One of the great things about being in love is that without trying, you are totally focused on someone else. When you’re in love, you’re not looking at yourself in the mirror and saying, “I’m looking pretty good today. ” Instead, it’s all about the other person: I love her. I love him. I love watching him walk through the park, I love being with her at dinner. She’s looking so great. I love the way he talks. And on and on.
When teaching is just right, that’s exactly the way it feels. It’s never, “I was great today.” It’s always, “I can’t believe how great my kids were today.”
Twenty years ago, the focus of school reform was largely on fixing school systems and models of instruction. Today a great deal more attention is being paid to finding and supporting great teachers. “Teacher quality” has rightfully become the focus (for the moment at least) of much of the perennial debate over American education.
All to the good. Great teachers – especially in struggling schools – make a tremendous difference for their students. Poor teachers in the best-arranged and supported schools, using the best methods, still shortchange their students – our students – in lasting ways.
But once we agree that great teachers are the key to great education, a big question needs to be answered: are great teachers special people whom we need to discover, or are they a collection of activities, outlooks and practices that most people can learn and practice?