Good teachers: made, not born

Looking back at high school, I'm impressed by the incompetence of so many of my teachers. The elderly woman who taught my required senior course in American government -- a topic that had fascinated me since at least sixth grade -- managed to extract every last drop of juice and interest from the course, relying on a lesson plan that required rote memorization of dry facts. Facts that I'm sure, for 90 percent of the class, were forgotten the day after the final exam.

At least she ran a taut ship. No one clowned around while her steely gaze was upon them.

I've mentioned before that teaching at one time interested me as a profession. I suspected back then, however, that not only would I be incapable of transmitting my enthusiasm for any subject to the majority of my students, but that I'd be wholly incapable of controlling a classroom of typically restless kids.

And yet, some teachers do succeed. Some did, even in the intellectual and economic backwater that was my hometown. How did they do it?

Newsweek discusses the problem in this week's issue, and concludes that the solution is merit pay for good teachers and the sack for bad teachers. These solutions may improve the teaching in some schools, but they do not enlarge the pool of competent teachers. A more careful discussion of the problem was provided in yesterday's magazine supplement to the New York Times.

The NYT article discusses two on-going studies devoted to the question: "What makes a good teacher?" These studies are not abstract and theoretical. In fact, the article implicitly criticizes many present courses at American schools of education for being abstract and theoretical, often taught by professors who have never actually tried to teach a class of elementary or high school students. The studies discussed in yesterday's article are empirical, based on close observation of successful teaching techniques as used by successful teachers -- observation of actual classrooms and of videotapes of actual teaching.

The first study, by Doug Lemov, consultant and author of the forthcoming book Teach Like a Champion, has generated a list of 49 proven techniques to control the classroom -- ways to capture the attention of the students and get them to follow instructions. The study suggests that a successful teacher can have any type of personality -- Lemov describes himself as an extreme introvert. Successful teachers are those who have learned the appropriate techniques in leading the class, not charismatic figures with inborn talents.

The second study is one originating independently at Michigan State. Teachers may have developed exceptional abilities to control the classroom and interest the students -- but still not have the ability to teach their subject. The work at Michigan State recognizes that a solid background in the subject matter being taught is a necessary but not sufficient condition for good teaching -- the teacher's own knowledge is important only insofar as he or she has the ability to convey that knowledge to the student. Again, this is a skill that can be taught.

The Michigan study was aimed specifically at developing methods for teaching mathematics. A Stanford professor is now attempting to develop similar techniques for teaching English.

If attained, the goals of these two studies -- engaging the students and transmitting the subject matter -- should together permit schools of education to produce exceptionally strong teachers. Although evidence of success to date seems primarily anecdotal, the examples discussed by the NYT article provide hope that these approaches actually work. Anyone interested in new approaches in American education should read the article -- and perhaps the studies on which it's based.

A fairly bashful kid, such as I was, may in future years have less hesitation in choosing to be a teacher, knowing that Schools of Education actually are capable of teaching him how to engage and educate real students -- not just ambitious kids from middle class families, but "problem" children from broken homes and dysfunctional street cultures. Like new doctors and lawyers, new teachers might then bring an arsenal of proven techniques to their new jobs -- rather than finding themselves thrown into a hostile classroom with no idea of how to meet the horrific challenges they're often forced to encounter.