On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 05:00:03 -0700, Alan Kay alan.kay@squeakland.org wrote:
But here's where we should give the special cases amongst the much maligned (and quite a bit for good reason) teacher corps great credit. Every once in a while a great teacher does light the fires, and those that are affected by this never forget it. To me this is the way it should be, because many children are close to the intense interest that you describe, and contact with another person can be just what they need to give them a little more confidence and courage, to get them to look at something a little closer.
I've had just a few of these, but they were huge experiences in my life.
Oh, absolutely. I do believe that the positive feelings that many (most?) harbor for teachers comes from that "one" who really connected with them. And, like any class of people, the group as a whole is less admirable than the individuals therein.
The IAHP is very much for--as a matter of effectiveness--mom as the primary teacher, and yet it was they who pointed out to me that, given the differences in childrens' behaviors, interests and development, it's a miracle that they are successful at all. Which was for me, as a guy who felt his school years were a waste academically, a needed perspective.