Lessons from the Teacher Man

From tales of his 30 years teaching in New York City schools to the public's indifference toward teachers, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former teacher Frank McCourt's lighthearted and humorous talk yesterday to students in the Teacher Education Program, one of 13 master's programs at the Ed School, left an impression.

"People think because they've been in schools that they know about teaching, but they don't," said McCourt, in a meeting with students prior to his Askwith Forum talk on his latest book, Teacher Man, which highlights his trials, triumphs, and surprises faced during his teaching career in New York City public schools.

From the uncertainty he faced every day when he entered a classroom of teenagers to the despair he felt riding the subway home each evening, McCourt's teaching experience became an open book for students to draw upon.

"I nearly died my first few years of teaching," McCourt said comparing his first classroom experience to dumping a student doctor into an operating room. "I didn't know what to do."

Students chuckled as McCourt described the sense of hopelessness each evening while he sat among "miles and miles of unread papers" that he never could read--despite students' pestering him to return their work. His wife, dinner, and watching the news--just in case a student randomly asked about Albania--were welcome distractions from grading those papers, he said. Finally, as a last resort, he'd set the alarm for 4 am the next morning in order to work on the dreaded grading--only to smash the alarm clock the next day.

The lack of knowledge of the frustration and difficulties teachers face is just one piece of the general lack of respect and interest in someone who is "only a teacher," according to McCourt. Other frustrations include the low pay for a constant job, and the onslaught of media pointing out what's wrong with schools.

"As if there was some time when American schools were perfect," he said. "It's easy to attack because it never was and never will be perfect."

Despite the gripes, McCourt pointed out the huge impact teachers make, even if they don't realize it at the time.

He recalled a particular class of students where he tried everything to make a difference, but nothing seemed to work. He spent every afternoon on the subway contemplating what else he could try to break through to this seemingly unreachable group of students, eventually coming to the sobering realization that nothing would work. At graduation that year, McCourt said he felt like he had lost.

Several years later, McCourt bumped into a student from that class at a New York bar. The student, now a writer for a high-profile magazine, confided to a surprised McCourt that it was the best class he had ever taken.

Beyond the impact teachers make upon their students, McCourt reminded the Teacher Education Program students that they will certainly see a difference in themselves. "Teaching helped me begin to find out who the hell I am," he said. "I don't know what I did for them, but I know what it did for me."

McCourt was born in 1930 in Brooklyn, New York, to Irish immigrant parents. He grew up in Limerick, Ireland, and returned to America in 1949. His first book, Angela's Ashes, won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the L.A. Times Book Award.