watched his cat stalk But we must have more; we must have an increase
a robin, catch it, and devour part of it. He related the in the presence of greatness in the schools, in the
incident, of course, to the poem. (Clearly he had the universities. Love for a teacher’s kindness, gratitude
C 12 B Teachers

for skills acquired, fondness for teachers—these are answers; that knowledge is interrelated; that there is
critically important. But equally important is the pos- joy to be had from beauty; that knowledge can affect
sibility that students will encounter greatness, great- people to the cores of their being; that ideas find their
ness that transcends the everydayness of anyplace, that worth in actions; that life is full of potential in a some-
invites, cajoles, pushes, drags, drives, brings students times perverse world.
into the possibilities that questions mean more than

POSTNOTE

Ducharme’s article is provocative in its challenge to go Discussion Questions

beyond mere competence and instead reach for greatness
1. Is a particular kind of teacher preparation needed to
in our teaching. The characteristics that he suggests em-
produce great, rather than just competent, teachers?
body greatness in teaching and are difficult to challenge
Or does a prospective teacher need to earn compe-
because they ring true. They also are formidable if we want
tence before greatness can be achieved? Explain your
to become teachers who possess these characteristics.
answers.
In an effort to ensure that prospective teachers will be
2. Think of the great teachers you have had. Did they pos-
“safe to practice,” many teacher educators focus their in-
sess the characteristics Ducharme describes? Briefly
struction on the knowledge and skills (competencies) new
discuss what made these teachers great.
teachers will need to function effectively in classrooms. It
3. Can you think of any other characteristics that great
may be a rare instance where the focus of teacher educa-
teachers possess that were not identified by Ducharme?
tion is on what it will take to become a great teacher, not
If so, what are they?
merely a competent one.

RELATED WEBSITE RESOURCES

Web Resources:
The National Board of Professional Teaching Standards.
Available at:
http://www.nbpts.org.
This organization has, for over two decades, led the fight
both to define excellence in teaching and recognize excel-
lent teachers.
The Power of Personal Relationships
3
Thomas S. Mawhinney and Laura L. Sagan

Thomas S. Mawhinney is an associate professor at Touro College Rotterdam, NY; a part-time teacher trainer; and a former middle
in New York. He is a former high school principal, an education school principal.
consultant, a teacher trainer, and the president of Leading for “The Power of Personal Relationships” by Thomas S. Mawhinney
Learning, Inc., Poughkeepsie, NY. Laura L. Sagan is the social and Laura L. Sagan, Phi Delta Kappan 88, no. 6, February 2007,
studies coordinator for the Mohonasen Central School District, pp. 460–464. Reprinted with permission of the authors.

|F|O|C|U|S|Q U E S T I O N
Donta stayed after class a few minutes to ask her teacher for help. As she hur- What does a teacher need to do to
ried to get to her next class on time her boyfriend cornered her and questioned
establish the proper personal
her about a rumor he had heard involving Donta and her best friend. She
could not get away. She was torn because she had been late for this class several relationship with students?
times before and did not want to disappoint her teacher again.
When Donta finally got to her class, she was obviously nervous. Her teacher
simply said, “Donta, how nice to see you. Come on in and take a seat.” Donta
KEY TERMS
smiled and felt relieved. She loved this class because the teacher made her feel
important. “Why couldn’t all teachers treat kids this way?” she thought. Differentiation (differentiated
Donta had just experienced the power of personal-relationship building. Her instruction)
teacher could have demanded a pass, interrogated her in front of the class, greeted Empathetic listening
her with a sarcastic remark, or embarrassed her in some other way. Instead, she Fight-or-flight response
made her feel welcome. Donta was in a frame of mind ready to learn.
Pedagogic caring
There are many children who make up their minds on the first day of class
whether they are going to succeed or fail—sometimes consciously and some-
times not. How can this be, one might ask? Simply put, the initial student/
teacher encounter often determines how well or poorly a child will perform
throughout the school year. Likewise, a positive teacher/student relationship
creates the classroom atmosphere necessary to maximize a student’s mental
state of readiness.
Picture the teacher who, in an attempt to establish control from the
beginning, spends the first day describing classroom rules and routines and
emphasizes what will happen if they are not followed. Coercive classrooms
are not conducive to learning, yet many teachers continue to believe that a
dominating relationship such as that between a parent and child ensures stu-
dent compliance. How often have instructional leaders advised the first-year
teacher to be tough in the beginning and loosen up later—that one can never
do it in reverse? Well, after that first day of toughness, many students have
“downshifted” into a fight-or-flight mode. In doing so they have bypassed
much of their capacity for higher-order thinking or creative thought, and it
is hard to learn when your bodily functions are focused on survival. We now
understand that higher-level thinking is more likely to occur in the brain of a
student who is emotionally secure than in the brain of a student who is scared,
upset, anxious, or stressed.
C 13 B
C 14 B Teachers

Researchers continue to report that the teacher has Steven Wolk believes that “teachers need to allow stu-
a significant impact on student achievement. Based dents to see them as complete people with emotions,
on an extensive analysis of research, Robert and Jana opinions, and lives outside of school. A good way for a
Marzano claim that “the quality of teacher-student teacher to get students to treat him or her as a human
relationships is the keystone for all other aspects of being is to act like one.”6
classroom management.”1 As former secondary school Two of our most beloved teachers are women
principals, we feel that personal-relationship building who, when faced with child-care problems, bring their
is one of the most important skills a teacher can pos- young children to school for short periods of time.
sess and continue to refine. In this article, we intend to Whenever this happens, secondary and middle school
describe the many dimensions of this skill. students flock to them. While some schools frown on
teachers using the workplace as a backup day-care fa-
cility, we find that the practice allows students to get a
Personal-Relationship Building peek at the other side of a teacher’s life. Not only does
We first encountered the term “personal-relationship it improve relationships, it forms a long-lasting bond
building” as the title of the shortest chapter in The between the students and the teacher’s own children.
Skillful Teacher, by Jon Saphier and Robert Gower.2 The
authors classify this skill under the broader category REESTABLISHING CONTACT AND HIGH EXPECTATIONS
of motivation and supply a two-part definition: “the Reestablishing contact with a student with whom one
variety of ways teachers have of contacting students’ has had a negative interaction is one of the most diffi-
personal worlds and the traits of teachers that seem to cult things a teacher can do. Yet if that student is ever to
engender affection and regard in a relationship.”3 feel a sense of belonging again, the teacher must some-
We will use this framework in an attempt to paint a how have a positive interaction with the student around
clear picture of this powerful tool in a teacher’s pedagog- some other issue. No apology is needed, but the message
ical “bag of tricks.” We do not expect even great teachers that the negative incident is in the past and that it is time
to have all the skills and characteristics we will describe. to move on must be clear. How often have you heard stu-
Adding one or two to one’s repertoire each year will put dents claim that they are doing poorly in a class because
the self-renewing teacher on a path to canonization. the teacher “hates” them? We believe that students have
an innate sense that adults hold grudges and it is not
Ways of Contacting Students’ Personal Worlds clear to them when an incident of misbehavior has been
forgotten. Therefore, we feel that teachers—and schools,
A beginning teacher gets only one chance to make a for that matter—need to consciously apply techniques
first impression. As we noted above, despite the advice to bring closure to discipline problems, so that students
commonly given to new teachers to be tough in the understand that “everyone makes mistakes. You need to
beginning, one does not want to scare off the marginal learn from it, and move on.”
students or those students who need a caring and nur- There is an abundance of research on the academic
turing environment to survive and prosper. Teachers benefits of high expectations for students. High expec-
can create such an environment by consciously engag- tations are a crucial ingredient in personal-relationship
ing in particular practices and behaviors. building. In our years of administrative experience,
we have seen the damage that low expectations can
KNOWING YOUR STUDENTS AND ALLOWING THEM do even before a student walks through the classroom
TO KNOW YOU door for the first time. We fought in our respective
Differentiating instruction—planning varied lessons ac- schools for heterogeneous grouping, yet many days
cording to students’ interests—is an important skill. There- we were butting up against a wall of long-held teacher
fore we recommend that teachers spend the first few days beliefs in the efficiency of sorting and separating stu-
of the school year or new semester getting to know their dents. We encountered one teacher who had special
students by using interest surveys or other activities to dis- education students coloring rather than participating
cover the ways in which each one of them is unique. in a writing assignment with the rest of the class. You
We also support those teachers who allow their stu- can imagine how demeaned those children felt. We
dents to know them. Teachers who offer their students will leave it at this: a student—especially a young per-
“genuineness and self-disclosure”4 reveal “aspects of son who has experienced the negative effects of low
themselves that allow [the] image of authority figure expectations over time—can sense when a teacher has
to be tempered by images of teacher-as-a-real-person.”5 high expectations for all students.
The Power of Personal Relationships C 15 B

ACTIVE AND EMPATHETIC LISTENING RESPECT, COURTESY, AND FAIRNESS

Active listening not only helps build personal relation- One of the most respected teachers that we have ob-
ships but is a powerful teaching strategy as well. James served was a traditional, veteran teacher. Year after
Stronge places this practice under the more general year, students would affirm that he was one of the best
category of caring.7 We feel that it deserves special teachers they had ever had. In his classroom, you had
mention, having observed its effect on student partici- to pay particular attention to understand why. He was
pation in the classroom as well as the expressions on courteous, always saying please and thank you. He
the faces of those students who are the recipients of frequently gave students one last chance to increase
this potent form of attention from the teacher. their grades on a quiz or exam. He insisted that those
Active listening serves to: who did not do well see him for help. He never got
mad or raised his voice. He used humor but was never
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sarcastic. He was loyal to the absent, never speaking of
remark;
other students in front of their peers or with his fellow
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teachers. He disciplined students privately; he never
in a nonjudgmental way;
did so publicly. He is our “poster child” for the category
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of respect, courtesy, and fairness.
most important,
We believe that these basic human qualities are
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often lost in secondary schools. As adults, we bring
or responses are important to the teacher.8
to school scripts that we learned, not from teacher
You can imagine the look on an insecure student’s training, but from our experiences as parents and as
face when the teacher refers to an answer he or she children being parented. Under pressure, we often re-
gave earlier in the class—“as Jimmy said at the begin- vert to these scripts. Take the example of a teacher we
ning of class, one of the main causes of the Civil War overheard when one of her students walked out of her
was. . . .” Even using students’ names when repeating class in anger. The teacher followed the student into
or rephrasing a comment is a powerful teaching and the hall, asking, “Who do you think you are?” How is
personal-relationship-building move. We cannot en- the student supposed to answer that question?
courage teachers enough to use active listening in their Respect, courtesy, and fairness cover a wide vari-
classrooms. ety of teacher behaviors. A teacher can demonstrate
respect by:
INVOLVEMENT t
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For more than 30 years, first as teachers and then as t
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administrators, we have enjoyed being involved with t
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students, whether chaperoning a dance, overseeing a t
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field trip, or watching a school sporting or other extra- strengths,
curricular event. School staff members who appear at t
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activities taking place outside the normal school day t
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are those with whom students most easily connect.
Many veteran teachers feel that they have paid their According to students, fairness on the part of the
dues with respect to this aspect of school life and pass teacher includes:
on such duties to their younger colleagues. Yet we find
that students appreciate the fact that any teacher at- t
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tends an event or chaperones an activity. We ourselves t
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showed up at so many events that students began to tions that cause students to lose the respect of their
ask why we were not at every activity—too much of a peers,
good thing, perhaps? t
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to have input into the classroom, and
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pate and succeed.10
Teacher Traits That Engender Affection and Regard
A teacher displays courtesy by:
In addition to using particular practices, teachers who
successfully build personal relationships with students t
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exhibit certain attitudes and qualities. t
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C 16 B Teachers

t
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a long way toward fostering the kinds of relationships
dropped item or holding a door, and that promote higher achievement.
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them well when they leave. HUMOR
According to Rita Dunn, students who are global
CARING AND UNDERSTANDING processors—those who see the big picture and learn
Caring too much can be dangerous for teachers. We better through anecdotes—need humor to function
all have heard stories of teachers who have blurred more effectively.15 Roland Barth states that his personal
the line between their professional and personal lives. vision of a great school is one that is characterized by
It is possible to develop unhealthy relationships that humor, and we concur.16 But teachers need to be aware
are damaging to both the teacher and the child. Yet that there is a fine line between appropriate and inap-
not caring can be equally debilitating. How often do propriate humor. Poking fun at someone in an attempt
youths who drop out of school complain that no one to win students’ favor is inappropriate. The ability to see
cares about them or even cares if they exist? We believe humor in situations, and to laugh at oneself is key. Ap-
that the right kind of caring is the secret to developing propriate humor makes people smile, it creates warmth
students’ motivation to achieve. in a classroom, it relaxes students, and it reverses the
Nancy Hoffman asserts, “There is a great deal to be “fight-or-flight” response that many troubled students
done to make the caring work of teachers less elusive, take with them into every class they enter.
to name it among our expectations, to study how it
works, and to reward it as a substantial component of LOVE OF CHILDREN
excellence in teaching.”11 While teachers cannot pos- It would seem obvious that all teachers must possess this
sibly involve themselves completely in the lives of all quality to work in education. Unfortunately, we have en-
their students, they can exhibit a burning interest in countered teachers and other staff members who leave
student achievement by using effective praise and by us scratching our heads, wondering how and why these
showing an almost parental pride in exceptional stu- individuals ever chose—and were hired—to work with
dent work. Hoffman uses the term “pedagogic caring,” children. There are adults in our schools who do not like
which she defines as a passion for learning that ema- “other people’s children” and do not like being around
nates from the teacher. It is easy to gauge the level of them. We absolutely have to prevent these individuals
this type of caring by observing the display of student from entering the profession, or, if we mistakenly hire
work in and around a teacher’s room or office. them, we must have the courage to weed them out.
We think Peter Senge sums it up well: “When peo-
ple genuinely care, they are actively committed. They Risking Closeness
are doing what they truly want to do. They are full of
energy and enthusiasm. They persevere, even in the Andy Hargreaves refers to the “emotional geographies
face of frustration and setbacks, because what they are of teaching”—the patterns of closeness and distance
doing is what they must do. It is their work.”12 that shape the emotions we experience.17 In his dis-
When we speak of “understanding” on the part of cussion of professional distance, he observes, “School
teachers, we are referring primarily to empathy, defined teaching has become an occupation with a feminine
as “the ability to vicariously feel what another person is caring ethic that is trapped within a rationalized and
feeling, to understand and connect where that person bureaucratic structure.” This is the problem for edu-
is.”13 We agree with Arnold Goldstein that this capac- cators working in politically sensitive environments.
ity to understand/empathize is positively associated Teachers and administrators are often directed to dis-
with a broad range of prosocial behaviors, such as co- tance themselves from children in order to avoid the
operation, sociability, and interpersonal competence, risks of personal relationships. As Hargreaves notes,
and negatively associated with aggressive behavior.14 “The dilemma for teachers is that although they are
It is so important for the teacher to know that each of supposed to care for their students, they are expected
her students is walking through the door with a myriad to do so in a clinical and detached way—to mask their
of social experiences from neglect to overindulgence. emotions.”18 We know there is validity in establishing
“While we do not advocate for the lessening of stan- closeness, yet there are land mines all about the coun-
dards or expectations for students who may not be tryside. We can be safe and sterile or take a chance and
having a good day, we do think that getting inside a create a warm, loving community of learners.
The Power of Personal Relationships C 17 B

We wrote this article because we deeply believe 5. Saphier and Gower, p. 348.
in the concept of personal-relationship building. We 6. Steven Wolk, “Hearts and Minds: Classroom
wanted to add to the knowledge base regarding this Relationships and Learning Interact,” Educational
valuable skill and to describe it in a way that makes it Leadership, September 2003, p. 18.
7. James H. Stronge, Qualities of Effective Teachers
real—something you can see and feel, something that
(Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and
is coachable, and, above all, something that plays a Curriculum Development, 2002).
key role in the teaching act. There used to be a myth 8. Saphier and Gower, op. cit.
that good teachers are born, not made, and that there 9. Ibid.
is nothing one can do to help the unfortunate who do 10. Stronge, op. cit.
not have this natural ability. We disagree and believe 11. Nancy Hoffman, “Toughness and Caring,” Education
that “being skillful means you can do something that Week, 28 March 2001, p. 42.
can be seen; it means different levels of skill may be 12. Peter M. Senge, The Fifth Discipline (New York:
displayed by different individuals; and it means, above Doubleday, 1990), p. 148.
all, that you can learn how to do it and continue to 13. David A. Levine, Teaching Empathy: A Social Skills Resource
(Accord, N.Y.: Blue Heron Press, 2000), p. 13.
improve at it.”19
14. Arnold P. Goldstein, The Prepare Curriculum: Teaching
Prosocial Competencies (Champaign, Ill.: Research Press,
NOTES 1999).
15. Rita S. Dunn, “The Dunn and Dunn Learning-Style
1. Robert J. Marzano and Jana S. Marzano, “The Key Model and Its Theoretical Cornerstone,” in Rita S. Dunn
to Classroom Management,” Educational Leadership, and Shirley A. Griggs, eds., Synthesis of the Dunn and
September 2003, p. 6. Dunn Learning-Style Model Research: Who, What, When,
2. Jon Saphier and Robert Gower, The Skillful Teacher: Where, and So What? (Jamaica, N.Y.: St. John’s University,
Building Your Teaching Skills, 5th ed. (Acton, Mass.: 2003).
Research for Better Teaching, 1997). 16. Roland S. Barth, “A Personal Vision of a Good School,”
3. Ibid, p. 345. Phi Delta Kappan, March 1990, pp. 512–16.
4. Richard P. Dufour and Robert E. Eaker, Fulfilling the 17. Andy Hargreaves, “Emotional Geographies of Teaching,”
Promise of Excellence: A Practitioner’s Guide to School Teachers College Record, vol. 103, 2000, pp. 1056–80.
Improvement (Westbury, N.Y.: J. L. Wilkerson, 1987), 18. Ibid., p. 1069.
p. 144. 19. Saphier and Gower, p. 3.

POSTNOTE

This article, written by two experienced administrators, Instead of looking for the signs that their students are
makes several useful and practical points. It summarizes learning, they are looking for signs that their students like
in vivid fashion important research on teacher-student re- them. They are [often unknowingly] seeking love rather
lationships. In addition, it catalogs many attitudes and be- than respect. As the song says, they are “lookin’ for love in
haviors, such as teacher sarcasm and aloofness, that build all the wrong places.” Settle for respect, and good relation-
barriers between teachers and their students. As such, the ships will most likely follow.
article can serve as a “teacher’s self-evaluation” tool. That
said, we do, however, raise one caveat.
Discussion Questions
One of the besetting mistakes of new teachers is in
this area of teacher-student relationships. Further, much 1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of spending
of the struggle and uncertainty of the first year of teach- initial class time establishing rules and procedures?
ing is finding and becoming comfortable with a produc- 2. Which method of “contacting students’ personal world”
tive social distance. A “productive” social distance is one do you admire most?
that “produces” good results: students learn and feel good 3. The authors speak of the dangers of involving oneself
about themselves; and teachers achieve their learning too closely in the personal lives of students. What are
goals and feel good about themselves. However, one very your views on this issue? In your own school experi-
human flaw often gets in the way of beginning teachers. ence, did you observe problematic examples of this?
C 18 B Teachers

RELATED WEBSITE RESOURCES AND VIDEO CASES

Web Resources: Video Case:

Questia’s Teacher-Student Relationship site. Available at: Secondary Classroom Management:
Basic Strategies
http://www.questia.com/library/education/
teacher-student-relationship.jsp. In this clip, James Turner, an American History teacher, dis-
cusses personal classroom management strategies, which
This site is a treasure trove of books and articles on teacher-
are also demonstrated in the clips of his teaching. As you
student relationships and many, many related topics.
watch the clips and study the artifacts in the case, reflect
The Value of Student-Teacher Relationships. Available at: on the following questions:
http://www.ucgstp.org/lit/vt/ym03/relationships.htm.
1. How does the teacher in this video case handle teacher-
This religiously oriented website opens with a useful article student relationships?
and then links to other sources. 2. Does the teacher remaining calm and firm in the face
of violations of classroom rules help or hinder the
situation?

For Another Perspective:

Claudia Graziano, Lessons of a First-Year Teacher
www.cengage.com/login
Why New Teachers Leave . . .
4
Leslie Baldacci

Leslie Baldacci was a Teach For America teacher in the Chicago of Teachers, AFL-CIO; originally from Inside Mrs. B’s Classroom:
Public Schools from 1999 to 2005. She is currently a reporter for Courage, Hope, and Learning on Chicago’s South Side. Copyright
the Chicago Sun-Times. © 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Reprinted by per-
Reprinted with permission from the Summer 2006 issue of Ameri- mission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
can Educator, the quarterly journal of the American Federation

|F|O|C|U|S|Q U E S T I O N
My classroom was just one deck chair on the Titanic. The kids ran wild. They What should a first year teacher
swore, fought, refused to work. At assemblies they booed the principal. The
expect?
only punishment was suspension, and that wasn’t so terrible. As one of my
students, Cortez, put it “At least it’s better than having to come up here.”
This was seventh and eighth grade in a poverty-level, urban school on the
South Side of Chicago. Our classes were bursting at the seams with 35, 36, and
37 kids apiece. Tough kids, many of them raising themselves in tough circum-
stances. There was barely room to walk around the classrooms for all the desks.
When the kids were in the room, there was no room left. The noise and heat
levels were like a steel mill.
I understand the teacher shortage and why one-third of new teachers quit
after three years and nearly half bail out after five years. I believe my experi-
ence was more typical than extraordinary.
What was not typical about my experience was my background. As a
newspaperwoman for 25 years, I had reported on Chicago’s education crises
long before the city’s “school reform” effort started in the late 1980s. By 1999,
Chicago’s schools had improved their finances, halted a disastrous cycle of
teacher strikes, fixed crumbling buildings, and put up new ones. Student test
scores were beginning to improve. Yet, Mayor Daley worried about sustaining
the momentum. He asked, “How do you know that we set the foundation and
it’s not going to fall back?”
I believed the answer lay in the front-line troops, teachers. So, after being
accepted to the alternative certification program called Teachers For Chicago, I
turned in my press credentials to become a teacher. The program would pay for
my master’s degree, minimize the requirements for entering graduate school,
and put me in a classroom immediately as a teacher, with a mentor looking
over my shoulder and working with me daily. I would earn $24,000 a year.

* * *
My school had two buildings—a beautiful old yellow brick school, built
like a fortress in 1925, and another from the 1970s, a poured-concrete prefab
shell three stories high. Built as a temporary solution to overcrowding, it had
long ago outlived its intended lifespan. Over time, the windows had become
a cloudy opaque, impossible to see in or out.
C 19 B
C 20 B Teachers

I walked in a side door, past a security guard who did All the maps and the AV screen were pulled down.
not question me, and introduced myself to the ladies in What was behind them? I clomped and creaked over
the office as “the new Teachers For Chicago intern.” the wood floors to the far corner of the room and tried
“Hello!” they said, friendly and smiling. to roll up the AV screen. A huge chunk of blackboard,
They paged the principal, who came right away and ancient, heavy slate, jagged and lethal, lunged forward
took me into his office to chat. He looked weary. His behind the screen, threatening to slash right through
eyes were bloodshot. Above his desk, tufts of pink in- it. Behind the slate was exposed brick, internal walls,
sulation poked through a hole where ceiling tiles were vintage 1925. Behind the maps were unsightly chalk
missing. Other tiles were water-stained. boards ruined by years of wear and subsequent efforts
When I asked the principal for copies of the books to cover them with contact paper and other sticky
I’d be using when school started in eight weeks, he stuff. What a mess.
sighed heavily and folded his hands on his desk. It
wasn’t that simple, he said. He wasn’t sure what grade * * *
I’d be teaching. He was still working on his organiza- I had never seen kids act like that in a classroom
tional lineup for fall. He assured me that my Teachers with an adult present. Throughout the first week, they
For Chicago mentor would be in touch and help me talked incessantly. They shouted to be heard over the
with the details of getting set up. talking. They didn’t do their work. They got up out of
In late July, when I stopped by the school again, the their seats without permission and wandered around,
principal emerged from behind closed doors to level touching and bothering each other on their way. They
his bloodshot eyes at me and tell me he still wasn’t sure shouted out questions and comments, including, “This
what grade I was going to get, but it would definitely is stupid.” Any little ripple set off a chain reaction.
be fifth grade or higher. Two more teachers had quit, Someone passed gas and everyone leapt from his seat
I later learned, and he had requested four additional fanning the air and jumping around. They threw things.
Teachers For Chicago interns to fill the many empty They hit. I had broken up two fist fights already. They
spots on his organizational chart. The school’s first yelled out the window to their gang-banger friends and
experience with the nine-year-old internship program relatives, who gathered outside at dismissal time. They
would place interns in eight of his classrooms. The swore like sailors. I felt like the old woman who lived
poor man looked beleaguered. Running a school with in the shoe; I had so many children I didn’t know what
900 kids, 89 percent from poverty-level homes, had to to do. In addition to the 35 students in my homeroom,
be tough. Student achievement was low: At third grade, more than 100 other students, seventh- and eighth-
86 percent of the student body was below grade level graders, called me their English teacher.
standards in reading and 79 percent was below grade And where was my backup? What were the conse-
level in math. On top of that, experienced teachers quences? Everyone I sent to the office bounced right
were bailing out right and left. back in. There was no detention. There had been no
It was precisely the setting I wanted. The optimist in suspensions, even for fighting. I was beginning to think
me, by virtue of a scant six weeks of education training, “alternative” schools for poorly behaved students were a
thought, “What if this turns out to be a turning point myth made up by the board of education. Was my school
for the school? What if all these new people coming in an alternative school and no one told me about it?
with their energy and ideas make a difference?” All good questions, but ones I could not resolve.
“I’m counting on you,” he told me. I pledged my These were issues I needed to discuss with an experi-
allegiance with a handshake. enced hand, but I had not seen much of my mentor. I
“Put me where you need me,” I told him. I sent up felt like a prisoner in solitary confinement, thrown into
a simple prayer, “Thy will be done.” a cell and forgotten. I was lucky to get to the bathroom
About two weeks before school started I finally in the course of a day.
heard from my mentor; I would be teaching seventh
grade in Room 118. * * *
Room 118 was painted seafoam green, which didn’t A five-week reorganization brought new levels of
look nearly as putrid with the dark woodwork as the angst. I had never heard of such a thing. My children
pink in the library across the hall. The ceilings were so had always had the same teacher from the first day of
high the room echoed. My desk had four drawers; my school to the last. There were no switcheroos unless
chair was broken. The cupboards were full of junk I someone had a baby or got sick. But apparently a prin-
would never use, coated with years of dust. There were cipal has a right to shake things up through the fifth
40 desks, which seemed excessive. week of school. He can move teachers around and fine-
Why New Teachers Leave . . . C 21 B

tune the operation if things aren’t going well. This, it trip project, with its cross-curricular integrations of
seems, is an annual event at some schools. math and social studies, came in handy when, two
That is how my colleague Astrid got switched from days before first-quarter report card pick-up, our prin-
seventh-grade social studies to a sixth-grade, self- cipal informed Mr. Diaz and me that our worst fear had
contained classroom and how Mr. Diaz joined the been realized: The seventh and eighth grades would
seventh- and eighth-grade team. Jennifer, an intern no longer be departmentalized. No more changing
with a third-grade class, got switched to second grade. classes. Each of us would teach all subjects to our
Astrid was devastated at leaving her seventh- homerooms. Starting that day.
graders and starting over with a sixth-grade class. Apparently, he had decided this some weeks before.
New faces, new books, new routines. And she had He had informed the eighth-grade teachers the week
to teach every subject! Her seventh-graders gave her before. “I should have told you, too. My fault. Apolo-
a farewell party. They took a collection and raised gies,” he said curtly before turning on his heel and
$13.00. Donna went to Sam’s Club and bought a cake walking away.
decorated with “Movin’ On Up!” Astrid’s new class- We were in shock. Suddenly, we were on the hook
room was on the second floor. for lesson plans in all subjects, coming up to speed
When one intern explained to her third-graders that on the curriculum, and teaching the lessons. But that
they were getting a new teacher, a student asked, “Why was only a week-by-week crisis. The deeper crisis was
are you giving us up?” The enormity of the question whether or not we were up to the task of teaching our
caused the first-year teacher to lose her composure. She students in all subjects. Seventh-grade standardized
started to cry. Then the kids all started bawling. They test scores determine a child’s high school options.
spent the rest of the day watching a video. “We couldn’t What if my ineptitude kept someone from getting
do anything else,” she said. “We were wrecked.” into an accelerated program or a better high school?
Besides disrupting children’s classroom situations, I’d become comfortable with language arts. This new
no one seemed to have given any thought to which responsibility was daunting.
children should or shouldn’t be together. Most of the When my graduate school advisor came to ob-
kids had been together since they were tiny. They had serve just a few days later, she was so upset that she
history together. Yet no teachers seemed to have been called for the mentor and the principal. “This is a
asked for insight on the group dynamic. At my children’s joke,” she informed them. She reminded the men-
public school, teachers met at the end of the school year tor that her job was to spend an hour each day in
to make their lists with an eye toward who worked well each intern’s room, co-teaching and modeling for us
with whom and who needed to be separated. how to teach. The mentor replied that she was the
Then again, at a school like mine with a 40 percent “disciplinarian.”
mobility rate, who knew who would be back? Year to “You’re the mentor,” my advisor told her. “If you
year, five weeks into the year, changes came. can’t do that job, maybe someone else should. And
maybe if this school can’t give these interns the sup-
* * * port they need, Teachers For Chicago doesn’t belong
My students were ignorant of geography. They in this school.”
didn’t know the states; they had vague ideas of conti- I prayed they wouldn’t pull us out. There were so
nents. I decided to craft a research project around travel many things I had learned already but much I still
so they’d get some geography along with language arts. needed to find out. Why weren’t there any television
The project was planning their dream trip. I went to a sets or VCRs? Why were there so few books in the
couple of travel agents and grabbed every glossy bro- library? Why didn’t the upper grades get time in the
chure I could get my hands on. computer lab? Were chronic, truly dangerous kids ever
They had to decide where they wanted to go and sent to alternative schools?
how far it was from Chicago. They had to determine The bottom line was, I couldn’t leave the class. The
the cost, pack a suitcase, and write an itinerary of sight- upset of the reorganization made me realize how des-
seeing and other activities specific to their destination. perately they needed continuity. There had to be some
They had to find out the currency, the language, what value in coming back day after day, trying hard, doing
different foods they might eat, and what were good my best, even if my best was woefully inadequate.
souvenirs to buy. They had to convert currency and Those were the only terms under which I could ask the
account for time zones. same from them.
Destinations included Mexico, Jamaica, Africa, After my advisor left, the principal and mentor
Wyoming, Florida, California, and England. The dream returned to my room.
C 22 B Teachers

“Where’s your fire escape plan?” asked my mentor. I made only one effort to find another job. I wrote to
“Hanging right there, by the door,” I said, pointing a principal who had come up to me after a speech I gave
to the pink sheets. The children watched, rapt. to the Annenberg Foundation a year before, a woman
“Where’s your schedule?” with a short blond Afro and fantastic jewelry who told
“Nichelle, please put up the map at the back of the me, “When you’re done with your internship, call me.
room. The schedule is behind it.” I like your attitude.” Her school was known throughout
“Where’s your grading scale?” the city as an exciting school that works for kids.
“Bulletin board, lower right corner.” She called me soon after she received my letter
“Where’s your time distribution chart?” to set up an interview. When I returned her call at
“I don’t know what that is.” 5:40 P.M., she answered the office phone herself. I was
“You should have it posted in the classroom,” she not surprised. By then, I understood the extraordinary
said. “Have it on my desk at eight o’clock tomorrow dedication it took to be a strong school leader.
morning.” I set my sights on this school and this leader.
They turned and left. With bags under my eyes, wearing a ridiculous
flowered dress and a jean jacket, I went for my inter-
* * * view at the new school. The day happened to be the
Near the end of the school year, the principal in- day of the annual school carnival. I arrived as students
formed me that I would be teaching second grade the were being dismissed. I couldn’t believe how many
following year. I assured him I would do my best. children’s names the principal knew. As the students
I walked back to my classroom with conflicting left the building, they were walking, not running. Most
emotions. We had filled out wish lists and I had asked were quiet, but if they were talking, it was in normal
for seventh grade again, feeling I could do better now conversational tones, not screaming. At least 20 kids
that I knew the pitfalls. My second choice was sixth said to their principal as they left, “Thanks for the
grade, my third choice fourth. Being sent to second carnival.”
grade, clearly not what I desired, looked like a pun- The principal, vice principal, and I talked for nearly
ishment. Had I been such a dismal failure with my two hours. About teaching children. About testing.
seventh-graders, self-contained in the largest class- About assessment. About curriculum integration.
room in the school with all of our personalities and About teams of teachers working collaboratively. The
problems? Surely someone else would have been a bet- school, with corridors that looked like a museum of
ter teacher for them than I was. Was it criminal to leave African art, had three bands, sports teams, afterschool
them with me all year? Would I be equally as dismal dance and art programs, an entrepreneurship initiative
with second-graders? My eyes were watery with tears. and video club and book clubs, among other programs.
We talked about a school paper and what they would
* * * like to see on a fifth-grade reading list.
While the whole group of interns was exhausted, I realized that I was poised on the brink of an excel-
as the oldest I may have been feeling it more than the lent opportunity to see in action the kind of leadership
others. And the fatigue was not just physical. It was that made this school stand out among 700 elementary
mental as well. I was drained more every day by the schools in our city. I very much wanted to be part of
limits of poverty, the unprofessional manner in which an organization working hard, plowing forward. The
our school was run, the criticism, the nitpicking, the faculty was dedicated, innovative, bright. Initiative
zero encouragement or respect. No one ever told you was applauded. Everyone wore many hats. There were
when you did a good job. It was like no other job situ- responsibilities to serve on committees, to formulate
ation I had ever experienced. policies and philosophies. It was a unique team, con-
Toward the end of my second year of teaching, I stantly evolving, positive.
did a mental count of the teacher interns who had “I’m going to do something strange and forgo the
come through the doors and who had left. By my tally, secret conference with the vice principal and listen to
16 interns came on board in my two years. All but five my heart,” the principal said. “I’m going to offer you
left in one circumstance or another. I had to find a more the job right now.”
supportive school where I was viewed as competent and I accepted the position on the spot, with sincere
dedicated. gratitude and humility.
Why New Teachers Leave . . . C 23 B

POSTNOTE

Like the first year in many occupations (medicine, sales, Ms. Baldacci’s experience, however, was particularly
the law), teaching often has a taxing break-in period. It is challenging. With minimal training and little support, she
complicated by the fact that new teachers are shocked by was assigned to an extremely difficult teaching situation.
the strangeness of something that is quite familiar: being It would be dangerous to generalize from Ms. Baldacci’s
in school. The issue, and the problem, is that new teach- experiences, as many beginning teachers make the transi-
ers are in an entirely different role. Being on “the other tion to teacher with success and joy.
side of the desk” can be a world away. One of the most
difficult aspects of the work for many new teachers is be- Discussion Questions
ing “in charge.” They know about school. They know their
subjects. They know what their students should be doing. 1. As a student, what memorable experiences did you
They don’t, however, know how to get them to do it. They have with new teachers? Describe them.
have not had much experience being the boss or “the 2. If and when you become a new teacher, what do you
responsible person.” Neither have they had much experi- believe will be your most vulnerable areas?
ence with directing others or with what the military would 3. What can you learn from this teacher’s experience that
call giving orders. Necessity, however, is still the mother of may mitigate problems of your first year of teaching?
invention, and most new teachers adapt in time.

RELATED WEBSITE RESOURCES AND VIDEO CASES

Web Resources: Video Case:

Teachers First. Available at: Teaching as a Profession:
Collaboration with Colleagues
http://www.teachersfirst.com.
In this video case, you will hear teachers talk about the
This website is a treasure trove of information, good ideas,
importance and the “how-to” of collaborating with col-
lesson plans, and even humor. It is well organized and easy
to search for the topic or need of choice.
leagues. You will also see a formal collaborative work
group in action. As you watch the clips and study the arti-
facts in the case, reflect upon the following questions:

1. How do the teachers’ definitions of collaboration fit

with your understanding of the concept?
2. Does the idea of the type of collaboration exhibited in
this video case appeal to you? Why or why not?

For Another Perspective:

Claudia Graziano, Lessons of a First-Year Teacher
www.cengage.com/login
 5 . . . And Why New Teachers Stay
Susan Moore Johnson

Susan Moore Johnson is a professor of teaching and learn- Adapted from Susan Moore Johnson, Finders and Keepers: Helping
ing at the Harvard University graduate School of Educa- New Teachers Survive and Thrive in Our Schools. Copyright © 2004
tion. Professor Johnson is a former high school teacher and by Jossey-Bass. Reprinted in the Summer 2006 issue of American Edu-
administrator. cator, the quarterly journal of the American Federation of Teachers,
AFL-CIO. Reproduced with permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

|F|O|C|U|S|Q U E S T I O N
What keeps new teachers in the Esther spent nine years as an engineer designing flight simulators for Navy pilots
profession? before she considered teaching. She loved her job for its intellectual challenge,
the collegial nature of her workplace, and the variety of tasks and responsibilities
it offered. But she resigned when her first child was born because she did not
think the demands of the job were compatible with raising a family. Her sub-
stantial salary had allowed Esther and her husband to build savings that would
support them for several years on a single wage. However, after six years, their
savings were low, prompting Esther to decide to work part-time as a substitute
teacher in her children’s school where she already served as a volunteer.
Gradually, Esther began to think about becoming a teacher. People had always said
that she was good at explaining things, and she had enjoyed her work as a substitute.
Also, teaching would make it possible for her to be home with her children after school
and during vacations. But the decision was not easy. A beginning teacher’s salary would
be at least $30,000 less than she could earn if she returned to work as an engineer.
Nonetheless, Esther began to investigate education programs that would
lead to a teaching license. Then, in spring 1999, the Massachusetts Department
of Education announced the Massachusetts Signing Bonus Program (MSBP),
which offered outstanding candidates $20,000 to participate in an intensive
summer training institute and then teach in the state’s public schools for at least
four years. Massachusetts legislators intended the program to recruit talented
individuals who traditionally would not have considered teaching, particularly
in high-need subject areas, such as math, science, or special education, and in
schools serving low-income populations (Fowler, 2001, 2003).
Esther found the bonus and its selectivity appealing, but she was most at-
tracted by the fast-track alternative preparation program that state officials
created to move bonus recipients quickly into the classroom. A seven-week
institute, which included student teaching in a summer school, would enable
Esther to have her own classroom of students by September. Given the length
and expense of traditional teacher education programs, she found this very at-
tractive and applied. She recalled, “It got me in at least a full year, if not more,
earlier than I would have [entered].”
Soon after Esther learned that she had received the bonus, she was encour-
aged to apply for a job working on the space shuttle, a job she would have pur-
sued if a suitable job had been available for her husband nearby. But this did not
C 24 B
. . . And Why New Teachers Stay C 25 B

work out, so Esther completed the summer institute The Generation Gap
for MSBP teachers, and accepted a position teaching 60
ninth-grade math in an urban, vocational high school.
50
Given the shortage of mathematics and science teach-
ers, particularly in urban areas, Esther was just the sort 40 38 38

Percentage
of skilled, unconventional candidate Massachusetts
reformers had hoped to recruit. With idealism and en- 30
thusiasm, she hoped to draw on her experience as an 24
20
engineer to help her students enjoy learning math.
But after her first year, Esther left for a more affluent 10
school in the suburbs. What happened? And what hap-
pens across the nation to the 50 percent of new teach- 0
ers who quit teaching all together within five years? 0–9 10–19 20+
Years of Teaching Experience
***
Source: National Education Association, Status of the American Public
As Esther and her counterparts began teaching in School Teacher, 2000–2001, Table 6. “Years of Full-time Teaching
1999, public educators and policymakers across the Experience, 1961–2001.”
country were preparing in earnest for a predicted
teacher shortage. At the start of the new century, about A large proportion of the teachers hired in the
30 percent—approximately one million—of the na- 1960s and 1970s made teaching a lifelong career;
tion’s public school teachers were over 50 years old subsequently, student enrollment declined in the 1980s.
(NCES, 2002) and expected to retire by 2010. At the As a result, the profile of today’s national teaching force
same time, increasing birth and immigration rates and, is increasingly U-shaped, with one peak of educators
in some states, class-size reductions further expanded about to retire, another peak beginning to teach, and a
the need for new teachers. Experts projected that pub- valley in between.
lic schools would have to hire 2.2 million teachers dur-
ing the first decade of the new century (Hussar, 1999). teachers, including Esther,* who had entered teaching
This enormous hiring challenge is exacerbated by via various paths: traditional teacher education pro-
the very high turnover rates of new teachers. Nation- grams, the Massachusetts Signing Bonus Program, and
ally, approximately 15 percent of new teachers leave charter schools (which, at that time, could hire teach-
teaching within the first year, 30 percent within three ers without state licenses). As we selected participants,
years, and 40 to 50 percent within five years (Ingersoll, we ensured that our sample included variation by race,
2002; Smith and Ingersoll, 2003). To make matters gender, ethnicity, and career stage.
worse, each year, 15 percent of new teachers change In our interviews and follow-up surveys, we sought
schools (Smith and Ingersoll, 2003). to understand why they had chosen to teach, how they
The cost of this turnover is staggering: The Alli- prepared, what their career plans were, what they en-
ance for Excellent Education (2005) estimates the cost countered in their jobs, and why they ultimately chose
of teachers leaving their schools to be $4.9 billion per to stay in their schools, switch schools, or leave the
year. Of course, the greatest cost is not so easily quanti- profession altogether.** In a nutshell, what we found
fied; it’s the price paid in student learning. Research- was this: This next generation of teachers approaches
ers have consistently found that first-year teachers are teaching somewhat tentatively; they will only stay in
dramatically less effective than their more experienced the classroom if they feel successful and they are most
colleagues (Hanushek et al., 2004). likely to feel successful if they’ve received support in
How can the constant turnover be reduced so our their jobs—specific, ongoing help from colleagues, ad-
classrooms can be stably staffed? We can only an- ministrators, and mentors—and been able to work in
swer the question by understanding the motivations, conditions that enable good teaching.
priorities, and experiences of the next generation of
teachers. To do just that, in 1999, we began a four-
year study of 50 first- and second-year Massachusetts **Although the focus of this article is our longitudinal study
of 50 teachers, we have conducted many related studies,
including a four-state survey of 486 randomly selected first-
*Pseudonyms are used throughout this article to protect the and second-year teachers that was designed to generate
teachers who participated in our research. broader, more generalizable findings.
C 26 B Teachers

In this article, we’ll look at three aspects of our field. In our carefully selected sample of 50 Massa-
research that bring us to this conclusion: First, we’ll chusetts first- and second-year teachers, 52 percent
consider the labor context in which these new teachers entered teaching as a first career, at an average age
find themselves—and which makes them, like others of 24, whereas 48 percent entered at midcareer, at an
in their generation, so much more open to changing average age of 36. Although the number of midcareer
jobs. Second, we’ll look at the types of problems that entrants in our sample may seem high, subsequent ran-
thwart new teachers’ classroom success, and then re- dom samples of first- and second-year teachers in seven
turn to Esther to discover why she didn’t feel successful states revealed that our sample was fairly representative;
in her vocational high school. Finally, we’ll see that we found a range of midcareer entrants from 28 percent
whether or not new teachers stay is strongly shaped in Michigan to 47 percent in California (Kardos, 2001,
by the amount of help they receive. Recognizing that 2003; Kauffman, 2004; Liu, 2001, 2003).
success is possible, a sidebar (p. 20) looks at the case of Many of the first-career entrants are similar to the
Fred to understand how a strong induction experience, reciting generation in that they always wanted to teach
combined with a strong professional, collegial environ- and never seriously considered any other careers: “I
ment, can help teachers succeed—and in doing so, also feel like I always just knew,” explained one. “It sounds
lead them to stay a while. corny, but I was born wanting to teach,” echoed an-
other. They believed that teaching would be socially
valuable and personally rewarding work, yet recognized
I. The Next Generation Is Open that the work was neither high-paying nor high-status.
to Job-Switching The 24 midcareer entrants in our study came to
The next generation of teachers makes career decisions teaching later, believing that it offered more meaning-
in a labor context strikingly different from 40 years ful work than did their previous employment. As a
ago, and the interests and options of today’s prospec- group, these midcareer entrants brought with them a
tive teachers are unlike those of any teachers who familiarity with large and small organizations, for-profit
preceded them. Until the mid-1960s, teaching was and non-profit enterprises, entrepreneurial and bureau-
the primary career option for large numbers of well- cratic settings. Some had worked for multiple supervi-
educated women and people of color, for whom other sors, whereas others had been supervisors themselves.
professions were formally or informally off limits. That Some had experienced well-defined, useful, and ongo-
is no longer true. Individuals who consider teaching ing on-the-job training; some had devised such training
today have many more career options than the re- for other employees. Thus, midcareer entrants often
tiring generation—many of them with much higher enter their new school expecting a workplace that was
salaries and better working conditions than teaching. better equipped, more flexible, and more committed to
In addition, today’s new teachers are encountering their success than the one they found. They were often
unprecedented demands: The public now expects dismayed when they found that their new workplaces
schools to teach all students so that they meet high were dreary or dilapidated, that they had scant access to
standards—rich and poor, immigrant and native-born, telephones or the time to use them, that basic resources
white and minority, special needs and mainstream— such as paper were in short supply, and that they had to
and to take on new functions beyond the traditional use precious time to do routine, clerical tasks.
scope of schools’ responsibility. Teachers bear the bur-
den of society’s newer, higher expectations for schools TAKING MULTIPLE ROUTES TO THE CLASSROOM
(Hargreaves, 2003). Thirty-two of the 50 new teachers we studied entered
Let’s briefly examine three significant ways in which teaching by traditional routes, pursuing undergraduate
the next generation of teachers differs from the retiring and graduate programs that included at least one aca-
generation: the stage in their career in which they enter demic year of coursework, supervised student teaching
teaching, the routes they take to the classroom, and the for six weeks to 10 months, and, ultimately, certifica-
number of years they expect to spend teaching (Peske, tion. In general, they appreciated that their programs
Liu, Johnson, Kauffman, and Kardos, 2001). offered valuable information about pedagogy and op-
portunities to practice their craft under the supervision
ENTERING TEACHING AT DIFFERENT CAREER STAGES of an experienced veteran during the school year.
Many of today’s new teachers are entering teaching Eighteen teachers in our study entered through
midcareer (far more than ever before), most having an alternate route—five via charter schools and 13 via
worked for a substantial period of time in another the Massachusetts Signing Bonus Program (MSBP). The
. . . And Why New Teachers Stay C 27 B

teachers who went to work in charter schools com- II. What New Teachers Want—
pleted no teacher preparation program. The MSBP par- and Often Aren’t Getting
ticipants completed a seven-week, summer preparation
program operated by the state, including a short stint Given the career options and lack of long-term com-
of student teaching in summer school. Nine of these mitment to teaching that characterize the next genera-
13 had entered the MSBP with no prior teacher prepa- tion of teachers, schools and districts that hope to hold
ration; three others had previously completed certifi- on to new teachers will have to pay close attention to
cation requirements in traditional master’s programs what these teachers say they want: support. The new
before joining the program, and one had completed teachers in our study described in considerable detail
all but the student teaching requirement in an under- the internal workings of their schools, explaining the
graduate teacher preparation program. In general, the ways in which those schools succeeded or failed in
nontraditional entrants counted more on the value supporting learning (of both the teachers and the stu-
of innate teaching ability and professional experience dents). Their accounts make it clear that the support
than on the content of education courses or a stu- they seek isn’t just a matter of wanting their jobs to be
dent teaching experience. The alternative route was easier—it’s a matter of making their jobs doable, and
particularly appealing for the midcareer entrants who giving them a chance to experience the success with
otherwise would have had to forego a year’s pay while their students that is teaching’s primary reward.
completing a traditional program. Threaded through the new teachers’ stories were ac-
counts of inattentive or abusive principals, inappropri-
ate or unfair assignments, inadequate supplies, ad hoc
COMMITTING FOR A WHILE, NOT A LIFETIME approaches to discipline, insufficient time with other
In contrast to their veteran colleagues who will retire teachers, and insufficient opportunities to grow—each
from a lifelong career in the classroom, many new of which we briefly discuss below. New teachers who
teachers in our sample approached teaching tenta- worked in schools lacking these basic supports were de-
tively, conditionally, or as one of several careers they moralized and often felt ineffective with their students.
expected to have. Although some expected to remain They typically were the ones who left teaching.
in the field of education long-term, surprisingly few en-
visioned remaining exclusively in the classroom long-
term. Even the first-career entrants, who 30 years ago PROBLEMS WITH PRINCIPALS
would probably have approached teaching as a long- These new teachers’ accounts reinforce the finding of
term endeavor, were surprisingly tentative about a ca- repeated research studies that the principal is central in
reer limited to classroom teaching. In fact, only four of shaping how, and how well, a school works (Murphy,
the 26 first-career entrants said that they planned to 2002). Teachers we studied spoke intently about how
remain classroom teachers until they retire. Likewise, their principals related to them personally and profes-
even though they had fewer working years left, only sionally. They wanted administrators to be present,
six of the 24 midcareer teachers intended to stay in the positive, and actively engaged in the instructional life
classroom full time for the rest of their careers. of the school. Often, the principals failed to meet these
Many of the teachers—11 first-careers and 13 mid- teachers’ expectations. Most were said to succeed in
careers—stated explicitly that they did not intend to some things but fall short in others. A surprising num-
stay for the rest of their careers. One respondent, a ber were, in these teachers’ views, ineffectual, demoral-
former software developer, explained, “I’m a career izing, or even destructive.
changer. I figured, Why not explore a new field?” An- Teachers frequently said that the principal was pre-
other, a recent college graduate, planned to enroll in occupied and did not make time for them. Carolyn,
medical school after teaching for two years. He said, “I who worked in a large, urban elementary school where
knew I wanted to go to medical school. I knew I did 70 percent of the students qualified for free- or reduced-
not want to go right after college, and so I decided, price lunch, found her principal “a little gruff,” and
What can I do that won’t pay too badly and that will said she was disappointed to see her keep such a dis-
make me feel like I’m doing something interesting and tance from the staff: “She has bulletins that she sends
important?” Though these teachers made only a short- out. It’s really her main form of communication with
term commitment, they were not at all casual about us.” As a result, Carolyn explained, “there is a sense
what they hoped to achieve in the classroom. They of the administration being higher and separate from
intended to pour themselves into the job, giving it all the teachers.” Carolyn looked to her principal for di-
they had, but only for a few years. rection, but said that she often took problems out of
C 28 B Teachers

Carolyn’s hands with a brusque “I’ll take care of it,” was taking out her secret stash.” Likewise, Bernie said
rather than recommending how she might respond. it was “just ridiculous” that he was allotted three reams
Like other new teachers, Carolyn wanted to learn from of paper per quarter. With no classroom of his own,
her principal: “So a lot of time, I’ll have to keep prob- Bernie had to rely on photocopied handouts rather
ing her [by asking], ‘In another scenario, how would I than blackboards in order to convey important infor-
handle this . . .?’ or ‘What are the consequences [for the mation to students. Three reams of paper didn’t last
student] that the school has for this?’” long: “I go through that probably in . . . a week and a
half, two weeks.” He said only somewhat wryly, “Some
of the most useful tips I’ve gotten from veteran teach-
PROBLEMS WITH TEACHING ASSIGNMENTS ers have to do with font size and making sure I copy
In the typical professional setting, it is common to
on both sides of paper. . . .” Bernie, like many others,
give inexperienced staff less responsibility combined
complained that the photocopiers in his school never
with fairly intensive oversight by a veteran—but not
worked. He observed, “In the business world, they
in teaching. No teacher in our study had a reduced
would have a photocopy center where you could either
teaching assignment. Bernie’s high school load in the
do it yourself, or have somebody on staff [do it].”
history department was typical: “I have two honors
classes and three of what they have labeled as ‘open’
classes [for low-achieving students]. Open classes also PROBLEMS WITH STUDENT BEHAVIOR
have special ed kids. . . . Five classes, five times a week: There is no more immediate and worrisome challenge
The kids have seven periods. I have one free period a for new teachers than establishing and maintaining
day. Otherwise, I’m on hall duty, or bathroom duty, order in their classroom. Some new teachers worked in
or what have you.” Bernie, whose time as a corporate schools that deliberately focused everyone’s efforts on
lawyer had been billed by the minute, was dismayed to instruction and systematically discouraged disruption
find that his time as a teacher was used to “make sure and distraction; they supported instruction respect-
that nobody smokes in the boys’ room.” fully with a calm and purposeful environment. Far
Not only was Bernie’s assignment not reduced, but more often, however, teachers talked about coping on
he, like many in our study, actually had a more difficult their own, without the benefit of a schoolwide ap-
assignment than his more experienced colleagues. “I proach to discipline that was endorsed and upheld
have the highest class size of any open [lower track] by teachers and administrators alike. Many teachers
class. All the other open classes in the school, I found complained about school administrators who failed
out this week, are all like 10 kids. Mine are 30 and to follow through on discipline. Often, new teachers
25.” Moreover, Bernie had no classroom or desk to call reported being reluctant to ask for help from school ad-
his own and moved from room-to-room during the ministrators, believing that their requests would evoke
day as an itinerant instructor. Throughout the study, disapproval. For example, Bernie was not confident he
teachers described assignments that, although techni- could rely on administrators for support: “I’m not sure
cally comparable to those of their colleagues (the same that they back people up. I’ve heard stories that have
number of students, the same number of classes), were made me really nervous about teachers being called to
actually far more challenging. Their loads included the mat . . . for something as simple as removing a kid
a preponderance of low-level classes, grade-levels in from the classroom because they’re disruptive.”
which students would take the state exam, split grades,
or assignments that required traveling from classroom-
to-classroom or school-to-school.
PROBLEMS WITH SCHEDULING TIME TO COLLABORATE
How their time was scheduled was very important to
the new teachers, particularly whether their prepara-
PROBLEMS WITH SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT tion periods—usually one per day—were coordinated
There was wide variation in the equipment and supplies with those of other teachers who taught the same
provided to the new teachers, with predictable differ- subject or students. New teachers praised schools that
ences between urban and suburban schools (although deliberately arranged their schedules so that they could
some teachers in urban schools said that they had all plan classes or review students’ progress together.
they needed). Like many who came from other careers, Secondary schools that featured project-based learn-
Esther was stunned at how ill-equipped her school was, ing, interdisciplinary classes, or team-based instruction
particularly compared to the suburban school where often arranged time for teachers to collaborate. But in
she had done substitute teaching. She recalled a time more traditional secondary schools, preparation peri-
when there was no paper available and “the secretary ods often seemed haphazardly assigned, more likely
. . . And Why New Teachers Stay C 29 B

the byproduct of a computerized scheduling program you’re a coach or you’re a principal, and I don’t like
than the result of deliberate planning. Bernie was dis- that idea at all.”
mayed that teachers—particularly new ones—did not
have the benefit of their peers’ knowledge and advice. ***
He thought that the teachers in his school would have All new teachers believed that schools could either fa-
worked more closely together if their assignments had cilitate or impede good teaching. When the basics like
made that possible. supplies and a schoolwide discipline plan were combined
At the elementary level, teachers were even less with an administration that offered useful feedback and
likely to have coordinated planning or grade-level scheduled time for teachers to collaborate, new teachers
meeting time. Keisha, who worked in a school where were very likely to stay in their schools. Unfortunately,
83 percent of the students were below grade level in such schools were not the norm. Nonetheless, even when
reading, wished that there were opportunities to ob- the new teachers were only reasonably hopeful that they
serve other teachers in their classrooms, “but we don’t could become effective with their students, they were
have that type of release time. Our [paraprofessionals] still likely to stay. However, those who thought that their
are hung up doing whatever. We can’t get subs.” How- school’s lack of support interfered with successful teach-
ever, Victoria said that in her suburban school, time ing often moved on—either to another school or another
was reserved for weekly grade-level meetings to “just career. The table below provides the bare facts on the
go over what’s happening.” numbers of new teachers who stayed, switched schools,
or left teaching after the first year of our study and after
the fourth year. The new teachers are broken down by
PROBLEMS WITH PROFESSIONAL GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES first-career vs. midcareer entrants to highlight one in-
Focused though they were on developing classroom teresting trend: Midcareer entrants were more likely to
competence, the new teachers nonetheless continued switch schools right away. Since they had already changed
to assess what a career in teaching could offer them jobs at least once when they entered teaching, they knew
over time. Many of these teachers hoped to eventually that work sites could vary tremendously. They did not re-
take on a new role that would allow them to continue, gard the problems they encountered as inevitable, so they
at least part-time, as classroom teachers. They did not quickly looked for a place where they could give teaching
want to exit the classroom entirely and become a prin- another chance.
cipal or district administrator, but they also did not Esther did just that.
want to be confined to the classroom. They believed
that a hybrid role might combat boredom and burnout Who Stayed? Who Moved? Who Left?
while offering new challenges and rewards that would First-career vs. Midcareer Entrants
keep them engaged in teaching over the long term. after the First Year of Our Study
Some new teachers liked the professional advance-
ment inherent in a career ladder. As novices, they saw
and after the Fourth Year
that such positions could offer a formal conduit through
After 1 year After 4 years
which experts could pass on teaching expertise—and
they looked forward to taking on roles as expert teach- First- First-
ers in the future. Mary, who had done crisis work with Career Midcareer Career Midcareer
adults for six years before becoming a teacher, explained, Entrants Entrants Entrants Entrants
“My sense is that there are a lot of people coming in and
then leaving, with very little connection between the Stayed in 21 13 8 9
new people and the experienced people. Then you get the school
experienced people . . . who want to share their experi- where
ence, but don’t really know how. . . . There would be they
a value in passing along their experience and knowl- started
edge.” Without such roles, Mary said, “I don’t think Moved to 1 7 8 8
people will stay.” another
Despite considerable interest in differentiated roles, school
with the exception of the well-established position
of department head, few could point to examples of Left public 4 4 10 7
the kind of role they had in mind. One new teacher school
bemoaned this situation: “You’re either a teacher or teaching
C 30 B Teachers

ESTHER STRUGGLES—AND MOVES ON home in the suburbs. As she left the vocational high
Esther, a MSBP participant and former engineer, was school she was surprised and touched by the students’
dropped into teaching math at an urban vocational reactions. “It was funny. When I quit the last day of
high school with virtually no explanation or advice. school last year . . . when I told the kids I wasn’t coming
She summarized the guidance she had: “Here are your back, they said, ‘Why are you leaving us? What did we
keys, here’s your room, good luck.” Entering a com- do to you?’ I am thinking, ‘What did you do to me?
plex vocational school with only summer preservice What did you call me?’”
training behind her, Esther was bewildered and over- At her new high school, Esther found supportive
whelmed. A sudden and solo entry not only stymies colleagues and administrators. She recalled, “I had a
new teachers, it shortchanges students. Success in a director who . . . said ‘What can I do for you? Come to
new assignment requires much more than having a set me with your questions.’” Moreover, Esther benefited
of keys and knowing where the classroom is. from her department’s deliberate introduction to the
During the first two weeks, Esther thought about math curriculum: “At the beginning of the year, we sat
quitting every day. She could not figure out how to get down, and they told us what chapters to teach. You
her students to listen to her. In December of that first know, ‘This is what we do. This is the order we do it.’”
year, she reported, “They won’t sit still; their rudeness; She also achieved a much greater sense of success.
their total disrespect for each other, for the teacher, She recalled that at the end of the year at her new
their language, everything. They can’t speak to you; school, “I had several students say ‘You have to keep
they only yell . . . I have never seen anything like it.” teaching. You did a good job.’” The positive feedback
Esther received little help in teaching students from heartened her—teaching students was a key reason she
the teachers and administrators in her school. She said had switched careers in the first place.
her ineffectual principal—whom her colleagues openly Esther regarded her decision to leave her ur-
mocked in the teachers’ room—did not seem to like her, ban vocational school with some regret, wishing
and other teachers kept their doors closed before and after she had found a way to succeed with her students
school. Aside from another new teacher with whom she there. But her decision is not unusual. Recent work
shared ideas and one veteran who offered informal advice by researchers studying teacher turnover in Texas
when they saw each other during hall duty, she felt she and New York (Hanushek, Kain, and Rivkin, 2001;
was on her own in learning to reach her students. Lankford, Loeb, and Wyckoff, 2002) reveals that
Esther was assigned a mentor, but she was a special teachers consistently move to schools with “higher
education teacher who knew little about the math that achieving, non-minority, non-low-income students”
Esther was teaching: “I’ve spoken to this lady twice, (Hanushek et al., 2001, p.12). In fact, large, urban
maybe for five minutes. . . . She’s very nice and stuff, schools that serve low-income students have nearly
but she kind of goes by and kind of gives me a wor- twice the annual teacher turnover as large, subur-
ried look [and says], ‘How’s it going?’ I say, ‘OK.’ And ban schools that serve fewer low-income students
then, that’s it.” But Esther had hoped for curricular and (19 percent versus 11 percent) (Ingersoll, 2006).
instructional support from someone who knew how Why? Working conditions are key. Recently, a sur-
to teach math. One person she logically looked to for vey of 3,336 teachers in California, Wisconsin, and
help was the math department head. However, the de- New York was conducted to learn how working condi-
partment head explained that she could not step in as tions differed in low-income versus affluent communi-
Esther’s mentor because she was responsible for evalu- ties (Carroll, Fulton, Abercrombie, and Yoon, 2004).
ating her, and she could only observe her class for the Researchers found that schools serving large numbers
purpose of formal review. Learning to teach was hard of low-income students and children of color were re-
enough; learning to teach on her own, with students ported to have a much higher incidence of inadequate
whose disengagement and behavior so surprised her, physical facilities than other schools; evidence of ver-
was overwhelming. min (cockroaches, mice, and rats) in the school build-
Feeling exhausted and defeated in the spring of her ings; dirty, closed, or inoperative student bathrooms;
first year, she decided to look elsewhere for work. “It inadequate textbooks and materials for students to use
was too hard emotionally. There was nothing I could in class or to take home; inadequate computers and
do. . . . I think I would have tried it another year because limited Internet access; inadequate science equipment
there were kids there that were very nice, but the ad- and materials; and higher personal expenditures by
ministration was not . . . supportive.” Esther found a job teachers to compensate for insufficient classroom ma-
teaching math at a more affluent high school near her terials and supplies.
. . . And Why New Teachers Stay C 31 B

Another reason why teachers move to more affluent They continue to improve their skills and adjust their
schools is that learning to teach is difficult, complex strategies for delivering engaging lessons. They learn
work. New teachers need support and guidance in or- about the philosophy of their school and what ad-
der to achieve success. But we have found that support ministrators, colleagues, and parents expect of them.
is often hardest to come by in low-income urban and They learn about the students, their families, and
rural schools, which very often have few institutional the community. They learn to keep order in their
resources and low levels of student achievement. Our classroom, better manage their time, and differenti-
work shows that more affluent schools tend to provide ate instruction in response to students’ needs. They
more support to help new teachers succeed. become better at involving parents more effectively,
fostering student responsibility, and assessing student
progress. They learn to create curriculum, integrate
III. Support Breeds Success and Stability technology into their teaching, and better prepare
When we examined teachers’ reasons for staying in students for standardized tests. Leaving new teachers
their school, transferring to another school, or leaving on their own to address these complex and dynamic
public school teaching entirely, we realized there were challenges is both unreasonable and unnecessary, par-
three distinct kinds of schools—and only one of them ticularly since they are surrounded by colleagues do-
was doing a good job supporting, and holding on to, ing similar work.
new teachers. The key was in the schools’ professional By building a career ladder for classroom teach-
culture. The first kind of school had a mix of veterans ers, schools can deliver what the new teachers in our
and novices, but teachers worked in isolation instead study want—both a supportive work environment
of learning from one another. The second kind had while they are new and opportunities to grow once
a teaching staff comprised almost entirely of novices they have more experience. With career ladders that
who were bound by their enthusiasm, but lacking skill. formalize roles such as mentors, master teachers, cur-
The third kind had veterans and novices who were riculum developers, or professional development plan-
encouraged to work together, sharing expertise and ners, schools can be organized so that novices have
fresh ideas. In our sample of 50 new Massachusetts a well-integrated support system with plenty of col-
teachers, 17 began their careers in schools that fostered leagues to turn to, and veterans have options that will
such collaborations—and 82 percent of them stayed challenge them without removing them from the class-
in those schools after the first year of our study. In room completely. Ideally, school districts and teacher
contrast, just 57 percent of the 21 teachers who began unions will collaborate to create these career ladders
their careers in schools where teachers worked in isola- and help schools become supportive workplaces that
tion stayed, as did just 67 percent of the 12 who began foster new teachers’ success. Our study demonstrated
in schools filled with novices. Just what does a school that such schools—schools like Fred’s—have dramati-
where teachers collaborate look like? Fred’s experience, cally less attrition among new teachers. That’s good
described in the sidebar (p. 20), provides an excellent for the schools’ bottom line and great for students’
example. academic achievement.

***
New teachers yearn for professional colleagues who
Fred Plans to Stay “Forever”
can help them acclimate to their school’s unique cul- Fred began his teaching career at a small, urban sec-
ture, help them solve the complicated, daily dilemmas ondary school. He was deeply committed to his stu-
of classroom teaching, and guide their ongoing learn- dents’ success and to the continuing development
ing. When the 50 teachers in our study chose teaching, of his school. When we first met Fred, his school
they envisioned the stimulating classroom they hoped included grades seven, eight, and nine, and school
to create and the buzz of their students engaged in leaders planned to add one grade every year through
learning. In the ideal, they also hoped for colleagues grade 12. Though it is a neighborhood public school,
and administrators who would be committed to stu- drawing its students from the low-income community
dent learning and would help them, as new teachers, that immediately surrounds it, it is also a professional
achieve success with their students. development school, the result of a unique partnership
Regardless of the quality or duration of new teach- between a local university and the city school district.
er’s preservice preparation, novice teachers must con- The faculty includes both highly experienced teachers
tinue to learn long after they enter the classroom. and newer teachers. Most of the newer teachers have
C 32 B Teachers

traditional teacher preparation, master’s degrees, and the veteran teachers. And I think the veteran teachers
internship experience at the school. get sparked a little bit from the young teachers coming
To Fred, his school is about high expectations, col- in, you know, a new, fresh attitude. So it’s mutually
laboration, and ongoing teacher learning, all in the enriching in that sense.”
service of high student achievement. As he explained, It is important to note that there is nothing inher-
“the expectations are so clear . . . we’re gearing these ently beneficial about simply having a mix of nov-
kids to college, that that’s our ultimate goal: to get the ices and veterans within the same school. What is
kids ready for college.” The expectations are high for exceptional at Fred’s school is that teachers of varying
student and teacher performance, but neither is left experience levels interact regularly, both formally and
alone to achieve the mission. informally. Fred described a typical situation: “If I have
Given that these students had varying levels of a question or if I had something happen in class that
academic skills and primarily came from low-income perplexed me that I didn’t know how to deal with,
neighborhoods, every aspect of the school had to focus then I go down to [Sue] or [Tom] and say, ‘I’m having
on academic success—even the approach to managing trouble, how do I deal with this?’”
student behavior. Both the faculty and the admin- Fred said the school’s culture emphasizes “teachers
istration, Fred said, “treat every problem, no matter as learners,” and it is expected that teachers will learn
how minute, as a significant disciplinary issue. And when they work together. The teachers had 90 minutes
because of that, we don’t have the typical problems four times each week for preparation and collabora-
that other schools do. I mean, problems that other tive work. Learning to teach is an ongoing process; a
schools would laugh at in terms of discipline are dealt teacher masters the art by practicing, over time. Thus,
with pretty harshly here. But I think that has created administrators and teacher leaders at Fred’s school re-
an atmosphere that is conducive to good discipline.” alized that it serves their school well to recognize that
In the school’s three-year history, there had been no new teachers grow in skill and expertise day-to-day and
fights among students. “And that’s pretty remarkable year-to-year: “There’s an expectation that you would
when you think that it’s seventh-, eighth-, and ninth- mature as a teacher and develop new strategies in vari-
graders.” He credited the principal with setting the ous arenas that you may not have had in your bag of
standard: “Things are dealt with immediately by the tricks to begin with.”
principal. She’s got a good relationship with the kids. Fred also explained that his fellow teachers feel and
They know not to disappoint her.” act as if they are collectively responsible for the school,
But the principal wasn’t just the disciplinarian. She the students, and each other: “We’re all in the same
founded the professional development school and was game here together.” He explained that he believed it
deeply involved in making it work. Fred said, “She’s an is his “responsibility, as it is everybody else’s, to share
innovator. She’s an example. . . . She’s constantly look- in the burden” of achieving the school’s mission. In
ing for new ideas and new ways of solving old prob- speaking of his duty to all of the students in the school
lems, which is unique. . . . No problem is too large [for he said, “I’m not primarily a social studies teacher here;
her] and . . . you don’t have to guess where she stands I’m a teacher here primarily.”
on the issues.” But at the same time, “She’s very good After just a few years of teaching in this supportive
at telling us what kind of job we do and how she ap- environment, Fred was ready to start venturing beyond
preciates it. . . . She’s willing to put her confidence in the the traditional role of a classroom teacher. He became
hands of the professionals that are teachers here.” He the de facto head of the social studies department: “The
explained, “That type of freedom and confidence cre- principal has kind of put me in charge of making sure
ates a good feeling amongst the faculty.” that the social studies curriculum is being covered.” He
According to Fred, the fact that the faculty included also supervised two student teachers, which he espe-
a mix of new and experienced teachers “promotes the cially enjoyed: “It worked great. I love it. Their ideas
best type of situation for faculty.” He described the keep me fresh. And I think I lend a little bit of experi-
interaction among novice and veteran teachers this ence to them. And it’s mutually enriching, you know.”
way: “So we have a nice blend of veteran teachers who Fred looked forward to being able to take on even more
have been in the system for a long time and know the in the years ahead; his school had specialized roles for
art of teaching. Then we also have a nice core of . . . master teachers who serve as staff developers and work
young teachers like myself with less than five years with intern teachers. Fred observed that such posi-
of teaching experience. And that creates a really good tions were “enriching” both for the individuals hold-
atmosphere. So I think the young teachers learn from ing them and for the people they assisted.
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