There's an intriguing quote from an article on the Salon website about Bruce Springsteen and his political journey - from basically being apolitical to the place now where he's comfortably making political endorsements.
True confession - I've never been a fan of his music. It was always too hard rocky for my taste.
During a concert right after Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980, he made his first public political comments. You can find the whole article at the following link:
http://www.salon.com/2012/05/28/born_in_the_u_s_a_when_the_president_met_the_boss/?source=newsletter
The part of the article that was mesmerizing to me was this quote -
I never did good in school, never did good, and they always figured that if you’re not smart in school, it’s because you’re dumb. But I always felt that I never really learned anything, or learned anything that was important to me, till I started listening to the radio back in the early ’60s. And it seemed that the stuff that I was hearing off the radio in all those great songs was stuff that if they knew how, they’d be trying to teach you in school … but they just didn’t know how to. They always talked to your head, they could never figure out how to talk to your heart, you know. And it seems that, like all those singers and all those groups, there’s one thing that they just knew: what it was about. And when I started listening, I found out that the first time … that, instead of the fantasies that you have when you’re a little kid, I had dreams now and that they were different, it was different, and that if that was possible, that I didn’t have to live my life the way that I was, that things could be better. If you just go out, take a chance, find out what’s going on … - Bruce Springsteen, 1980.
Riveting, right?
Boy, did this cause me to reflect. To think back. Recognizing that reflection isn't always pretty. And in this case, pretty scary would best describe it for me now.
How many kids have gone through my classes that I passed judgement on because of their lack of academic skills? How many brilliant minds did I dismiss because I couldn't engage them in the prescribed lessons and required learning? How many gifts and talents did I miss seeing in my students because they didn't perform the way I expected them to?
How many students who were tossed aside grew up to do extraordinary things? As teachers, do we recognize the power we hold? The power to encourage, to promote and lift up. And the power to discourage, demote and deflate.
What would I do differently if I went back to the classroom?
Would I be more patient and understanding, and more in tuned to the needs of my students, if given the opportunity for a "do over?"
I hope so. I really, really hope so.
Of course, knowing something intellectually is one thing; embracing it and using that knowledge to promote change, is another story altogether.
I shudder to think of the students I overlooked. The opportunities missed.
As with parenthood - and what was done or not done as a teacher - the questions linger, waiting for time and history to judge.
True confession - I've never been a fan of his music. It was always too hard rocky for my taste.
During a concert right after Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980, he made his first public political comments. You can find the whole article at the following link:
http://www.salon.com/2012/05/28/born_in_the_u_s_a_when_the_president_met_the_boss/?source=newsletter
The part of the article that was mesmerizing to me was this quote -
I never did good in school, never did good, and they always figured that if you’re not smart in school, it’s because you’re dumb. But I always felt that I never really learned anything, or learned anything that was important to me, till I started listening to the radio back in the early ’60s. And it seemed that the stuff that I was hearing off the radio in all those great songs was stuff that if they knew how, they’d be trying to teach you in school … but they just didn’t know how to. They always talked to your head, they could never figure out how to talk to your heart, you know. And it seems that, like all those singers and all those groups, there’s one thing that they just knew: what it was about. And when I started listening, I found out that the first time … that, instead of the fantasies that you have when you’re a little kid, I had dreams now and that they were different, it was different, and that if that was possible, that I didn’t have to live my life the way that I was, that things could be better. If you just go out, take a chance, find out what’s going on … - Bruce Springsteen, 1980.
Riveting, right?
Boy, did this cause me to reflect. To think back. Recognizing that reflection isn't always pretty. And in this case, pretty scary would best describe it for me now.
How many kids have gone through my classes that I passed judgement on because of their lack of academic skills? How many brilliant minds did I dismiss because I couldn't engage them in the prescribed lessons and required learning? How many gifts and talents did I miss seeing in my students because they didn't perform the way I expected them to?
How many students who were tossed aside grew up to do extraordinary things? As teachers, do we recognize the power we hold? The power to encourage, to promote and lift up. And the power to discourage, demote and deflate.
What would I do differently if I went back to the classroom?
Would I be more patient and understanding, and more in tuned to the needs of my students, if given the opportunity for a "do over?"
I hope so. I really, really hope so.
Of course, knowing something intellectually is one thing; embracing it and using that knowledge to promote change, is another story altogether.
I shudder to think of the students I overlooked. The opportunities missed.
As with parenthood - and what was done or not done as a teacher - the questions linger, waiting for time and history to judge.
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