I find Fecho's particular brand of honesty, refreshing. I like how he talks about how, at heart, he is a shy guy -- and a bit of a loner. His way of appreciating difference is specific – not a kumbaya generalization. He talks about the culturally-based, fullness of responses his kids brought with them, and how it has helped him expand (p. 8-9).
He refuses the teacher-as-miracle-worker myth and positions himself as a learner in the inquiry-based classroom. He says he doesn’t have all the answers – in fact, he says there are “no miracles” in his stories (p. 24) and “no tidy formula” (p. 29). I saw some of my own teaching experiences in his descriptions and realized through his appreciation of some of the “flashes” that I’ve had a hard time remembering those – or rather, perhpas, giving them their due. Maybe I bought into the miracle myth. It’s helpful to read about teaching and reflection as loopy and non-linear.
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3 comments:
"Maybe I bought into the miracle myth."
I think we all kind of have in one way or another. Fecho reminded me to appreciate the "muck" involved in teaching.
The best teachers seem not to follow a set curriculum or formula. In reading Fecho's and Gaughan's books, I couldn't help but think about the push for common lesson plans and packaged curriculum. Imagine if either of these two teachers were required to follow a plan with this type of structure. How their students would have missed out!
You certainly aren't the only one to buy into the miracle and hero teacher myth. In many ways, media of all kinds fosters those beliefs, which make it all the more difficult to talk about the stickiness of real classrooms with folks not sunk (or stuck) in their wonderful muck. (How's that for a Fecho-esque metaphor?)
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