I am an idealist - I've been told so by many. "What are you going to school for," they ask. "To be a high school English teacher," I say. "Well darlin', why in the world would you allow yourself to go through that!?" I think it's safe to say that in this state, as is the case with almost anywhere, teaching is a profession of only the few, the proud, and the bravest. I know I'm going to go through my career with my hands tied behind my back, all the while working to free them. As a society in general, I simply believe we do what we're told - regardless of the profession. But it's so focused on with teaching because we're directly interacting with members of the future of this society - the students. I do agree with Gatto, but I also have a little more hope towards the whole issue as well. Granted, I haven't experienced anything as a teacher yet - only as a student. And once again, I'm an idealist. But what's wrong with that? What's wrong with actually wanting to come into teaching, all the while barrelling past the "rules" and guidelines to do something that actually means something to the students? I might lose my job. Okay. I'll go somewhere else and try again. Always try again. Sounds radical, but at this hopeless point, what else is there to try? I say this, but even as realistic as I want to be, I don't think things are really quite as bad as what Gatto makes them out to be. I can only speak for the "systems" I personally know of - the ones I have ties to. So I speak not to offend anyone who might be struggling somewhere else. In the school system I hope to go back to, change is around the bend. As is the case in all of society, a mass generation of teachers have aged and are retiring, making way for the new mass generation of young and fresh teachers to come in as an army of reform. The old is making way for the new and I'm quite optimistic. Perhaps I'll eat my words later, but there's always "what if." Gatto makes great points and I wholeheartedly agree with most of what he says. But at the same time, I refuse to let myself be bogged down by all the negativity - all the reality. If every new teacher comes into a classroom without a tiny hint of a dream, then the future of mankind is already lost. Changes will never be made. Believe I'm an idealist now!?

I agree with you. I try not to dwell on all the negativity placed on the teaching profession. If we all join together (all teachers) maybe we can make a difference and change the system which we know needs a lot of reforms. I am concerned about being too outspoken though. You said if you lose your job you will go somewhere else. I wish I could be like that. I hope I don't let fear keep me from doing what I feel is in the best interest of my students.

Casey, thank you for saying what I was thinking! But I don't think that's completely idealistic. Our society is by nature one that revolves around rules-not just the teacher profession-so I think for Gatto to state that teachers are required to "unthinkingly obey orders" seems nieve. What employee isn't expected to meet certain standards?

Although I'm taking this out of context, I do like Gatto's thought that "teachers teach who they are; if they are incomplete people, they reproduce their incompleteness in their students." And I'd like to add to that...teachers have the equal chance to reproduce enthusiasm, motivation, experimentation, creativity, optimism, and a desire for positive change in their students.

Wow.
I agree with the above comments in the sense that although this article is full of negativity, I still have hope, excitement, and determination for the future. Although the article makes the teaching profession seem quite intimidating, it is not enough to make me change my mind about what I have always wanted to do with my life. I agree with the article, as I think most people would, there are many problems in America's school system. However, with so many problems, I can't help but think, at least we can improve the system in some ways! I can't imagine constant new generations of teachers coming into the system, constant new ideas and fresh outlooks, and no change coming. Think about how much things have changed so far. Although our schooling system may look vaguely like something from an old Prussian empire, there have been many positive changes and I believe that the situation will continue to change for the better.
Perhaps I am nothing but an optimist. It scares me (almost more then the actual article) that the only people I see making positive comments here (regarding this article) are people who have not yet been in the teaching profession. Who knows, perhaps in five years I will look at this statement and laugh but for now, I am ready to get out there and face the system.

I did have a couple of quick questions regarding the article also. Firstly, what year was it written? I am always interested to know this fact. Also, Gatto talks about the school system being very rigged and strict but makes it seem like he would rather have total freedom as a teacher. Although I definitely agree with the fact that there are too many rules and regulations for us teachers (and future teachers ) to follow, I have always believed that some regulation is needed. Students across the country should be at least learning somewhat of the same thing...right?

One of the things that stood out to me the most about this article was the part where it says "lecturing is a nightmare way to teach". I dont think that is entirely true. Yes if you stand up and preach to your students they probably are going to phase you out. However, if you show that you are passionate about what your saying, you get the students involved and you make learning fun, i think that students will not only like to learn but they will also retain more of the imformation that you are spooning out to them. As future teachers it is up to us to make learning fun for our students and make sure that they are getting the best possible education that we can offer to them. We decide how to teach our class and we can make it as interesting or as boring as we want. So no i dont think lecturing is always bad. Its just how you decide to lecture that makes the big difference.

I agree. Lecturing is not always a "nightmarish way to teach." I had a history class where the professor did nothing but lecture, but she was good at it, and I learned an incredible amount of information. I think teaching should involve both lectures and other activities. You can't stick with either one or the other. There are definitely ways to take a lecture and turn it into something fun for the students.

I totally agree with everyones ideas of going into the classroom with an open heart and mind. However, we cannot continue to cram children into rooms by the dozens and then make them sit and listen to lecture. There is a huge difference between a college student and listening to lectures and a student in elementary school. These young children are bursting at the seams with energy and should be able to use that energy to their advantage. As a drama minor i have encountered countless ways to get children involved in the lesson. These not so typical ways are not very traditional and can frowned upon in some school system, but if you find the right school, they will see in the long run that the children are learning more and actually having fun! After all, the school years are supposed to be the best time of our lives. Why should we make the students grow up any faster than they have to?