William Ayers looks at the teaching profession through a somewhat tongue-in-cheek mythological lens in his graphic novel To Teach: the journey in comics. Like the famous Greek hero Odysseus, teachers must navigate through dangerous perils in order to become effective and rewarded in a profession ironically saturated with “myths.” Ayers writes, “In fact, it’s often the myths themselves that the young teacher must fight against”(3). He even goes so far as to say that, “Myths tower above the world of teaching like fire-breathing dragons. Somehow teachers need to slay these creatures in order to move from myth to reality”(8). Ok, so Ayers is clearly toying with mythological allusions here....but his point is well taken. When I started teaching, I fell prey to many of the myths Ayers discusses. I believed that “kids today are way worse than ever before”(4) because that’s what the teacher across the hall said to me on the first day of my long-term sub position. I also thought I had to put on a show everyday and be a “good performer”(5) claiming “center stage”(5) because a lot of my college lesson plans and observations had me doing just that. But...now that I’m a little bit older and (hopefully) a lot wiser, I understand that I was, all this time, Odysseus on a perilous journey to enlightenment--well probably not real enlightenment --but at least enough enlightenment to make me a better observer, a better listener, and hopefully a better teacher.
I think it is interesting that Ayers chooses to cover his book with an two images: one that depicts a teacher teaching a student and the other image the reciprocal-a student teaching his teacher. I think this notion of reciprocality is exactly what Ayers wants teachers to understand and embrace. Ayers argues that, “Teaching is an interactive practice that begins and ends with seeing the student...The student grows and changes, the teacher learns, the situation shifts, and seeing becomes an evolving challenge”(13). I think this is the most important lesson to learn as a teacher. As teachers, we are not the ultimate supreme keepers of knowledge. We are constantly learning and evolving, and the majority of this evolution is a direct result of insight we gain from our students. Since I’ve started the ASTL program, I have just begun to really think about teaching as a reciprocal process. I was probably always learning from my students but I am just now starting to realize it and label it as such. There is a level of compassion to my teaching this year that I’ve never experienced before and I think it is due to my acknowledgment that I am learning more from my student than I could ever teach them.
One of my favorite authors Frank McCourt (Angela's Ashes, Teacher Man) looks at teaching as a journey in this clip...pretty cool!
Melissa - I love the connection to Odysseus! I think it's interesting how those epic myths become reality for so many, so easily. Like you said, being part of this program helps me see through those myths and talk back to them through my practice. I also noticed the running thread of reciprocity - teacher as student, student as teacher. I feel like that too is an idea that gets tossed around like the other myths Ayers illustrates. But what does it really mean? What does it really look like? I think the rest of this course is going to give us more direction with that.
ReplyDeleteMelissa, I watched the Frank McCort video and two things he said really stood out ot me: "Stood before the kids and discover myself" I think about this quote and think about the teacher research we did in our classrooms last year. I discovered so much about myself as a teacher while I was researching my teaching and my students.
ReplyDeleteThe second quote was "If you're teaching and you're not learning, then you're not teaching." Again this goes along with what you brought up about the cover and the discoveries that you have made about your teaching and the strong connection you feel to the craft and the empathy you have to your students. I too have felt this change, and just as I said last week, this learning community we have created has opened my eyes to so many new aspects of teaching that will not be forgotten.
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ReplyDeleteMelissa, I especially liked this quote that you pulled out of Ayers: "The student grows and changes, the teacher learns, the situation shifts, and seeing becomes an evolving challenge." I feel as if this process could be put into a cycle, and we are entering the cycle at different points with each of our students. What also struck me while reading your post was the focus on discovery through each of our journeys. It is fascinating to think how far we have come and how our mindsets have changed since each of us first started teaching, and the different experiences we have had along the way that led us to this program, to a purposeful journey of discovery, as both teachers and learners.That was my favorite tidbit that I have carried with me from day one of FNED 346, that the teacher is forever a learner, and our students the optimal teachers. So now we work on utilizing that, making it true and making it count for something in our classrooms. You talk about a level of compassion to your teaching this year that you've never experienced before - that's making it count. I'm so excited to hear about your school year as it goes along.
ReplyDeleteMelissa,
ReplyDeleteI often feel as if my Odyssey in teaching is more Don Quixote than Odysseus. Chasing windmill dragons instead of finding home. Reading Ayers makes me think that maybe chasing windmills is ok, that finding your own journey is the point, and helping the kids discover their own journey by finding bridges that go to new places is the best of what we do. This graphic novel, along with the actual artwork, is dripping in imagery and it is this more than any other devices that helps me connects to the ideas inside. Like you, the ASTL program has given me a boost and injected some change into my daily routine, and I was so ready for it.