海角大神

The role of public schools is one of the most hotly debated topics in American culture wars today.聽聽That many young people lack the necessary skills to compete in a global economy is a point of consensus.聽聽The reason why, and thus, the solution, is the point on which few can agree.

I was primed to dislike veteran teacher Rafe Esquith鈥檚 response to the controversy,聽Real Talk for Real Teachers:聽聽Advice for Teachers from Rookies to Veterans for reasons large and small:聽 I鈥檝e had my fill of Hollywood stories like "Dangerous Minds" and "Freedom Writers" about middle-class white teachers saving urban minority students; I鈥檓 averse to people who toot their own horn with how-to books relating their successes;聽 and exclamation points bring out my inner-skeptic.聽聽

Finally, my husband, a Bronx middle-school teacher, spent this year trying to keep his students in their seats and navigate a principal who liked to lock his teachers in a room and lecture them about their short-comings, by yelling, 鈥淚t鈥檚 just common sense!鈥澛犅�(He also loved showing them "Stand and Deliver" and "Freedom Writers".) My husband heard enough pithy platitudes about teaching from his principal and grad school professors to last a lifetime and pretty much growled when Esquith鈥檚 book came in the mail.聽聽Suffice it to say, I kept it out of his sight line.聽聽

So I was surprised at how much I liked this book 鈥� and my husband liked the sections he read, as well.聽聽I teach, too, at the college level, and though that鈥檚 a very different animal, I found myself taking notes to bring back to my classroom in September.聽聽That鈥檚 because聽"Real Talk" isn鈥檛 full of easy answers or formulas or success stories.聽聽

Instead, Esquith dwells on the difficulty public school teachers, new and seasoned, face.聽聽Chapter headings are telling:聽鈥淏adlands,鈥� 鈥�19th Nervous Breakdown,鈥� 鈥淓ven the Devil Can Quote Scripture for His Purpose,鈥� 鈥淗aters鈥� 鈥� you get the idea.聽聽And although Esquith offers some happy endings, they鈥檙e all earned.聽

Esquith鈥檚 tactics stand in contrast to today鈥檚 prevailing wisdom, like that espoused by KIPP, the much-lauded magnet school, which deals only with students motivated enough to make it to a magnet school.聽聽He slams 鈥淪LANT,鈥� KIPP鈥檚 concept that success comes from making kids 鈥渟it up, listen, ask and answer questions, nod, and track the teacher,鈥� as superficial, and takes 鈥淣o Child Left Behind鈥� to task, arguing that though no child should be left聽out, some will, in fact, need to be left behind so the teacher can meet the needs of the rest.聽聽He reserves special ire for the culture of measuring teachers鈥� and children鈥檚 achievements through 鈥渇illing in the bubbles鈥� of standardized tests.

What Esquith offers, then, are principles from which to work.聽聽Some are practical but more are spiritual.聽聽He advocates focusing one鈥檚 energy on students with 鈥渟oul鈥� instead of 鈥減olish.鈥澛犅燞e emphasizes humility, for instance 鈥� not the unquestioning variety that props up rules and hierarchies, but the kind that lets actions speak for themselves instead of broadcasting them 鈥� as a much needed antidote to the culture of reality-TV.聽聽聽

A strong believer in earned privileges, Esquith incurs the wrath of many a parent (and cowering administrator) who believes a child should be simply privileged without having to earn a thing.聽聽Yet he also decries the popular approach of fear-based classroom management, which advocates that young teachers not let students see them smile til Christmas 鈥� also advice my husband had been given.聽

It鈥檚 particularly pleasurable to read about his beloved 5th-grade 鈥淗obart-Shakespeare鈥� productions, which are both inclusive and process-driven, and have earned accolades from the likes of Ian McKellen.聽聽(See youtube for samples.)

Though "Real Talk" is billed for teachers, it鈥檚 a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the state of public education.聽聽In a sense, the book is a much needed defense, given policy-makers鈥� and pundits鈥� tendency to blame teachers for any shortcomings in children鈥檚 achievements.聽聽By contrast, the culprits in Esquith鈥檚 experience are politicking administrators, negligent parents, and all the effects poverty has on children鈥檚 intellectual, physical, and spiritual development 鈥� in other words, the conditions that any sane person recognizes have a greater impact on children than even the greatest of teachers.聽

Esquith鈥檚 advice runs along the lines of keeping the high goal in mind and suffering it to be so, rather than agitating for change.聽聽It鈥檚 rare that a book both disturbs and inspires, but that鈥檚 the case here because in telling teachers how to survive, he鈥檚 also telling them what they鈥檙e up against.

Elizabeth Toohey, a regular Monitor contributor, will be teaching at Queensborough Community College, this fall.