Former teacher Mark Gerson, in his book “In the Classroom” published in 1997, presents two revelatory concepts about education.
The first is about how teachers should not try to identify with their students. They should not try to be their friends by forcing themselves to develop interests in common with their students. “Students want their teachers to be the men and women they want to become, not one of the kids.”
The second concept involves the misguided notion that celebrity role-models who lecture kids on living a clean life– practicing safe sex, avoiding drugs, being a good citizen, etc.– will succeed in changing their behaviors. They will not succeed. Inner-city kids will live clean lives only when they are surrounded by people they know personally who do so daily, and when there is love shared among them.
“Just as absurd as the role model example is the notion advanced by Helen Straka of the United States Department of Education in defending her agency’s $14 billion budget: ‘By having a Department of Education you’re saying the kids are number one, and there’s someone in Washington who’s their friend, who’s pulling for them.” This was news to Gerson, as no students he knew, knew there even WAS an Education Department. Better friends for the students would include teachers and parents who taught the value of discipline and hard work.