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My Teacher, My Hero

Posted by on January 19, 2007 at 11:06 AM

An Op/Ed in the New York Times this morning talks about the plight of teachers -- the one not seen on the silver screen.

From the article:

At the beginning of Ms. Swank's new movie, "Freedom Writers," her character, a teacher named Erin Gruwell, walks into her Long Beach, Calif., classroom, and the camera pans across the room to show us what we are supposed to believe is a terribly shabby learning environment. Any experienced educator will have already noted that not only does she have the right key to get into the room but, unlike the seventh-grade science teacher in my current school, she has a door to put the key into. The worst thing about Ms. Gruwell's classroom seems to be graffiti on the desks, and crooked blinds.

I felt like shouting, Hey, at least you have blinds! My first classroom didn't, but it did have a family of pigeons living next to the window, whose pane was a cracked piece of plastic. During the winter, snowflakes blew in. The pigeons competed with the mice and cockroaches for the students' attention.

The piece goes on to talk about the pressure placed on teachers -- they are called "incompetent and underqualified," and ignored when they ask for basic materials for their classrooms, or even a living wage for themselves. They are attacked over and over again while they try to do their job on the meager resources we've given them -- and don't even get me started on class sizes and special ed.
"Freedom Writers," like all teacher movies this side of "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," is presented as a celebration of teaching, but its message is that poor students need only love, idealism and martyrdom.

I won't argue the need for more of the first two, but I'm always surprised at how, once a Ms. Gruwell wins over a class with clowning, tears, rewards and motivational speeches, there is nothing those kids can't do. It is as if all the previously insurmountable obstacles students face could be erased by a 10-minute pep talk or a fancy dinner. This trivializes not only the difficulties many real students must overcome, but also the hard-earned skill and tireless effort real teachers must use to help those students succeed.

While we all want what's best for our kids, we need to make sure we're not attacking educators who want the same. To all my friends who are teachers -- you guys are my heroes.

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