"Useless Teacher": A Case in Point

Joan Hurley, a friend and colleague, was named Connecticut State Teacher of the Year last month, the penultimate step in a process that began with her being honored first at the University of Hartford Magnet School, then within the Capital Region Education Council (CREC), and which now puts her in the running for the "national title."

Besides being an extraordinarily committed, focused, and gifted third-grade teacher, Joan brings to her work, as do many teachers I've been fortunate enough to work with, a solid knowledge of and intuitive sense around state standards, curriculum development, learning styles and multiple intelligences, among other tools of her profession, tools that have only vague, general meaning for those of us whose familiarity with third-grade classrooms is limited to our eight-year-old former selves, our roles as parents, or both.

I had the opportunity to spend just over three weeks in her classroom as a teaching artist several years ago, and was able to participate in and witness first-hand her attention to the inner "workings" and outer behaviors of her students, the level of responsibility they shared in constructing the learning environment and theme through which they would engage the content that the state education department deemed was theirs to know, the genuinely democratic process they'd engage when inappropriate behavior arose among them, and the subtle balance of structured activity and freedom to explore that held it all together.

Joan loves her work. She has a fiery spirit around her educational philosophy, a strong aversion to those who know less but are in a position to dictate how she does her job, and an opportunity now, amid all of the blessings and curses that an "anything-of-the-year" award brings, to make some noise and help more kids.

Among the curses, minor though they be, have been some of the comments that followed the October 31 front-page story in the Hartford Courant. Among the 33 readers who had posted their thoughts on that paper's online forum before I wrote this entry here, 26 were congratulatory and positive, and written by a mix of people--some of whom know Joan, and some of whom do not.

The 7 other comments ranged from curious to ridiculous to mean-spirited in my reading of them. Here's one from "Curious" in Palm Harbor, Florida:
"I'm sure the kids all feel great about themselves, but is there any teaching going on? Are they learning anything? How do they do in their subsequent schooling? Any stats? Just wondering."

Another, "NCLB" from Bristol, CT wrote:
"SISSY has this right, I can only imagine if a male teacher was buying his students sheets for their beds, new winter coats & (did I read this?) taking students to doctor appointments under the guise of being a passionate and caring teacher. This "teacher of the year" is being cited by former students and anyone else who can justify her need for student approval."
SISSY wrote:
"According to the report, this lady teacher is "throwing kisses"......If this were a male teacher, he'd be under arrest for some sort of assault under the umbrella term of sexual harassment and attempted child molestation laws with its (metaphorically) "politically correct" applications."

And my title credit goes to "Now Get Back to Work" from Lincoln, RI, who wrote, simply:
"useless teacher"

While a very capable and early developmental level to which I still have wonderful access would like the chance to respond to each of these with varying levels of sarcasm, smugness, and an egoic, macho and unnecessary intention to defend my friend, I can't help but remember my own words in the initial entry that set the tone for this blog on September 11, 2007:
"Trust that your inquiry and any conclusions you may reach or hypotheses you may develop will provide as much, and probably more, insight into yourself than into the poem or the poet."

The "teacher-of-the-year" story was simply a trigger that provided an opportunity to vent for our fellow passengers in Palm Harbor, Bristol and Lincoln (I left out the one from "Eternal Sunshine" that commented on Joan's hair in the photo that accompanied the article). Each of these writers had something inside of them that responded as they did to a newspaper article that celebrated a wonderful teacher and human being who earned a professional honor.

Good for you, Joan.

Oh, and if I were going to allow that early developmental level to surface and respond, I might suggest that my friend, "Eternal Sunshine," move beyond the pictures and read the text. I might suggest that "Sissy" and "NCLB" learn to read excerpts and attempt to understand them within the context in which they appear. And perhaps that would apply to "Curious" as well. Does my friend from Palm Harbor simply assume that since the teacher is honored and the kids feel good about themselves, no teaching or learning could have taken place? Is that what happens in Palm Harbor?

Just wondering.