I remember he actually scared me a lot. Thirty or so years ago I met my first department chairperson. Back then it was always a department chairman but being forced to be politically correct I have to admit he was a person. I remember him being old and I also remember how he didn't trust me.
Why won't the old talk to us? Why is it so hard for them to explain their years of experience to those of us who try not to make the mistakes of those who lived before us? Why is it so difficult for them to look into our eyes and explain how they got to become so old? To paraphrase Harry Truman, "There is nothing new in this world. Only the times that are not remembered." We can't remember these times unless the people who lived through them will explain them to us.
After a few months he became my mentor. I think he did this because he knew I had the fire in my gut to be a good teacher. It could also be because few of the other teachers wanted to talk with him. You see he was a curmudgeon and in his time he was considered a dinosaur of education. He didn't believe in the new found concepts of open classrooms and heterogeneous classes. He understood all children should be given the same opportunity to succeed but also knew everyone will not succeed unless you lower your standards to make them succeed. This is something he would never do.
Needless to say he was overwhelmed by the ever-growing administrations and their initiatives that sounded good by name but had little substance to them. At his retirement he gave me a hug and told me to continue the good fight because he knew I cared about my students and their futures. He also knew I couldn't care less about policies that made the policy makers look good instead of making our students succeed more.
Thirty years passed before I could figure out how to slow time down. Thousands of students passed through my classes. All of them did very well because they worked to their capacity. I never had a bad student. In fact, I wouldn't know how to define or even recognize one. But, policies changed that placed the concept of Data over my student's well-being. The concepts of multiple intelligence and individualized education pushed out the concept of a classroom teacher being a "sage" on a stage. I am actually quite proud of that description.
These programs have now been usurped by the concept of "school-wide rubrics" that demand all children be assessed the same way. Now that its common knowledge the "NCLB" program has failed; more initiatives are being created to fill the void. The only problem is these new programs need more administration and administrators. I am saddened by the fact we are losing more art, music, health, and unified arts teachers every year and in their place are the curriculum coordinators whose responsibility is to coordinate numbers instead of children.
A few days ago I was told I intimidated many new teachers. I guess they were scared of me even though I thought I helped them through many difficult times. I had been a mentor to many of them because I knew they had the fire in their guts to be great teachers. I tell them to be careful and not become friends to their students. Their students have all the friends they need but they have few teachers. My administrators told me I was a curmudgeon who wasn't a team player doing what I was told to do even though I knew it would hurt my students.
Today I am being overwhelmed by the title wave of new initiatives that have little to do with the education of my students. Even though many of my responsibilities have been taken away I know I can still make difference for my students. But, sooner than later I understand I will be forced to retire and be simply thrown away.
Jim Fabiano is a teacher and writer who teaches in New Hampshire and lives in York, Maine. You can contact Jim at: james.fabiano60@gmail.com
