I get fan mail from time to time and invitations to speak that most of the time never come to fruition. One such invitation came from the treasurer of a Catholic school in the Los Angeles area. He had read my book "Math Education in the US: Still Crazy After All These Years" and liked it so much that he ordered ten copies for various teachers in the school.
He asked me if I would speak in late August at his school. I was just starting a teaching job and had to report the week before school started--which coincided with when he wanted me to speak. I said I could not given the circumstances, but maybe we could look at doing it in April since I got two weeks off, and surely one of those weeks his school would be in session. He demonstrated a great amount of inflexibility and said August was the only time. He then suggested the same time in August a year from then.
I said I couldn't think that far ahead and let the subject drop. We continued in a back and forth conversation in which he was constantly buttering me up and saying things like "You are a national treasure but you probably don't realize it." He would ask for my opinion on various things and I would give it to him.
One time, however, he said that he thought teachers are born not made, and wondered what my opinion was on the matter. I said I disagreed and that I had learned a lot about teaching techniques from articles I've read from reliable sources, (and including talks I heard at a researchED conference that I attended). One can always improve one's teaching if one has the inclination--there is always something to be learned. He apparently didn't like this, and I never heard from him again.
I've thought about this from time to time because I hear others saying it also. Teachers are no more born than virtuoso musicians are born, or award winning writers or actors. Aside from the few prodigies who may exist (the mathematician Ramanujan comes to mind) in general it takes hard work and much practice and learning. (Even Ramanujan had to learn how to do proofs for what he felt were obvious statements that needed none.)
But the myth prevails, and there is a sub-culture of teachers who look at teaching as a journey. In their world, teachers are ninjas and superheroes in a world of unicorns They attend ed camps not to learn new things but to reinforce their misguided notions about ineffective practices being effective and to be among those who speak the same group-think. The slightest indication of going against the group-think will cast such person to wander in the desert--even those who are national treasures who may not realize who they are.
I enjoyed your post. The hero trope seems to be a North American thing. Happily I haven’t come across that kind of talk, nor the idea that teachers are born, not made.
What I do see in Australia is a lot of institutional capture with uncritical acceptance of Departmental, Professional Development Training Provider, and university academic dogma amongst leaders and some teachers. People like Hattie are lionised and given enormous influence in shaping how schools work to improve outcomes.
Some teachers respond to this noise by trying hard and then becoming dispirited when they fail to meet the impossible and ever changing demands to make classrooms “democratic” and “student centred”. Others become uncritical “change champions” and share (very dodgy) evidence of their success. Unfortunately, because they share the same beliefs as leadership they are given all the airtime when it comes to discussion of how to operate in the classroom.
I have heard far fewer teachers than you claim instructional capability via birthdate, but it doesn’t surprise me that some do. Students often look at others’ success, whether on the baseball field or in the math realm, and assume that their neighbor’s success is the result of gifts and talent. Sometimes the hard work is invisible, hidden away from their peers at home or in the gears grinding behind a stoic skull, but sometimes it’s wanting that to be the case: if skill is the product of purpose work, then subpar performance deliver the sting of personal failing. “I just wasn’t blessed with it” is a gentle shrug with a pat on the back for trying.
That aside, I lost your thread a bit in the last paragraph. It might just be my coming from a different era—born-from-spider-bite superheroes seem very different than constantly training, devoted-like-monks ninjas—or a typo, but I’d be curious to hear you clarify that bit. What are the tenants of this group think that you’ve seen? How is seeing teaching as a journey antithetical to your “teaching skill is cultivated” point? No obligation to respond—I see this is from a past iteration of you—but I’ve enjoyed reflecting after both your posts so I would be curious to know.
Happy Friday!