Just a Gwai Lo

A student in my High School Physics class gave me your article to read. What can I say, except why do you think this fairly bright student who is very adept at understanding the meanings of formulas should think I would want to read your essay (French for to try as you know!).

I don't have a lot of arguement so far with what you have written; I haven't had a lot of time to reread it. I am not as articulate as you, but have found public education to have been quite useful to me. I never would have been able to afford schooling otherwise. Also, I am not nearly as intelligent nor as independent as Benjamin Franklin, one of America's greatest physicists (not known by many!!), was.

For the moment I have only time for a few comments because I have swamped myself by agreeing with my Principal and a handful of my collegues that there are better ways to teach (instruct, facilitate, or whatever) than what we have been doing. I have taken a lot from Marzano and others who have worked with him and see on a daily basis students who at least appear to be not just learning the formulas, but understanding what they mean and what they are useful for. As I tell my students all the time, I don't even pretend to know why!

I am old and tired but am using the teaching profession as a way to support, house, and feed my family which I did not start for the first time until I had 42 years behind me. Many of my son's friends think his mother and I are his grandparents. However, I digress, as I too often have done in class and have worked on focussing on the lessons more these past two years.

I simply ask, Mr. John Taylor Gatto, where were you when I was removed from teachin Anatomy at the University of Cincinnati for using unorthodox methods (I also read a chapter from Jerry Farber -- you probabley know or know or him -- one day when the class and I had finished a lab exercise and the instructor insisted that we all still put in the required time of two hours) for what is often seen as a boring uncreative subject. The Grievence Committee of three professors and three graduate students reinstated me but the Department Head dissolved the Grievence Committee issued a memo that I was to no longer have contact with undergraduate students at that institution. I did, however, still receive my pay because the incident "scared" many of the professors and grad students who then feared losing their pay, so they voted that I could still be paid as long as I continued my research. My two lab sections (60 students) by the way, had on average one whole grade higher (80% verses 70%) than the entire lecture class of some 240 studnets. I never tested, nor quizzed the class and never saw nor graded the exams. (It was brought up by the Grivience Committee that I had possibly given my students answers to the tests but the main instructor, who had filed the complaint against me, assured the powers that were that that was not possible. The class average was 70% with my lab sections included in the math and my two lab sections averaged 80%!!!???!!!

I got drafted (circa 1970's) and ended up in court for 18 months fighting for my Conscientious Objector status which I was finally granted (I am not a religious person!) and I served my time as in research for cures for burns and then as a high school teacher in Kentucky.

After going throug dozens of jobs such as building contractor, equipment operator, plumber, etc, (non of which I was ever fired from) I got married and had my one and only son. Know that I was responsible for his upbringing I turned to the teaching credentials I had earned on a whim and began my career as a science teacher in California.

I have been through years of listening to uncountable complaints from everyong about how bad our education system is, but have rarely been supported by anyone when I feebly attempted to do anything about it.

The best I can say not is that I am in the process at 61 years of age in completely revamping and relearning how to teach and I see tiny but significant improvements in students actually understanding and not just learning. However, I have met with considerable objections from many of my collegues some of who have asked me to stop and go back to lecturing because what I am doing is making them feel uncomfortable.

I have too much more to say, but am tired and disillusioned and need to prepare Chemistry, Physics, and Earth Science lessons for this week.
Anyway, nice article, but what have you done besides win awards (possible jealously since I have won few if any other that having students present me with placks directly!!) and write wonderful essays? My appologies for my terrible spelling and no I am not angry at you, I know all too well how really difficult it is to advance even one millimeter in growth when it comes to teaching students how to be free and learn!!

I hope you do not take offense at this as I would think that you would prefer I express myself as honestly as I can, being a product of our public education system.

And, yes, I am in constant reflection/turmoil over whether or not I am contributing more to the problem or actually doing something, however small or slowly, to rectify it (whater it is). But, I do believe that my family that I chose to have deseves to be supported and it is the one job that I have had in my life that provides my with the best financial rewards I have ever received for time put in!!

Yours truly,
Bill Brenton
wlbquanta@comcast.net