“Those who can’t do, teach. Those who can’t teach, teach gym.”
— WOODY ALLEN
Whenever I write anything to suggest that the way we educate our children is less than perfect, there is always at least one teacher who comes out of the woodwork and suggests that my feet stink, my parents weren’t married and Jesus doesn’t love me.
I suppose it all depends on whose Al is gored.
A few years ago, it was a woman teaching at a community college who suggested that everyone should leave thinking and decision-making to those people who had proven themselves worthy by earning doctorates in their chosen field.
Now it’s this (man, woman) who at various times has suggested that I am a) a neocon, b) a Nazi, or c) dooming the world to chaos.
If (he, she) could answer just one question satisfactorily, I would leave this subject alone forever.
Why do so many kids — good kids, smart kids — absolutely hate school?
I know the answer, and I’m trying to do something about it. Too many kids with high IQs and tremendous potential get sidetracked — some of them for a lifetime — because of a system that rewards obedience ahead of intelligence. A system that if kids don’t fit right into the little niches where the teachers want them, they’re either ignored, beaten down or medicated into submission.
To quote my admirer on the purpose of the schools:
“A certified teacher has spent years learning how to shape and steer your children into fitting into society. Teachers and school officials know what they’re doing. Imagine a world where parents had to supervise their children’s education. It would be chaotic and nothing would ever be accomplished. People need structure, training, and guidelines to know where to sit, where to stand, and how to serve the needs of the nation.”
Now I’ve been called a lot of things, including a Socialist, but I have never suggested that anyone in this country needs to be trained on “how to serve the needs of the nation.”
I’m not an anarchist, but I do believe that each of us gets to choose his or her own way to fit into this world, up to the best of our own drives and abilities. I didn’t become a journalist because some wise teacher pointed me in that direction. I did it because the jobs I really wanted — president, pope, center fielder for the Dodgers — were all taken, and I liked to write.
If a teacher had suggested a field for me, I might have said I would look into it and appreciated their interest. If a teacher had told me I needed to go into the exciting world of fast food, I probably wouldn’t have been as polite.
There’s an old saying that I think pretty well sums up what it means to be an American. It goes like this:
“An Englishman walks the earth as if he owns it. An American walks the earth as if he doesn’t give a damn who owns it.”
Now some teachers might be smart enough to manipulate people into doing what they want them to do. I’ve never met one, but they might exist.
But nobody “shaped” or “steered” either of my children, and as I believe I mentioned earlier, both of them were honors graduates from their universities. We taught both of them to be polite and respectful, but never to take any crap from anyone that wasn’t necessary.
I’ve had good teachers and bad ones, and I know one wonderful teacher. My friend Mick never wanted to teach, but he wound up as an adjunct professor at Pasadena City College and at Citrus College. Almost without exception, his students love his classes and rate him highly.
The last thing he would ever do is try to steer someone in the direction he thinks they should go. Encouraging them is a different story, and I know many people have come out of his classes more knowledgeable, more in love with learning and feeling more positive about themselves.
Mick is a Teacher.
My anonymous critic is someone who teaches.
The saddest comment on our educational system is that there are far more people who just teach than there are Teachers.