The Challenge of Teaching

Consistently throughout Chapter 1 of To Teach I was struck by how much Ayers descriptions of teaching mesh with my perceptions of parenting. I am not a parent, but I was blessed with two wonderful parents and have had numerous discussions about what it means to be a good parent. I want to be prepared for when I do become a parent, and I like advice from people I consider wise.

Mr. Ayers discussed discovery learning and how important it is for excellent teaching and the first thing that came to my mind was that his description of and zealousness towards discovery learning is like learning via the scientific method--through student-led inquiry, not content lectures. As a prospective science teacher, I am a firm believer that the best way for pupils to really understand science is to do science. There is far too much scientific knowledge to cover in one lifetime, and covering as much content as possible should not be the basis of science education. I see the purpose of my job as a middle school science teacher will be to teach the scientific method, to have kids use the scientific method as the foundation for all studies in science class. It is more important for a person to understand a process than to be able to regurgitate content. It will serve them much better in life and will help the United States maintain a scientific edge if every person who goes through the public school system can use the scientific method. There are infinite possibilities for what a person can learn if they have a process down pat that is based on the precept of learning more. The goal of the scientific method is to learn more, to be a constant challenge to what is considered fact, to help change humanity's understanding of nature and the world. This infinite possibility of learning more and helping others learn more for their entire lives is what attracts me to teaching. If I am able to run my entire science class curriculum via the scientific method, then I will learn new things every year, and that is what will hold me in teaching.

If, however, teaching continues to be deskilled by school administrations as Ayers argues, "Teaching...is constantly being deskilled, made into something to be performed mechanically, without much thought or care, covered over with layers of supervision and accountability and bureaucracy" there will be little to attract anyone to the field. The smartest people in a society (who also have a good personality and passion for teaching) should be the ones educating the children, the future of the nation, not the ones of least intelligence. If teachers continue to be automated via scripted curriculums and other mechanisms, you might as well have a robot lecturing students rather than an individual judging each child's needs, interacting with students and altering curriculum based on perceived needs of students to give each child the best education he/she can. The best teacher is also a good thinker and learner his/herself. I teach because I love inquiry. I am a zealously curious person and I want to share my fascination with all the mysteries of the world with others. I love "some piece of the world enough that" I "want to show that love to others." And I heartily agree that writing a lesson plan is not a difficult thing "an astonishingly simple, entirely overblown, and not very useful skill."