Getting Beyond Chewing Gum and Book Covers

By Paula M. Evans

When I started out as a French teacher in the late 1960's, my department head gave me three commands: "Never talk to a student before class. Be sure the books have covers. Look for gum." I was assigned introductory courses of lower-level students. Our textbook, written in the 1940's, featured Jean-Paul, who wore knickers and wanted garden tools for his 16th birthday. My students hated French and told me so regularly. I just kept looking for gum and making sure their books were covered.

The habits I was cultivating reflected and reinforced the school's culture. All students will take a foreign language and will speak and write acceptable French after two years with Jean-Paul. Use one method of teaching for all kids. They are, after all, basically the same anyway. You, the teacher, have the knowledge and skills. Transmit them to the kids. New teachers get the lower-track kids (Camus will have to wait) and lower-track kids get the oldest books. Keep order. Maintain decorum.

I knew better. I had been trained in one of the country's most progressive graduate schools of education. Yet, within six months I had forgotten most of that training. The culture of the school and of the larger field of education proved far more powerful. I was learning to insist that students do as they were told, no matter what--and...