Book Review
Prestipino
April 30, 2012
Outline
1. Introduction 2. Frank McCourt’s Personality Traits 3.1 Honesty 3.2 Loyalty 3.3 Reflection 3. Themes 4.4 Misery of a Teacher 4.5 Multicultural Classrooms – Problems and Conveniences 4. Language 5.6 Humor, Sarcasm and Irony as Rhetoric Devices 5. Conclusion
Frank McCourt: Teacher Man - Review
We all know the rules in classrooms.
“Children are to keep the voices down. They are not to roam room or hallways. There can be no learning in a noisy atmosphere. The classroom is not a playground. There should be no throwing of things. If students want to ask a question or answer a question they are to raise their hands. They must not be allowed to call out. Calling out could lead to pandemonium and that would make a bad impression on Board of Education officials from Brooklyn or educators visiting from foreign parts.”(p. 148)
Take these rules and make the opposite the classroom’s reality. In Mr. McCourt’s classroom, the reader witnesses a chaotic school life, far from discipline and order. The author does not even wait until page 3, until he reveals how his students throw around sandwiches and fight with each other.
Not only this scene demonstrates why principles and officials see frequently the necessity to fire this untypical Irish teacher. “Good teachers run a tight ship.”(p. 149) So, does that mean that our teacher here, is a bad teacher? In the following analysis, I want to argue for the opposite, namely, showing how this teacher can be defined as a good teacher, as an outstanding one, even. Particularly three personality features will be focused, along with two important messages, the book sends out. Finally we want to see how this book is not only a lesson for the reader but also amusement. In his thirty-years teaching career, Mr. McCourt learned one thing: “Honesty is the best policy.” In many instances, the teacher just reveals his honest feelings in front of the whole class and does not fear any controversial reactions. Whenever he is asked for something he is unsure about or does simply not know the correct answer, he would just admit that he does not know and that he would look it up later. He feels that there is no use in not being honest. He even confesses that at times, he is struggling with negative feelings: “I told my class I was so uncertain about teaching.” (p. 58)
The reason why he sticks to his morals and principles of honesty is simple: “Even if they [the students] lie to themselves and the world they look for honesty in the teacher.” (p. 203) A teacher should always uphold this principle. He learned this lesson particularly at one school: McKee vocational school, where “you have to make your own way in the classroom. You have to find yourself. You have to develop your own style, your own techniques. You have to tell the truth or you’ll be found out. “ (p. 113)
At this school, the reader perceives his belief in honesty also at one passage where he is showing, and indirectly criticizing, the corrupt procedures of grading executed by his fellow teachers there. Those just assign their grades according to their likes and dislikes, distorting and manipulating the evaluative factors (see p. 108).
His good morals are also visible when a mother offers him to spend an adventurous weekend on whatever resort he chooses just to let her daughter into his class. He takes it for granted to turn down this offer, as it is corrupt. His colleagues, however, do not hold the same position and make fun of him: “What’s the matter with you?” (p. 201) Nevertheless there is more that makes him a great teacher. Not only his honesty but also his loyalty towards students is outstanding. We always think of the teacher-student relationship as being an antagonistically one, sometimes even aversive. Not for Frank McCourt. The reader sees that when he had to attend the first Open School day. As opposed to all expectations he never says anything negative about his students. Whenever parents ask how their children are doing, he responds that they are doing great and that there is no need to worry. He comments the following: “I was learning that teachers and kids have to stick together in the face of parents, supervisors and the world in general.” (p. 71) Also, there is this thrilling moment in the book where a father simply walks in his class and starts beating his son. He sees that as a scandal and interferes, protecting his student and stop this brutal savageness. (see pp. 91, 92)
He usually emphasizes and feels with his students taking them under his protective shield, contrasting once more his colleagues’ opinions who claim: “We have huge classes, not time, and we’re not psychologists.” (p. 100) Instead, he listens to every individual and shares some interesting and touching stories of his students, as for example Sal Battaglia’s and Louises love story that ended in a disaster as Sal, being Italian, got beaten down by Louises folks, Irish people. (See p. 93-95)
Being on the kids’ site gives him a lot of advantages. The most positive result, of course, is that he is liked by the students, who think, “he was a vital, engaging, teacher.” (p. 183) He often also hears compliments: “Mr. McCourt, you really nice. The class nodded yeah yeah and the Puerto Rican boys smiled in the back of the room.” (p. 146)
He is very considerate and reflects about students’ problems, even though he sometimes is embarrassed: “I wish I could take him aside for a talk, but I know I’m no good at that. It’s easier to talk to the whole class than to one boy. It isn’t so intimate.” (p. 96)
Outstanding is also his performance when he takes his class to the movies and travels through the city of New York. All his students are completely overwhelmed by the city and run around excitedly. Passer-by’s though commented deceptively “they don’t know how to behave like human beings” (p. 138). Having heard this, the offended teacher defends his students and takes their position.
In the end, Frank knows that he can proudly say: “Ten years of teaching and he can say: ‘You’re doing your dogged best,’” whereas all those other teachers don’t give a “fiddler’s fart” about their students.
In his coming of age biography, the character grows a lot and develops his own teaching method; his secret of being a good teacher. “I was finding my voice and my own style of teaching. I was learning to be comfortable in the classroom.” (p. 204) The reader can totally witness this successful growth, starting with the scene of rowdy behavior and fights in the middle of his classrooms and his innocence. He is often being extremely criticized for only telling stories, rather than teaching “solid stuff”. He is called “the teacher who cannot say ‘no’.” (p. 95) He is often mocked for his Irish accent and has to face harsh critique by parents whenever Open Class days are held: “Stick to the spelling and the words, Mr. McCurd, and the parents of this school will thank you forever. Forget the storytelling.” (p.75) During the years he often has moments in which he thinks that he should change his teaching style and start being “tough, organized, disciplined and focused.” (p. 147)
However, this teacher figures out a unique and incredibly effective way of teaching that brings me to the point of labeling him a very good teacher. As already stated, he is honest to the students, to himself and particularly loyal. He recognizes every single individual; “I don’t see a class as one unit sitting and listening to me. There are faces showing degrees of interest or indifference. It’s the indifference that challenges me.” (p. 148) and he develops his own style to teach AND entertain the youth.
Frank McCourt lays out a plan for self-improvement to make him a better teacher that is disciplined, traditional, scholarly, resourceful and always ready with answers. His basic plan consisted of the following:
“I still told stories, but I was learning how to connect them with the likes of the Wife of Bath, Tom Sawyer, Holden Caulfield, Romeo and his reincarnation in West Side Story. English teacher are always being told, you gotta make it relevant.” (p. 204)
He finds his secret recipe through a lot of reflection and self-critique, often connected with depressive moods. The reader witnesses how hard he is trying to always self-improve and how much he is aware of his responsibility of a teacher and master in the students’ educational progress. At one point, when he tries to teach new vocabulary through reading cookbooks and singing recipes, he starts worrying. “How can all this be justified to the authorities who keep an eye on the curriculum?” (p. 209) He believes through his creative and innovative style of approaching students he rather “turned the classroom into a playground, and turned his classroom into a playground, a rap session and a group-therapy forum.” (p. 211) At the peak of his coming-of-age he writes an imaginary letter of critique to himself, but he concludes that there is no use in fearing authorities’ punishment if he is being his own enemy: “Why fear the criticism of others when you, yourself, are first out of the critical gate? If self- denigration is the race I am the winner, even before the starting gun. Collect the bets.” (p. 211)
Yes, sometimes not only the students and not only the reader of his biography, but even Frank McCourt wonders what his teaching strategy is. What is the way of success? In Chapter 17 he finally reveals it:
“Find what you love and do it. That’s what it boils down to. I admit I didn’t always love teaching. I was out of my depth. You’re on your own in the classroom, one man or woman facing five classes every day, five classes of teenagers. One unit of energy against one hundred and seventy-five units of energy, one hundred and seventy-five ticking bombs, and you have to find ways of saving your own life. They may like you, they may even love you, but they are young and it is the business of the young to push the old off the planet. [..} After a few years you develop antennae. You can tell when you’ve reaches them or alienated them. It’s chemistry. It’s psychology. It’s animal instinct. You are with the kids and as long as you want to be a teacher, there’s no escape. Don’t expect help from people who’ve escaped the classroom, the higher-ups. They’re busy going to lunch and thinking higher thoughts. It’s you and the kids. So, there’s the bell. See you later. Find what you love and do it.“ (p. 255)
Turns out that even the superintendent applauds and tells him that his teaching is creative and innovative and that there needed to be more teachers like him.
So, in his biography, the reader not only gets the chance to analyze his outstanding features of honesty, loyalty and self-improvement through reflection but one can also detect two important messages which Frank McCourt wants the reader to see. First of all, he depicts the miserable situation that teachers have to live in.
He often has to change his position; he taught in four different high schools (McKee, Fashion Industries, Seward Park, Stuyvesant) and at a college in Brooklyn, where parents and school administrations always criticize him. Many times, he also thought that students only used teachers: “They just use you. They find out where you’re vulnerable.” (p. 78) Therefore he often asked himself: “What was the use? Teacher, my arse.” (p. 55)
He found himself as being a slave to the rules set by the Board of Education that required a strict lesson plan, stating your aim and your motivational means, a summary and a homework for every single class. He found himself imprisoned, with little opportunity to escape the system and practice his own teaching method.
He often feels he is refused in the new American society. Being a teacher, “I was disheartened. There is no room for me in the great American Dream.” (p. 56) He then decided to go back to Dublin seeking a PhD. After a while though, he had to be honest to himself and declare: “There was no door for me in Dublin and I had to admit, finally, what ailed me: I missed New York.”(p. 177)
Back to New York, he finally thinks he should simply continue his own teaching style. Not only does he tell stories from his youth and adulthood but he also sings recipes, assigns exciting creative writing tasks, like excuse letters to God from Eve and plans fieldtrips to the movies or to parks. He likes to bring the classroom alive and motivate the students. Nevertheless all his effort, however, the book shows how little respect he gets. Especially when he changes to the most prestigious High School in New York, namely Stuyvesant High School, he tells how the parents are merely interested in the success of their children. “The moms and dads have high expectations and nothing less than success will satisfy them. […] No wonder Stanley is screwed up. The mother keeps the classic six-room apartment on the Upper West Side while Dad is in some hovel in the arse end of the Bronx.” (p. 233)
At that school he encountered a lot of stress, being obliged to teach five classes and keep up a high level. The reader witnesses how he starts procrastinating and postponing his duties, often indulging into alcohol as the only means to escape the bitter reality:
“When you teach five high school classes a day, five days a week, you're not inclined to go home to clear your head and fashion deathless prose,'' he writes. ''You get no time for reading Graham Greene or Dashiell Hammett, F. Scott Fitzgerald or good old P.G. Wodehouse, or your main man, Mr. Jonathan Swift. You'll go blind reading Joey and Sandra, Tony and Michelle.''
Unfortunately, no one ever realizes his great efforts and it turns out to be the reality for many, many teachers in this world. “ Oh you are a teacher? Nice. You get a lot of holidays and work only from 8am to 1pm”, is what even I have to hear almost every time I answer what my profession was. As we see in this reviewed book, the life of a teacher is more than just a few hours of entertaining a bundle of youths. The second problem shown and analyzed in the book “Teacher man” is the one of a clash of several cultures in one classroom. As the story is told during the American immigration period, most classes of McCourt are full of multiculturalism and multiethniticism. It is the teachers’ task to unify all those different individuals and create a unity out of this heterogeneous group. His first encounter with a diverse classroom landscape happened at the New York community college in Brooklyn. First, he had a hard time adjusting to the different level in a college.
“I hardly knew what to do when those first classes filed in, sat and waited for my lecture. No one asked for the lavatory pass. No one raised a hand to accuse anyone of stealing a sandwich or a book or a seat.” (p. 114)
Then, however he describes how diverse his students are and the problems that arise out of this situation. The latter are lacking motivation and belief in self-efficacy as depicted in a case of a Cuban student. She even states: “I am nobody.” (p. 118) Having to struggle in a new environment means working hard, being underpaid and always fearing to lose self-subsistence. As a result, almost everyone in his class at this college plagiarizes in the final paper. This event makes the teacher immediately change school. He simply does not want to continue working with students that perceive themselves as self-inefficient and unmotivated due to their problems at home. At his next school, though he has to continue his struggle with multicultural students. As he accidently even gets into a fight with a Cuban student, called Hector, he is fired, being accused of racism and ethnic discrimination (see p. 122).
Seward Park high school then was not any different. En contraire, he found himself being employed in a “melting-pot” hotspot. “This was a melting-pot school: Jewish, Chinese, Puerto Rican, Greek, Dominican, Russian, Italian and I had no preparation or training for teaching English as a Second Language.” (p. 129) Also here, the fact that the students are desperate in their poor circumstances affects the classroom climate negatively. The teacher is being ignored by them, disrespected and not valued at all. “I faced the hardest challenge of my whole teaching career.” It was a “gender clash; generation clash; culture clash; racial clash.” (p. 136)
Nevertheless, he tries to approach the students with his compassion and with fun activities. In an attempt to show them that reality does not always mean rough days, he takes the students out to the movies and to see Hamlet in a theater. He is finally able to acquire some respect: “They were looking at me, talking to me, recognizing my existence, including me in their world.” (p. 137)
In 1971 he changes to his last high school: Stuyvesant High School. He is relieved and very glad having this new opportunity as he states: “In my first year of teaching this was the first time I felt free in the classroom. I could teach whatever I liked.” (p. 186) Even at this prestigious school though, the contemporary immigration problems are a current theme. Ben Chan, a Chinese student of him, approaches McCourt in an attempt to seek for his sympathy.
“He was twelve when he came to this country four years ago. He knew no English but he studier hard and learned enough English and mathematics to pass the Stuyvesant High School entrance exam. He was happy to be here and his whole family was so proud of him. People back in China were proud of him. He competed against fourteen thousand kids to get into this school. His father worked six days a week, twelve hours a day, in a restaurant in Chinatown. His mother worked in a downtown sweatshop. Every night she cooked dinner for the whole family, five children, her husband, herself.” (p. 193)
Finally, Frank McCourt does not only show how hard it was to teach in those classrooms, but also includes the positive side of multiculturalism. The students brought their special food from their respective countries, told their origins and even went for a nice picnic to the park. Making the lessons more pluricultural and interactive brings the students together and teach them a multicultural education where there is no room for discrimination and racism.
Concluding this book review that centered around his qualifying features of being an excellent teacher and the two main themes( teachers and immigration), I want to point out why this book is also extremely entertaining. Although the teacher depicts serious problems, he always does it in a funny way. Sarcasm, irony and humor are ones of his most prominent rhetoric devices used to make his language unique and particular. Many passages are full of laughs, as for example the sandwich fight in the very first scene of the book, where he simply collects a sandwich from the floor and eats it in front of his students, funnily asking what the special Italian recipe was, that made it that delicious. Whenever he depicts the hard circumstances of a teacher job he is not depressively complaining. No, he rather tells it with a humorous, surely sarcastic undertone that obviously points out what he really wants to state. Let’s consider one of my favorite instances as a concluding point to show how entertaining this lecture was:
“You know. After school, teacher goes directly home. Carries a bag filled with papers to be read and marked. Might have a cup of tea with spouse. Oh, no. Teacher would never have a glass of wine. That’s not how teachers live. They don’t go out. Maybe a movie on the weekend. They have dinner. They put their kids to bed. They watch the news before they settle in for the night to read hose papers. At eleven it’s time for another cup of tea or glass of warm milk to help them sleep. Then they put on pajamas, kiss the spouse and drift off. Teachers’ pajamas are always cotton. What would a teacher be doing in silk pajamas? And, no, they never sleep naked. Man, can you imagine some teacher in this school naked? Teachers are good, proper, professional, conscientious, and they’d never throw a leg over the other one in the bed. Below the belly button the teacher is dead.”
(p. 190)
Frank McCourt’s “Teacher Man” is an extraordinary book, recommendable for almost every reader, teachers, students and even just normal bookworms.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
In a seemingly ironic scenario of a writer writing an essay about his previous disdain for, then love of writing essays, Baker shares his previously antagonistic view of high school English classes and their required assignments. He describes his third-year English teacher, Mr. Fleagle, as “notorious among City students for dullness and inability to inspire” (para. 3). Baker injects a bit of a comical, but slightly annoyed tone when he describes Mr. Fleagle’s appearance and mannerisms, particularly the teacher’s constant use of the phrase “don’t you see” when trying to engage students (para. 6).…
- 483 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
In this essay, the author points out that there is a huge gap between the unreal and pale world of school books and teachings (146) and the real events of life. He goes into depth about his own life and how he grew up. He states that he was more interested in sports than Shakespeare (143). He talks about how he wanted to fit in with the "hoods" (144) and also try to be smart, but not show it too much, for fear of being beat up. These are excellent examples of how schools should try to tap into these hidden intellectualisms.…
- 615 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
As every teacher goes into the workplace, first year, or twenty-fifth, and despite any subconscious fear you might possess of the hideous class you might be challenged to educate, there is always a certain comfort in knowing that, regardless the case, you have the support of your administration to uphold most any rational expectation you place on your students. As the school year drew near, I’m sure this was the case even for Madame Esme, as she seemed eager to start her first year of teaching. She set her expectations high in all aspects and from day one seemed determined to see her students achieve accordingly. She maintained her ideals throughout the year, though, it becomes more evident that her superiors might not share such idealistic values. No case more true than is seen on May 4th. After trying to reach a male student, B.B., who seems to be having behavioral problems related to his home life, Esme finds herself separating her student from a “big pounding fight on the playground” (Codell,…
- 2832 Words
- 12 Pages
Better Essays -
Passion and compassion - two words with very different meanings, but for me, one is the driving force behind my determination to teach. It’s been a long and winding road for me to reach this point of my life, and for me to discover my true destiny to be a teacher. It is now that I realize that my compassion for children is what will strengthen my teaching aptitude and the combination of my education and compassion make me a qualified candidate for any teaching position. In short, my compassion for children is what drives my passion to teach.…
- 1685 Words
- 7 Pages
Better Essays -
The two essays, "The Sanctuary of School," by Lynda Barry and " 'I Just Wanna Be Average, '" by Mike Rose, are two essays concerned with children and the way a school system affects a child 's life. Barry and Rose use situations in their own life to help readers understand their point of view. The responsibility of parents, the assertiveness of their teachers, and the way they used their unique situations to help solve problems in our fallible society.…
- 1046 Words
- 3 Pages
Better Essays -
In our society today, many students do very poorly in school. But what is the reason for this? In Irving Layton's essay 'The Role of The Teacher' he believes that teachers shouldn't be fully blamed, and that one of main reasons why students do poorly in school are due to the cut backs and poor judgment of the school boards. Also he believes that the society has done their part to help shape our present and current students. Another main factor he discusses about is how the teacher should be teaching the students how to learn, open their minds and prepare for the future. I do agree with agree with Irving Layton, but to a certain extent. The school boards and the society do play a role in the learning process of a student, but I believe that the main factors are the students themselves and the teachers.…
- 828 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
It shows how the teachers interact with students, and how students react with the teachers. In that meager setting at Oakcity High School with Mr. Bartlett, he doesn’t cater to students needs. He does things in a strict basic formatted setting because “...on any job they get outside of school, there’s going to be a certain formats they must follow to be successful on the job. McDonald’s, there’s a certain way of frying French fries. There’s a certain was of customer service. They have to learn that format”.(pg. 661) He feels as though his students are unable to comprehend those in depth discussions. He teaches basic ideals and principals, then tests students on them. He also feels that all of his students are “somewhat on the same level”(pg. 661). His basic teaching format of “read a section, complete the section handout, take section quiz, repeat daily for five days, take chapter test Friday”(pg. 662) is completely unacceptable and demoralizes students. One student, Monique says “I want to go to college, but... if this is boring here I’m going to be bored in college”. This apathy towards students highly affects them…
- 702 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
“Against School” is an essay that argues the true effectiveness of the current public school system, and how it affects children later in the real world. John Gatto, a teacher of 30 years in the Manhattan school system and winner of many prestigious teaching awards, discusses how high school was just a breeding ground for boredom. The boredom not only affects the children, but also the teachers. Gatto believes that the children in the school should be able to manage themselves, and not be put under any restrictions by teachers. I believe that many students in the public school systems are deprived. Standardized tests restrict teachers from teaching in depth because they have to teach for success on a test, rather than teaching kids how to comprehend and apply to the real world.…
- 1114 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
In “A Liberating Curriculum,” by Roberta Borkat, Borkat uses a sarcastic approach to get her lethargic students to realize the effect they are having on the educational system. Borkat in return offers an idea to give all her students an ‘A’ in all their classes after the second week of school. Borkat became disgusted when she had a student become livid with her because he plagiarized his paper from a well-known essay in the Literature world. She even had a few students with extenuating circumstances, not do so well on assignments and exams but still wanted a passing grade, even though, they did not put in the time or effort and did not show up for most of her sessions. Borkat hopes that in giving everyone a passing grade students will hopefully become more relaxed, and both the students and teachers will be able to do the things they love the most with their time. Borkat believes that by focusing on the negative aspects that teachers are being faced with on a daily basis, will expectantly open her students and readers eyes to the ignorance that teachers must repeatedly put up with.…
- 583 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Film has played a major role in the development of teacher stereotypes, and in particular, the stereotype of a teacher as a ‘charismatic’ and ‘inspiring hero’ (Mitchell & Weber, 1999, chap. 5). The image of ‘teacher’ has become a cumulative cultural text, where the clichés of teachers have become intergenerational, multidimensional and inter-textual. In other words, there are multiple texts that represent identical stereotypes that have become so powerful it is valued in consecutive generations. Whilst these stereotypes are highly romanticised and dramatised, they “give members of society a common frame of reference and a shared pool of expressive images to use” (Mitchell & Weber, 1999, p. 169). It is this common mindset that the complex relationship between fictional and real life teachers is created, because society begins to have an opinion on how teachers should behave and hence teachers become increasingly shaped by the popular. The argument suggests that ‘real’ teachers are directly…
- 1649 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
basis in creating a general mix of a school’s diversity. Teachers can best establish an inclusive…
- 2736 Words
- 12 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Upon walking in to Roger Beadle’s classroom, any person can see that it is set up with the students in mind, having tables versus desks which suggest that group work is done frequently and the walls are covered from top to bottom in examples of the students’ work from throughout the year. He uses a variety of approaches to encourage the students to respond and participate and the student responses are woven into each of the lessons. Students participate as both learners and teachers. The students never hesitate to ask for clarification on a concept or statement and always respectfully challenge Mr. Beadle or the other students by sharing their points of view or beliefs. Overall, Mr. Beadle sets the tone of a highly respectful attitude by eliciting courteous remarks, speaking directly to the students appropriate for their grade level and maturity, and modeling positive behavior during debates or when an opposing viewpoint is offered. He also ensures that cooperative learning takes place in the class by having students share their thinking in large and small groups.…
- 1745 Words
- 7 Pages
Better Essays -
I observed Mrs. Collier’s first grade class at J.B. Hunt elementary on Thursday September 13, 2015. The classroom had a great climate and was decorated nicely. She had bright posters hanging on the wall as well as many colorful boxes, curtains, and chairs around the room. The desks were set up in one giant “U” with Mrs. Collier sitting in the middle. It was a great set up for the kids because they could easily see her and she could easily see them. The dynamics in the classroom seemed great because she connected well with each student and was interested in what they had to say. The students behavior seemed very respectful towards her and they listened when she asked them to do something. Mrs. Collier’s equity between her and her students was…
- 447 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
At this point Ms. ‘G’ begins to understand what she’s up against. Gradually earning their trustthe class-room becomes more manageable,becoming a haven that draws them together as a family. More importantly the students were more receptive to learn, as she sought to transform her teaching style to one that they can better relate to – she related to their need, where…
- 1186 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
John Gatto is a New York City seventh grade teacher with remarkable accolades. Because of his impressive accolades as a teacher and citizen, his words are not taken lightly. As a result of his spotlight, he has come up with a list of seven lessons that no syllabus will ever include, but Gatto insists that they form the core of our educational curriculum today. While he does not agree with the lessons himself, they are being taught nationwide and he insists “that schools have traded their educational function for one of social coordination”(Gatto 1).…
- 600 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays