Joyful or Punishing Teachers: Which is it American Media?
What do Americans want their teachers to be like? What do they really want out of their schools? Within a space of a week I saw the media send out very mixed messages. We know Americans are meant to see these reports as examples of what teachers should be like. But which is it—A or B?
Teacher A
First, there’s Ron Clark, the teacher turned principal, who Oprah catapulted to fame as her first “phenomenal man.” We got to know him through his no excuses bookEssential 55 providing rules for student living. You know—the say thank you for that birthday present in three seconds or have it ripped from your hands and returned to the store–Ron Clark (p. 24). My favorite rule from that book is “When you win, do not brag….”
Clark now has a school in Atlanta that looks like it’s out of a Disney park (he was Disney Teacher of the Year), although I think I’d like more windows…tsk.
Now if you’re a teacher in Detroit and think this classroom is the prototype of what you should have for yourself…good luck. I hope you win the lottery, because we all read Joyful or Punishing Teachers: Which is it American Media?:
