- Mario Batali
Hey John,
I have another confession to make: I’m a bit of a K-12 snob.
I mean, when I refer to “teachers,” I more often than not think about the thousands of K-12 practitioners from Pre-Kindergarten all the way through senior year of high school, inclusive of all subjects and types of schools (alternative transfer high schools look a little different, but still have a “senior year,” right?). The term “educator,” on the other hand, works for everyone such as professors, principals, and anyone directly charged with the learning of our children.
This came up because Robert Pondiscio, former VP of Core Knowledge, changed his Facebook status to the following:
Make a list of celebrity chefs. 2. Make a list of celebrity teachers. 3. Compare.
From there, a few of us chimed into the discussion, opining aloud who fits the mold of “celebrity teacher.” People like Bill Nye, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Melissa Harris-Perry come off the list because, you guessed it, none of them work K-12, and, as much as some of us hate to admit it, college professors get a much higher level of respect from our society than local teachers do in terms of expertise. Even people like Diane Ravitch, Pedro Noguera, and Linda Darling-Hammond, professors focused on education, come off the list for the same reason.
Not K-12, not applicable.
Then, I ran down the list quickly and thought of Jaime Escalante, Joe Clark, and Erin Gruwell, of Stand and Deliver, Lean on Me, and Freedom Writers fame respectively. Then Rob reminded me that it’s been more than twenty years since Escalante’s star turn, about 20 years since Joe Clark’s turn, and about seven since Erin Grunwell’s 15 minutes. Ron Clark, the Oprah-celebrated teacher who taught in both North Carolina and Harlem in New York, was certainly popular, but how quickly would he garner real attention from the average American?
Deborah Meier and Robert Moses were MacArthur geniuses, and actually have a verified Wikipedia page, but they’re so selfless that the organizations they represent have gotten way more attention than their own works.
The term “celebrity teacher” is such a difficult one too, because it presumes that the spotlight should focus strictly on the teacher and not on the ways in which that teacher helps students. The profession doesn’t lend itself to alpha dogs and sunbathers of the egoistic type. Yet, I have a hard time with the idea that, in a landscape with people so replete with opinions about our profession, that we shouldn’t have the same viability when we speak about it ourselves.
Hate to say it, but, as much as I appreciate allies, colleagues, and anyone willing to lend a voice to a whole-child, solutions-oriented movement, I can’t sit back and wonder how long it will take before we have professional autonomy. We have to learn how to craft our voices such that we can have celebrity teachers, individuals who speak to the collective conscience of the educational experience with our own agency, not the wills of others, no matter how well-meaning.
Someone will eventually fight me on this, but I hope you smell what I’m cooking.
*** photo courtesy of http://www.hauteliving.com/2012/08/top-5-celebrity-chefs-new-york/310945/ ***
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While I don’t like the term “celebrity teacher” as the word celebrity and teacher don’t seem to match in intent and practice, I do like the title “lead teacher” meaning the teacher who leads others in best practice and effort. Jose, you are a “lead teacher” for me for many reasons including your ideas, share and time dedicated to our collective craft, student response and the future of school or “learning community” as I like to think of it. In my practice, I look to many lead teachers in my midst–usually it’s the students who lead me in their direction, students who seem enthusiastic, motivated, happy and curious. When I see a group of students display those traits, I always want to know what that “lead teacher” is doing to elicit such a positive response. Thanks for all you do to encourage and support teachers everywhere.
I find myself going around in circles as I think about the ideas provoked by Robert’s piece (which I saw too and which left me in a serious quandary), the ideas I see in this piece, and the opinions I hold. What does it mean to be a celebrity in these days in this country? What role could the mainstream media play and how likely likely are they to play it? What about social media, and in that context, what makes something go viral? What’s the line between self-confidence and arrogance, and how do people’s individual perceptions of gender and race affect that line? What about the new study Bill Ferriter just wrote about showing that most “high quality teachers” either have a strong effect on kids’ cognitive development or on their non-cognitive development, but rarely both – and that non-cognitive skills correlate more positively with success and happiness in life than cognitive skills?
I have my own celebrity teachers, of course. You. My wife. Mark Springer. Nancy Flanagan. Bill Ferriter. Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach. And lots more. I imagine most teachers could pretty quickly come up with their own list. There’s a different kind of celebrity there, but perhaps one that is ultimately more important than national celebrity.
Anyway, I can think of different possible dishes that could emerge from the ingredients you’ve measured out. I’ll enjoy seeing what you cook up!
It was much with Jose’s purpose in mind, to “speak to the collective conscience of the educational experience with our own agency” (though not particularly to be a celebrity in the typical sense of that word), that my husband and I made AUGUST TO JUNE http://www.augusttojune.com and now the internet series A YEAR AT MISSION HILL http://www.ayearatmissionhill.com A teacher’s process can’t be condensed as easily as a cook’s, but at least we can start to raise awareness about what delicious teaching/learning can taste like. If ‘Celebrity’ means a larger than life household name, there is no Julia Childs. But if it means recognizable as one who is dedicated to a craft that requires skill and artistry, we see our films as part body of work taking shape, along with that of such documentarians as Learning Matters’ John Merrow, and the film makers at Edutopia, that bring more fully elaborated portraits of k-12 teachers center stage.
Everyone, thank you for your wonderful comments.
Amy, I’m a big fan of your work, and appreciate your dedication to our craft.
Bill, I’m not as cool as the other people you’ve mentioned, but thanks for the commendations nonetheless.
Maureen, “lead teacher” is cool, “teacher leader” approaches what I’m getting at too. Thanks for your comment on this.
I’ll just say this. Touch your kids’ hearts? Check. Help them learn? Check. Speak your truth courageously? Check. Understand that school is about so much more than academics? Check. Smart as all get out? Check. Every single person on my list meets those criteria.
‘Nuff said. :-)