people described negative experiences and talked about the way they learned to see them-
selves as failures. Two women, Maritza and Irene, said they felt stupid in high school and
they continued to feel that way for a long time after they graduated. Alan (our teacher)
asked us to think about whether the failure people described was because of their inadequa-
cies or failure by teachers and schools.
My own high school experience was primarily positive, very different from the ones de-
scribed by Maritza and Irene. I am starting to realize that this was largely due to the excel-
lent teachers with whom I was fortunate enough to come into contact. I remember many dif-
ferent types of teachers, but the ones that made the most lasting impression on me were
less concerned with the subject matter than they were with helping us learn to think and de-
velop life skills. My advanced placement Calculus teacher always broke up the classroom
with jokes and told stories of his previous job with NASA where he learned to apply Calcu-
lus. His down-to-earth manner and constant interaction with us made Calculus accessible to
me. I was someone who had begged and pleaded to be taken out of advanced math only a
few years earlier.
Tonight’s class was a humbling experience for me. In the past, I always believed that my
academic success was due solely to my intelligence and effort. Now, I see that things could
have been very different if I had gone to an average school with average teachers, or even
worse, a school where teachers didn’t care. No matter how intelligent I may (or may not) be,
I owe a lot of credit to teachers who always tried to teach us in creative ways.
Excerpt B: Mike’s total rejection of ‘the system’ is very disconcerting to me.
Tonight’s class was very heated. Our class argued about topics that are politically relevant
to education and the country as a whole. Mike, a New York City teacher, visited our class,
and he was very angry. He said that the American educational system institutionalizes rac-
ism, oppression and failure and he expressed disgust with mainstream America. Hector, a
philosophy major, presented a diametrically opposed viewpoint. He believes that poverty
and oppression are no excuse for educational failure. He feels people will be successful if
they have strong family and academic values.
I think Mike and Hector are both wrong. Hector should realize that the phrase “family val-
ues” is a political slogan. Some conservatives want to impose their ideas on other people
and many feel this is oppressive. As an English major, I read August Wilson’s playFencesand
Robert Pirsig’s novelLila. Hector should read these books. They would help him re-evaluate
his opinion.
On the other hand, Mike’s total rejection of ‘the system’ is very disconcerting to me.
While I do see a need for change, I believe that such an absolutist position is counterproduc-
tive to his goals. In my opinion, change will have to come from within, especially with an is-
sue which is as politically charged as education.
Personally, I feel family values are very important and I want to instill them in my chil-
dren. But I recognize that there is something wrong with blaming the problems of education
on the values of students. I don’t know yet how I will handle this issue as a teacher. The only
thing that I do know is that there is more than one side to this question.
Excerpt C: What struck me... was Alan’s use of humor.
Tonight we spent about half of the class with Alan demonstrating mini-lessons in four different
subject areas: Physics, Math, English and Music. It was very interesting for me because I got to
26 CHAPTER 1