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Published on 11/18/1996 All articles from this issue

We need to say thanks to those who teach

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By Charlotte Kaye Jarmy

Autumn brings the added pleasures of cooler weather, the annual burst of bright color from our trees, and, for me, the renewed energy that working with the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) brings. If there is one issue that our candidates for high office agree on, it's education. Too often, however, their support rings hollow with the use of generalities and sound bites.

Teacher bashing, which I heard at one political convention, raises my hackles because it is patently unfair. Why the older generation of voters believes that their education was better than the one offered to students today is beyond me.

More students graduate from high school and go on to college now than in the so-called golden days. These students have the opportunity to enroll in local colleges, or grades permitting, in state universities or the UC system. Yet California spends less money per student than most other states.

Teachers today come trained to deal not only with the intellectual growth of their students but also with emotional and social growth.My teachers lectured and lectured, rarely splitting classes into small groups because they hadn't learned that enormous gains are made when students help one another to puzzle over problems and ideas.

STEP teachers bear so much responsibility for teaching their students, using creative techniques, unknown to professionals in other times. In addition, they must come to grips with the demanding courses they take as Stanford students. The four young student teachers I supervise at four different local high schools show evidence already of their future as excellent teachers. They study and plan, grade papers and worry about their students' problems. The classes are large, but most of the student-teachers succeed in their goals.

STEP watches their progress carefully, stays in touch with school administrators and cooperating teachers, who also give so much time and advice to the always worried young people who are beginning their careers. STEP takes on the challenge of bringing the best in pedagogy to their classes, while trying as well to cover difficult areas such as sexual harassment and the needs of students from various ethnic and racial groups.

Last week I attended a small meeting of student-teachers of English who listened to the sometimes painful experiences of four bi-racial teachers, formerly STEP students themselves, and one Caucasian teacher married to one of the panelists. The stories these teachers told of discrimination in public and private schools shocked us but made us aware of the strength of their motivation to overcome their problems.

STEP students' idealism and compassion toward youngsters who must often face cruelty in their school experiences from teachers as well as their fellow students came out in their questions. Two Stanford students did not hide their tears of frustration because of their inability to change the "system" that hurt kids. They don't realize yet how lucky their students are to learn from the bright future teachers who care so much.

No doubt our education has its flaws, but I remember from my own teaching experience that my students responded overwhelmingly to teachers who showed them that they respect and often love the students in their classes.

It takes years of experience to master all of the demands of the teaching profession, but I am proud to be associated with and to help STEP student-teachers, who give of their knowledge and show their desire to make a better world for "kids".