Teachers on this list (LONG).
Amy Z
aiz24 at hotmail.com
Mon Jul 2 14:01:51 UTC 2001
Jenny, thanks for your post on teaching. I was very moved.
I quail with shame at the state of schools such as yours and the
communities in which they're situated. This week I've been reading
Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol, which for those of you who don't know
his work is a nonfiction book about children in the poorest
Congressional district in the nation, the South Bronx, particularly
Mott Haven. The crematorium Jenny mentioned may be the same one he
writes about; it was situated there despite possibly being
carcinogenic, and certainly contributing to the almost 100% asthma
rate in the area. I can't recommend this book, or his others about
education, homeless people, the spiritual lives of children, etc.,
highly enough. He is one of my heroes.
Back to teaching. A good administration is really important. I have
worked with a good, supportive one and a pretty weak one--the
difference was enormous, and I left the latter job partly because a
new headmaster was coming in whom I thought was bad news. Things like
discipline are made all but impossible if the administration doesn't
back up the teachers.
Amy Z
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