Pretending in Education

In the July issue of The Sun magazine, in the "Readers Write" section on pretending, Susannah Mackintosh writes this:

“I’m an actor, but for 12 years I held day jobs as a teacher. I taught everyone from homeless preschoolers to union members to teen felony offenders to fifth-graders (by far the most challenging). At some point during each job, I would reveal to my co-workers that I was an actor, and they would say something like ‘Oh, teaching must be easy for you, then. You just get up and pretend to know what you’re doing!’

"I did pretend as a teacher: I pretended to care about tests. I pretended that getting through the day’s lesson was of the utmost importance. I pretended that effective conflict resolution could be taught in 12 forty-five minute workshops. I pretended that getting your GED would radically alter your life, even if all the odds were stacked against you. I pretended that six months’ rehabilitation could remove the obstacles that racism and poverty had placed in a young person’s path. I pretended that I didn’t care when students insulted or humiliated me. I pretended to believe that my students should listen to me as an authority figure. I pretended to respect my principal and to care about keeping my job.

"There are indeed skills that are transferable from acting to teaching: pretending is not one of them. As an actor I never pretended. I always expressed the truth.”

Reading this I wondered how many teachers pretend. How many go along with systems in schools they do not support or believe in? How many stealthily teach with passion and conviction and then help the students cram for their standardized tests as a secondary function of their job? How many convince themselves to follow a system they don’t believe in? How many leave public education for independent schools that are more aligned with their teaching goals? How many leave teaching altogether? And how many think our current approach to educating the next generation is the right one? And if they don’t, what pretense do they put forth, like Susannah did?

I welcome your thoughts.

Zoe Weil
Author of The Power and Promise of Humane Education and Most Good, Least Harm

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