I recently heard a story on an archived podcast of This American Life about Steve Poizner. Steve Poizner made a large sum of money in business. Afterwards, he taught at Mount Pleasant High School in San Jose for one year, which he documented in his book Mount Pleasant. His book depicted a struggling school in a crime-ridden neighborhood, where he arrived and motivated the students to success. In the podcast, Ira Glass explores the details of the book, discovering many inaccuracies. It turns out that the poverty of school and the crime in its surrounding neighborhood were grossly exaggerated. Likewise, the account of his astonishing effects on his students were...less than accurate.
One of the questions raised by Ira Glass is: why? Why did Poizner publish a book that son inaccurately represented Mount Pleasant? Was he lying, in order to bolster his gubernatorial candidacy by claiming that he was a teacher who understood public schools? Or was he mistaken, taking his preconceptions into the teaching experience and describing the picture as he saw it?
The podcast suggests interesting ideas about becoming a teacher. How much do expectations affect a teacher's experience, and subsequently the students' experiences? Is it that easy to think you are helping your students succeed, when they didn't really need your help? Will we accept anyone as a teacher?
The podcast can be streamed for free or purchased from iTunes for $0.99.
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