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She’s a Brilliant Teacher. Perhaps She Should Stop.
I closed my office for a week and went to my hometown of Morgan County, OH, for a few days to visit friends and family. It was wonderful. One night at a BBQ, I met a teacher of mine from high school. Besides my mother, she is the best teacher I’ve ever had. She taught me Physics and Inorganic Chemistry. And the way she taught — understanding rather than memorization — allowed me to ace science and math classes in college and medical school. She helped me so, so much.
She is now 61 years old and is considering retirement. She moved from my public school to a private school, but it’s still wearing her down. She complains that modern students lack curiosity and motivation, while administration and parents pressure her to just give everyone A’s. She teaches how to understand science and math — but they just want her to stamp her approval on their resume. She’s growing increasingly frustrated, to the point where she doesn’t want to go to work anymore.
Now that I’m back home, I sat down and wrote her a letter. I’d be interested in your thoughts about my letter to my teacher:
Dear Mrs. “Smith”,
I’ve been thinking about your quandary about retirement. Allow me to share my unsolicited thoughts on the matter. You’re welcome to carefully consider these thoughts in the same way as Coach Jones carefully considered my recommendations as to which plays we should run. But I can’t help but share my thoughts. Sorry.
It’s very upsetting to me that a teacher like you would ever retire. Everyone does, of course, but that would be a big loss to a lot of people. So you should hang on as long as possible. Right? Um, well, maybe not.
You are exceptionally skilled at teaching very difficult subjects to unusually bright students, in ways that enable them to excel in a wide variety of possible future endeavors. That is a valuable skill.
Well, it was. Now that schools teach to the test, that has changed things. Teachers are judged by how many of their students pass standardized tests, so they understandably focus on the bottom 20% of their students. I know that this is less of a problem in private schools, but still, teachers like you who excel with the top 20% are less valued today.
Parents want their kids to get A’s. They don’t care about details.
Administrators want to make money from AP and other shared credit courses which are designed to generate revenue, not develop curious minds.
Students have been trained from birth that certifications and degrees are more valuable than knowledge and wisdom, so they have understandably lost interest in learning about the world around them.
As I finish off yet another glass of bourbon, your situation reminds me of the last days of the Roman Empire. I know, I know. But bear with me – I think this might make sense even to the insufficiently inebriated:
Ok. So most modern scholars pin the fall of the Roman Empire to 476 – once Romulus abdicated to that German warlord guy, that was pretty much it. Right?
Well, sort of. For hundreds of years after that, there was Roman currency, Roman armies, Roman justice systems, Roman government, and millions of people who would describe themselves as Roman citizens. All those people thought that the Roman Empire still existed. Which it did. Sort of.
But in retrospect, it was over. All that was left was for people to read the handwriting on the wall, and then figure out what they were going to move on to. There was no obvious unifying power at the time, so until those millions of people could figure out what came next, they just sort of carried on like they had before. Understandably. They had been Romans for as long as anyone could remember.
I think your job may be over, whether you recognize that or not. The administration, the parents, and the students have moved on – from the pursuit of knowledge and understanding, to the purchasing of degrees and other pieces of paper that supposedly buy them tickets to the upper middle class.
You have a skill which was once treasured by many (like myself and my sister), but that skill is less valuable now, in today’s educational industry. Perhaps you continue to teach for the same reason as those Romans continued to call themselves Roman citizens. They just couldn’t imagine what came next.
Still, you’re the best teacher in that building. Unlike me, you lack the arrogance to come out and acknowledge the obvious. But inside, you understand that when you step down, some students will be deprived of what you can offer them. Your loyalty to students you’ve not yet met, and your devotion to your craft, make it difficult for you to walk away.
Plus, you’re only 61. Do you really want to sit on your front porch for 30 years? I don’t think you have the personality for that.
The obvious solution is setting up your own school – tutoring those who want to learn – those who want to excel in college science and math classes. But is there enough of a market in Morgan County, Zanesville, etc to make that worth your time? I doubt it, but I guess I don’t know. Maybe if you add professors’ kids in Athens? I doubt it. But again, I really don’t know.
But if these students don’t exist inside our schools, I’m not sure that they exist outside our schools. Hard to say, I suppose. I really don’t know.
So I don’t know what you should do. I really don’t.
But I suspect that your job is done already. Now, it’s just up to you to decide when to go do something else.
Continuing to do what you’re so remarkably good at is no longer an option. Your job no longer exists. So it’s time to go do something else. Whether you are ready for that or not.
Which is a crummy situation.
Or perhaps it’s an absolutely wonderful situation. Like learning math, life is what you make of it. The best may be yet to come. If you make it so.
Like the Romans, you can’t quit, until you decide to go do something else. And that something else may be absolutely wonderful.
I hope that it is. You’ve earned that. And so much more.
Signed,
Your Biggest Fan
This is so depressing. But thanks for the honesty in telling us, and in your letter to your beloved teacher.
Wow, that’s rough. It’s likely an honest and correct assessment of where this dear teacher is in life with her skillset and desires, though. Perhaps she may do well to consider tutoring and teaching for the homeschool crowd. I’m not sure how she would get connected to folk in those communities and organizations, but it could be the niche she needs to put her abilities to best use. Being in rural southeast Ohio is likely to make this a rough road for her as many folk intent on the best life for their children and grandchildren have long ago moved out of those areas.
That is so, so true.
My ambition required me to leave my beloved Morgan County. No choice. I go back whenever I can. But I can’t live there.
On the other hand, America’s education industry has changed to the point where the Mrs. Smiths of the world are no longer needed.
Which is even more tragic.
I’m thinking home schools exist pretty much everywhere: If I’m wrong, can she move close to here?
I know lots of kids whose parents would be grateful for her type of education.(Is she a church goer? Because almost everybody I know is.)
I’ve been in a similar situation. On the receiving end, that is.
You told her the truth, what she needs to hear. I hope she can take it in the spirit in which it was offered and move on. Good job, Doc.
Her husband drives a school bus, builds cabinets, & farms on the side. I think they’ve paid off their land.
They’re not going anywhere.
Yes, she’s a woman of faith. But education has changed.
The marketing of ‘higher education’ over the past 30 years has been….NOT ‘go to college so you can learn knowledge which is valuable in itself NOR, in most cases, ever ‘go to college so that you can get knowledge that will be USEFUL to you in your career,’ but rather, ‘go to college and get a DEGREE.’ It’s all about the credential. It seems that this attitude has, perhaps inevitably, moved down into the K-12 world.
“Parents want their kids to get A’s. They don’t care about details.”
Imagine that their kids were in a flight-training program. Would they want them to get a high rating from their instructors so that they could move up to flying higher-performance airplanes? (“Well, Susan is having some problems controlling approach speeds properly, but her parents really want her to get into jets, so I guess we’ll move her along”) … seems unlikely. People understand that if you’re going to fly airplanes you’d better have the relevant knowledge–but this perception doesn’t apply to the knowledge taught in schools and colleges.
Relatedly, I think that JOBS are increasingly thought of strictly in terms of the benefit to the jobholder rather than to any value produced by the work. Kind of like Titles of Nobility which are valued for their status and emoluments.
Great letter/message. I wonder, do you think she could write a (text)book, perhaps with assistance, that might help even more people?
And maybe PragerU is listening?
Schools have been explicitly re-organized around so-called “job skills.”(One more thing to thanks Bill Gates for.) It’s reflected in the newest trend in grading: Competency Based. Rather than grades, children are assessed on “skills” and “competencies” to see whether they are proficient. There are no references to knowledge. And – at least in SAU21 in NH, no provisions for gifted children. Parents make the provisions by taking their children out of school. Beware the dentist or lawyer or pilot who is proficient.
It’s very sad. She hasn’t changed, but the market in which she operates has …and for the worse.
Theoretically; the market for teachers should be driven by the amount of knowledge the teacher can convey in a minimum time at a minimum price. But it’s not. Not any more. It all about how many A ‘s can be given…regardless of j knowledge acquired. You’d think that employers would be the ones putting an end to that scam. That once A’s in a subject no longer translated into the ability to do a job in that field it would put an end to that scam of just giving out A ‘s. But it hasn’t. And I’m not sure why it hasn’t.
Well, employers have pretty much always had to do their own testing for their own needs. In the past they were barred from using tests that wound up having “racist” results, no matter how valid they might be. So my guess is they’re not even looking at school grades because they’ve known for a long time that those don’t really tell them much.
Part of what’s going on, I think, is that parents increasingly see America as an opportunity-constrained environment with a single ladder of opportunity, and if their kids fall off that ladder, or are delayed in climbing it, they will be forever consigned to outer darkness.
NEA and AFT.
I recently has some trees taken down and others pruned by an “arborist.“ The guy went to high school and played baseball with my son. He’s a genuinely nice guy. And never went to college. Based on his invoice, I’m confident they aren’t missing any meals at his house. I think if most folks took a step back and realized that there are good livings to be made in trades which don’t require a college degree, things could revert to normal.
Doc, I think you’re asking a lot of your beloved teacher for her to change careers at 61 years old. I still think she has work to do. She may not have the mass of inquiring minds that existed when you were growing up, but she still may find a few. Those few could very well make her remaining career as a teacher well worthwhile. I don’t know if you sent your letter, but if I were you, I would wait a few days. At 76 years old, I am certain I have a few years on you, I am also certain I have a lot less ambition. I say that just so you understand where I am coming from.
Organizing her thoughts and methods, and creating a (text)book from them, could be a very valuable use of her time and could end up influencing minds for generations, and around the world, long after she herself has gone to her reward, as Hugh Hewitt used to say, and probably still does.
Well certainly the educational system has changed.
Friends teaching in the public system have readily found satisfying positions in independent schools. Content is protected, altho there is no control for parents’ expectations. At least they are parents who want their children to learn “stuff” and gain knowledge and to be around other children whose parents want that. They have a shot at their children having friends who challenge and support each other.
It’s pretty hard to make a big change just before official retirement age, but perhaps there are independent schools who would be very interested in her experience. Since you’re in the advice giving mode.
Churches are missing a great opportunity to have a faith and tutoring night. With serious students and home schoolers needing help, there are possibilities.
Great post, Doc.
I find myself surprised that you had a teacher who is only 61 years old now. She must have been around 25 when she was teaching you, even if you were at the end of high school, right?
High school physics and chemistry are tough subjects for someone that young to teach well. She sounds quite extraordinary.
Nothing unique here. We are seeing this pattern across pretty much all our institutions. Look at the healthcare profession and what we just went through with the Covid pandemic. Look at the armed forces, energy, government, science.
You, @drbastiat, just happen to hit one of the root causes that leads to the manifestation of the others. People are no longer developing the skills for self-learning or self-education, in other words, that which we get from our life experience after formal education processes have helped prepare us.
I encountered one today right here on Ricochet. A member very frustrated with the continued support given Donald Trump by so many members showed no understanding of what the foundation for this support is attributing it to some unrelenting attachment to Trump, the person and personality.
We’ve lost our way and many do not possess the tools to recover.
I want to add to my previous comment that every field and/or institution that is identified as displaying this condition of having lost its purpose has been flooded with federal money, the people’s taxes, without explanations that would reveal the true purposes. The people who then take us down paths that don’t match what the people value do this then because this is how they continue to receive that money. Cui Bono, follow the money.
I’ve been chomping at the bit, needing to get a couple things done before I could reply here. First, what’s already been said – public schools are geared only to passing the test. Even the good teachers are very limited by curricula with little wiggle room for creativity, etc. That’s before we get to all the garbage that is dedicated solely toward making them mindless slaves of the state.
Homeschooling, however, is completely different. A parent’s object is to actually teach the student. One family I know would give a test (not multiple – guess), and grade it. Then they would hand the test back, and have the student correct everything s/he missed.
Finding a homeschool group nearby is easy. The local librarian may know, because homeschoolers read a lot of books. Check with local private music teachers – a lot of homeschoolers study music. Contact the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), ask about local organizations. Check with nearby evangelical churches.
“Classics” schools, especially high schools, are a growing phenomenon. These are usually Christian schools, with their curriculum built around the classics. Since they’re growing, they may well be looking for teachers.
She can get started now with tutoring, before she leaves the public school. Put up posters at local markets, etc. Actually, she’ll likely get most calls from from homeschoolers.
Welcome to the dark side! Go for it!
We really need to do a better job of expressing our appreciation for the work teachers do. It would help a lot in preventing burnout of our outstanding teachers.
This may be a chicken-or-egg type problem, because I think it’s pretty obvious that a lot of the “creativity” in classrooms is what started a lot of this slippery-sloping. Most people are more or less average, by definition, and that includes teachers. (If anything, the evidence would seem to suggest that most teachers – most public school teachers, anyway – are BELOW average.) And that means most teachers aren’t going to be very good at being “creative,” either. Indeed, it’s quite possible that they’ll do more harm than good, in the attempt.
I think teachers in the past were far more textbook-oriented etc, and weren’t trying to be “creative” because “Heather Has Two Mommys” or “Jimmy Has Two Daddys” or whatever.
And don’t we all think that education USED TO BE better than it is now?
So a return to more strictly following standard plans and textbooks would seem to be a good idea, although the plans and textbooks may need to be corrected first, to remove the woke garbage and previous “creativity” of people who couldn’t “creative” their way out of a wet paper bag.
My oldest majored in chemistry because of her HS chemistry teacher, too. I majored in Spanish because of my college Spanish professor. Teaching was a great profession before the problems Dr Bastiat described entered the field.
I think Tom Brady memorized a lot of plays. Memorizing is just muscle memory and grossly underrated. Learn material well enough to use it. Then understand it.
Most of the really gifted teachers in my life, I met outside the classroom. I’m the daughter, the widow, the niece, and the friend, of many.
This is it. Really good teachers never retire. What unites them in their excellence is their insatiable intellectual curiosity, and their interest in absolutely everything. Really good teachers never find themselves bored or at loose ends with life. They simply find new audiences, and new ways to teach and do, as their situations change and evolve.
If she’s half the teacher you say she is, she’ll make something wonderful of the second half of her life, too, no matter what she decides..
Cheers.
Change the words from “her parents” to “military flight instructors who feel pressure from their superiors to pass women/minorities regardless of performance” and you have another truth . . .