Isn't it our jobs, as teachers, to bridge the "great divide" between teachers and students, teenagers and adults, "us" and "them"? I spend countless hours each week trying to come up with ways to reach my students. How do I get them interested? How do I show them why I love Pride and Prejudice so much? How do I get them to care, even just a tiny bit, about a subject that I love enough to have devoted to my life to its pursuit? It baffles me why they seem to have zero interest learning. I’d give my eye teeth to have an expert be willing to share their passion and their knowledge with me! That’s why I went to college, and then grad school. I spent over $150,000 to explore literature, and I dream of one day getting a PhD. So why do my students come to school every day with a level of excitement befitting a trip to the dentist?
I forget though….I was once like them.
I, who read everything from novels to cereal boxes, once dreaded school. I, who hope to win a fellowship that will allow me to study The Canterbury Tales in London this summer, once neglected my homework to the point where I got a D in English 1 honors. I didn’t like school either.
So what changed?
That is what I hope to figure out – what changes between high school and college that transforms people from unwilling and uninspired students into open and engaged pursuers of knowledge? What is it, and can I harness it and bring it into my classroom?
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