Frederick Douglass, born a slave in Maryland in 1817, escaped to freedom as a young man
and became an abolitionist, author, orator, U.S. government official, and an international
spokesperson for human rights. In a letter written in 1849, Douglass argued, “The whole his-
tory of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august
claims have been born of earnest struggle.... If there is no struggle, there is no progress”
(Seldes, 1966, p. 214).
Margaret Mead was a path-breaking anthropologist who argued that scientists had to un-
derstand traditional cultures on their own terms, rather than measure them against suppos-
edly more advanced civilizations. Mead is credited with the statement: “Never doubt that a
small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only
thing that ever does.”
The quotes from Douglass and Mead have become the unofficial maxims of the Hofstra
New Teachers Network as we struggle to become more effective teachers, build better
schools, and have an impact on and influence the lives of our students. As a teacher, you will
be involved in multiple struggles throughout your career. Some of these struggles are per-
sonal ones as you grapple with adult and professional responsibilities and define your goals
and practice as a teacher. You will need to learn how to struggle with and for your students
and to function as an ally and occasional prod to colleagues. You will have to decide
whether to support or question union leadership and school systems, communities, and a
society that do not always value and invest in the education of young people.
In chapter 5, I introduced you to Thomas Gradgrind, an industrialist who is the headmas-
ter of a school in Charles Dickens’sHard Times(1854/1973). The book opens with Gradgrind
explaining his philosophy of education. “Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and
girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out every-
thing else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will
ever be of any service to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my children, and this
is the principle on which I bring up these children. Stick to Facts, sir!” (p. 47).
Dickens’s purpose in the book is to satirize Gradgrind and expose the dreary schools and
factories where children and workers were reduced to interchangeable numbers and virtu-
ally enslaved to machinery. Charlie Chaplin’s movieModern Times(1936) has a similar image
of work in industrialized society.

CHAPTER

10

STRUGGLE:HOW CAN WE STRUGGLE

TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE TEACHERS

AND BUILD BETTER SCHOOLS?

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