Why the ‘Great Teacher’ Myth Doesn’t Help Kids
“Here’s the problem with the whole ‘great teacher’ idea,” Roxanna Elden tells me. We’re about halfway through a free-wheeling conversation that has covered everything from TFA to teacher evaluations. I became a groupie after reading her book, See Me After Class,which she explains is “not Chicken Soup for the Teacher’s Soul” but more like “Hard Liquor for the Teacher’s Soul” because that’s what she believes new teachers need: a shot of real-world, practical advice that’s grounded in common sense and years of classroom experience.
Roxanna serves her advice for brand-new teachers straight up, for example: “After a long, unrewarding day of teaching, suggestions like “Let them know you care’ or ‘Try making it fun’ from people who’ve never taught will make you want to rip off your head—or theirs—and roll it down the street like a bowling ball” or my favorite observation, “I am still waiting to see an ‘inspiring teacher’ movie in which the teacher grades papers.”
See what I mean? Obviously, I have to ask her opinion about what makes a great teacher. Roxanna doesn’t hold back. “I feel like the narrative of the great teacher encourages people to try to cast themselves as superhero great teachers in a school where they have to be the only bright lights in the dark sea of education,” she says, articulating what I’ve been struggling to express for a long time. She’s dubious about teachers who publish Messianic tales of their own inspirational work. “To me, it
