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TEACHING FROM THE HEART: U.S. Education Abroad.Essays
and Speeches on Teaching in Latin America.
Book presentation. Primary Library. American
School of Guadalajara. October 1, 2003.
Three years ago, our high school principal Des Sjoquist, asked the teachers
to brainstorm about what it was that distinguished us as a school.
How were our expectations different from other schools? What kind of
qualities would go into our philosophy, our mission statement?
Well, it seems like a boring assignment to me so I went on-line
to see what the mission statement was for U.S. public schools.
Maybe we could just copy that? Well, what I discovered was
frightening. There was one central mission for public schools:
It was to make good citizens by training them in basic skills,
providing an overview of the country's history, and establishing
compulsive attendance. As H.L Menken wrote in 1924 in the American
Mercury: "The purpose of public schools in every country
is to reduce as many individuals to the same safe level, to
train a standardized citizenry, and to eliminate dissent. That
is its aim in the United States," Mencken wrote, "and
that is its aim everywhere."
Honorable members of the presidium, mistress of ceremonies
Ye Sul, fellow teachers, parents, students and friends, thank
you all for coming tonight. Buenas noches and bienvenidos.
The title for my talk this evening is "What makes us different."
I knew that our aim at the American School of Guadalajara
was quite different from that and I went back to Mr. Sjoquist
and the high school teachers and we attempted at articulate
it. After many discussions and revisions we presented our mission
statement which is "to provide an academically diverse
curriculum to develop independent, caring and self-motivated
individuals with a lifelong passion for learning." That
is a much more radical philosophy and quite a different mission
from public schools around the globe.
The assumed truth in public schools is that it is the job
of teachers to serve their country, their community and to
follow the ideological certitudes of their institutions. Can
you imagine suggesting that to Socrates, to Aristotle, Galileo,
to John Henry Newman, to William James, to Einstein, to Carlos
Fuentes, to any teachers of the past whom we respect? All of
them saw the job of the teacher to question ideological certitude,
to contradict oversimplistic formulations, and to encourage
their students to do so. Galileo did not spend his time praising
the hierarchical Church and the wonders of an earth-centered
universe. Socrates did not jump on the bandwagon to sing the
praises of Athenian democracy. Einstein turned the world of
physics downside up and outside in. Carlos Fuentes criticized
the corrupted inheritance of his country's own sacred revolution
in The Death of Artemio Cruz. And William James, the preeminent
Harvard lecturer and professor, called teaching no science
at all but an art, the art of confrontation.
The purpose of government schools or public schools in any
country is the propagandizing of future citizens. Students
are not taught real history (although it is called that), they
are taught a corrupted nationalist version. The purpose of
teaching history in government-supported schools is to present
a version of the country's development which will inspire unquestioning
loyalty and civic obedience. The history of your country, students
are told, is the history of a sometimes imperfect, but always
evolutionary advance of the human spirit. But it is only when
we read another country's version of similar events that we
have some perspective, and see that much of what is taught
along these lines is errant nonsense. However, since most public
high schools do not teach the histories of other countries,
such comparisons and understandings are not forthcoming. Here
at the American School of Guadalajara good teachers try to
insure that they are. Our students are exposed to examinations
of comparative governments and cultures, and to alternative
and often contradictory histories. They are encouraged to ferret
out the truth where possible, and to accept ambiguity when
it is not.
Many theorists today and more than a few people in leadership
positions in public education believe that a good system can
replace individual thought, that a detailed curriculum can
be made teacher-proof, that methodology can replace talent,
that virtues--like values--are relative, and that technology
is the best hope of mankind.
They are trying to sell that idea to private schools abroad
and my book is an frontal attack on this dumbing down of education.
Milan Kundera, author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being,
once wrote that "stupidity does not give way to science,
technology, modernity, progress; on the contrary it progresses
right along with progress." By stupidity he did not mean
ignorance, which is a lack of knowledge. No, he did not mean
that at all. Training and study can give us knowledge, but
we can still be stupid. Kundera said that "Modern stupidity
means not ignorance but the nonthought of received ideas." The
laziness, the shrug of the shoulders, that allows us to accept
ideas without testing them first. All areas of human development
partake of this kind of stupidity but the irony is that the
one area where it should be absent, education, is where it
flourishes like a rank weed.
The irony of these educational theorists is that they use
complex language to herald their reforms. Simple language is
for simple people, and in these sophisticated times, they say,
if teachers want to be respected they need to use more elegant
language to describe what they do. It used to be that we taught
reading and writing in grammar school and middle school, and
then literature and composition in high school. Now in many
schools children are taught language arts for all 12 years.
Language arts, now there's a phrase to turn the stomach of
a future Octavio Paz, a future Joyce Carol Oates. And just
what is meant by that--"language arts"? The art of
translation (such as Gaby Silva so beautifully demonstrated
tonight), the art of editing, art of comprehending comparative
literature, the art of producing short stories and essays in
creative writing workshops? Not really. It's actually reading
and writing with a high sounding name, with the tacit and fatuous
assumption of textbook editors that literature should be delivered
in short bites. Read an excerpt from a short story, an essay
or a novel and write a short response. Reading complete stories,
novels, essays, and collections of poetry is antithetical to
the language arts practicum. Check out the textbooks and you'll
see. Language arts prefers the quick sound bite, the excerpt
from the author, and the one page response or the five paragraph
essay from the student. If a student learns anything at all
about literature, about culture, history, philosophy and conflicts
of values, it is because the teacher has gone well beyond the
language arts textbook. But most don't. Which is why the system
that produced this neologism has less than 20% who formally
study a language other than English, 60% who have never read
a 19th Century British novel, 80% who have never read the original
historical documents upon which their own government is based.
So, let's go back to reading and writing, grammar and spelling,
let's go back to literature and composition. At our school
we are respected as teachers and have no need for high sounding
names and titles to reflect our work. The words we use to describe
what we do as teachers should reflect what we actually do.
Let's go back to saying what we mean and meaning what we say.
The next bit of received wisdom from many parents, from students,
from society at large, and even from leaders in education is
that being a great teacher is not good enough.
Recently I read an article in Educational Leadership magazine
which was entitled "Great Teaching, Your Pathway to the
Principalship." To me this rush to rise to administrative
positions is deadly to our profession. If being a great teacher
was good enough for Socrates, then it's good enough for me.
I don't think Socrates even wanted to be Superintendent of
the Athenian School District. I don't think we'd remember him
if he was. It's silly really when you think about it. Imagine
if Francis of Assisi or Mother Teresa's only ambition was to
become Pope. Or if Albert Einstein would have felt unfulfilled
unless he were director of the Atomic Energy Commission. Or
Octavio Paz was not honored unless he became director of Editorial
Porras. How absurd.
A good teacher's best ambition should be to become an outstanding
and memorable educator. And we have several here who would
no more want to be director general or principal than Martin
Luther King would have wanted to be in President Bush's chair.
They are effective at what they do and what they do is memorable.
Sometimes they are difficult, often downright annoying to the
administration. Two I have in mind are Olga Martin del Campo
and Jim Happer, teachers who have driven every administrator
crazy with their persistence, their doggedness, their exclusive
concern for their students rather than bureaucratic niceties
or curriculum formalities. Last week we received a letter from
the Dean of Studies at MIT which noted that Olga was the most
teacher most mentioned by Mexican students at MIT for her contributions
to their education. Then there is Jim Happer with his non-standard
lesson plans whose students in physics and calculus are truly
amazed by his classes and this year had the highest pass rate
in six years on the Advanced Placement exams. So many of my
colleagues are outstanding and memorable that I could spend
the rest of the evening complimenting them. But I will cut
it short with the mention of redoubtable Miss Lulu Govea, head
of the Spanish Department, scourge of the slovenly, who was
honored in Los Angeles this summer for her students Spanish
literature pass rate on the AP College Board exams which is
the highest in Latin America. She is the person who suggested
I put this little book together. Thank you, Lulu.
There is a story of when St. Francis of Asisi was called to
see the Pope to be reprimanded for his unorthodox views. The
Pope walked with him in the Vatican garden where the blackbirds
were roosting and making a racket. The Pope could barely hear
himself speak. St. Francis raised his eyes and said, "Peace,
my brothers," and the birds were silent. The Pope was
so amazed he changed his mind about the reprimand and sent
Francis back home. When good teachers speak, the birds are
silent.
To those young people in the audience who are interested in
education, to those young teachers here who are already a part
of it, if your ambition is to be a principal then go for it.
Good administrative talent is rare, I know, because I work
for one of the few efficacious principals I've encountered
in 28 years in this profession, Des Sjoquist. I know there's
good administrators out there, and we need you. But if God
has given you the gift of being a genuine and dynamic teacher,
cherish that gift, honor it, develop it become the best teacher
you know how to be, and speak out for it whenever possible.
Remember, the only name Jesus Christ was ever called in the
New Testament was "Maestro"; it is a name sanctified
and blessed.
The next bit of received wisdom which is generally unrefuted
says that all students have an inalienable right to the best
education and the teacher's job is to serve them. Wrong again.
In an equitable society students and parents should have a
right to access the best education.
That means a seat should be saved for that student. But, once
the student is in that seat, education becomes a mutual endeavor.
I am reminded of the story of the Chinese master with a wonderful
reputation who has just been assigned to a new village school.
One of the boys decides to test him, to see if he is truly
as wise and as brilliant as has been reported. He says to his
friend, I will take a sparrow and hold it behind my back. I
will ask the master if the sparrow is alive or dead. If he
says, "Dead," I will produce it and say, "No,
master, you are wrong. It is alive." If the master says
that the bird is alive, I will twist its neck and kill it,
and then produce it saying: "No, master it is dead." Then
the whole village shall see that this teacher is not so wise
as we have been told.
Well, the teacher arrives. And the boy approaches him along
with a group of his cronies and dozen villages eager to see
the master tested. The boy says to the teacher,"Master,
I have a bird in my hands behind my back. Is the bird alive
or is it dead?" The master looks the boy in the eye and
then he says, "I do not know, my son, because the bird
is in your hands." There are two important things this
story makes clear. First, the student has a responsibility
for his or her education, and second, the teacher is the master
not the servant. Failure to do homework, failure to respectfully
interact with peers and with teachers, failure to complete
readings or turn in work on time means that the student has
chosen to forfeit his or her opportunity. In the Bill of Educational
Rights we need to add: Each student has the right to fail,
the bird is in their hands.
A colleague reading over these words remarked that I was something
of an elitist in education. Elitist is an interesting word.
It did not exist in most English dictionaries until the Cold
War period and it was a word coined by totalitarian communist
governments to refer to intellectuals who were dangerous to
the State. It is interesting that we never use the word with
athletics. We don't call Michael Jordan an elitist or Mike
Tyson an elitist. We don't use it with musicians or movie stars.
No one would call Thalia an elitist or Robert DiNero an elitist.
It is an anti-intellectual phrase based on insecurity. It is
part of the mentality which infuses many schools. And this
is the fourth of the perceived truths I'll discussed tonight.
This is the one that says all students should be treated the
same with no exceptions, regardless of their work ethic, their
attitude or their talents. They tell us it is best to do away
with pre-AP, Advanced Placement, and Honors courses, the NHS,
the society which recognizes academic excellence. We are told
that these types of selections divide the kids, replace cooperation
with competitiveness, and isolate the nerds in the school instead
of integrating them.
But the same people who suggest this, would never do away
with the athletic teams, with the ASOMEX, with football, basketball,
the skateboarding competitions, the school plays and the talent
shows in which even smaller percentages of children are singled
out for recognition. It is only in the area of academics that
this epithet "elitist" is applied. And how ironic,
how shameful for us, that it is used in education where academic
excellence should be the hallmark of our profession.
So what makes us different? Well, we continue to be elitist
in high school regardless of the criticism. We continue to
affirm our quality in the face of the leveling, mechanistic,
dumbing down of regional standards and uniform curricula. We
continue to teach virtues in a world where values are confusing
and contradictory.
What research shows about private schools regardless of what
country they are in, is that the best of them share two main
characteristics. They have exceptional teachers and appropriate
moral climates. What is equally certain is that the school's
internal moral climate runs counter to the prevailing popular
culture whether it be that of the U.S. or that of the host
country. For example, the prevailing culture rationalizes dishonesty
for profit whether it be the Enron scandal in the U.S., or
police taking bribes in Mexico. At our school there are honor
codes, intellectual dishonesty constraints, monitoring of plagiarism,
and a high moral expectation.
In the prevailing culture whether its Beavis and Butthead
or the Simsons, vulgarity, coarse behavior and disrespect are
the norm. Whereas at our school we confront impoliteness and
disrespect. We set standards for demeanor and appearance and
we lead by example.
In the prevailing culture violence is seen as a handy solution,
the rights of gun owners influence Congress, proliferation
of weapons and assaults occur daily on public school campuses,
and both the cinema and government rhetoric embrace violence
as a suitable solution to problems domestic and international.
At our school there is an emphasis on conflict resolution,
active measures to inhibit bullying, and peer counseling to
find peaceful solution to conflicts.
In the prevailing culture there has a been a return to cultural
tribalism, asserting one´s uniqueness, ones rights and
privileges as a member of a minority race, a minority religion,
or claiming special privileges because of gender or sexual
identity. At our school we work as a community to find our
commonalities, to discover our shared values, and to reaffirm
what unites us rather than belaboring what divides us.
In the prevailing culture spirituality has been confused with
religion and efforts have been made to exclude any spiritual
references from governmental, scholastic or national enterprises.
At our school spirituality is seen as integral to human development,
regardless of whatever religion is practiced or not practiced
by the student; spiritual development and a values-centered
environment are considered integral to the educational process
and to human life. To steal from Emily Burnor's review tonight,
in the words of the poet Jaime Sabines, Otros saben las palabras
del canto, nosotros cantamos. "Others know the words of
the song, but we sing."
Speaking not only for myself now but for all my colleagues
who offer challenging classes, for Ms. Heize who insures that
excellence is a priority and for the Board of Directors which
supports her, and speaking too for the parents of Gaby Silva
, Emily Burnor, and Ye Sul Myung who have joined me here tonight
at the podium and represent all the wonderful students at the
American School, I want to say now that we have failed to turn
out exploitive opportunists, we have failed to turn out naive
citizens who will follow orders regardless of their irrationality.
We have failed to serve the state and the bureaucracy. We have
failed to inculcate in our students the value of unexamined
ideas.
As students they have refused to accept one country's version
of history as final, they have failed to confuse literature
with language arts, they have failed to accept everything they
have been told as true, they have failed to value conformity
for its own sake, they have refused to be ordinary. So, with
all these failures what have they done? Well, they have learned
that the truth is not always on the surface and must be searched
for diligently with all the skills at their disposal, they
have learned that honor and respect are not inherited rights
but something they must work for to deserve, they have learned
that language should be used with precision (as a scalpel not
as a hammer) so that the words they use accurately reflect
their thoughts, they have learned that the education is not
a sum of facts received from their teachers but a process of
critical thinking they have had, and continue to have, an active
hand in developing.
Finally, I would like to honor Miss Sol tonight who was one
of the people who first taught me what was truly different
about this school.
She said the really good teachers, the ones who are remembered,
are those who have learned to see the face of God in every
child they teach. I have not forgotten that, Miss So, not for
one single day.
What we offer our students at the American School of Guadalajara
is not only an environment for excellence, but in a world shattered
by war, by obfuscation, by lies, by manipulation, by hatred
and violence, we offer a safe place where students feel not
only protected but loved, where they experience not only respect
for differences, but genuine affection, where the teacher is
not only a mentor, but a lifelong learner accompanying the
student on a mutual journey. Walk through the campus of our
school on any afternoon and the first thing you notice is the
sparkle in the eyes of the students, the gentle ways they deal
with one another, the generous spirit and warmth of their personalities,
their natural kindness to strangers. This is what we have to
share with the rest of the world, a kind of spiritual ambiance
which sustains us and which we help sustain. Thank you all
for being here tonight to honor our profession and to honor
our school. Que Dios les bendiga.
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