Two days after Walter Cronkite’s death, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt passed away earlier this week at the age of 78. I was fortunate to interview them both. You can find my Q&A with Cronkite here and my January 2006 interview with McCourt below.
McCourt’s childhood memoir, Angela’s Ashes, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1997. The sequel, ‘Tis, sold millions and remained at the top of the bestseller lists. In November, he added a third chapter: Teacher Man, a memoir of his 30 years in New York City’s schools.
Teacher Man, like its predecessors, pulls no punches. And neither does McCourt, who called teaching “my mission.”
After two successful memoirs, why write a third book?
You retire from teaching and you have time for reflection. When I look back on 30 years, one of the things that emerges is the reputation and status of teachers in this country. We have a patronizing attitude toward teachers. People think of it as the profession of failures. We have respect for movie stars and football players and CEOs, but the teacher doesn’t get respect. I find that appalling.
I don’t understand why there is such hostility. The public doesn’t know what the teacher does in the classroom, what sorts of varied roles you have. I certainly didn’t know it when I went into the classroom, and I certainly had to fumble around until I learned what I was doing.
You didn’t write Angela’s Ashes until you were 66, and in Teacher Man, you say that you didn’t read much because you were so busy grading your students’ work. What did you learn from reading their work?
With the kids, I had to be teacher and critic. I had to help them start sorting out the different styles of writing. More and more, I started preaching clarity, clarity, clarity, simplicity, simplicity, simplicity. Over time, I think I learned to achieve that myself. When I was younger, my own writing tended to be derivative and literary. I tried to be clever; I tried to be Evelyn Waugh. I didn’t know you had to find your own style and your own voice. I’m a late bloomer, and I’m a late learner. It’s hopeless.
What are your thoughts on standardized testing and how it affects teaching?
Some take refuge in the subject matter, something called the textbook. This is the chapter we’re going to read. This is the chapter we’re going to study. That’s not education. That’s conditioning. For some that’s satisfying because they stick to the subject, but kids always want to know why you are teaching this or that. That’s an opportunity to engage them, and we don’t take enough time to engage our kids because we’re always preparing them to take a test.
Politics is everywhere in schools today. What do you think about state standards and the No Child Left Behind Act?
Here’s where I get on my soapbox. So much of the problems we have today in schools start with politicians who somehow badger their way into education. They control the purse strings — it’s really the only power they have — but they use it to show that they are the experts. This is a monumental show of disrespect.
From the Bush administration down to this so-called No Child Left Behind, I don’t see any improvements in learning. I don’t think we should prepare students to be ants in the commercial marketplace. There should be clear areas where we stop and ask ourselves, “What are we doing here? What is this all about?” But no, we get on an assembly line and stick labels on kids.
It has nothing to do with learning. Or should I say it has nothing to do with wisdom, which we are supposed to be in pursuit of.
If you could put together the perfect staff at a school, what would you do?
If you had a wise and benevolent administration with a principal who taught for long time, and supervisors and mentors with a huge collegiate sense of responsibility, then I believe you would have a warm and vibrant school. It’s a community rather than a series of tribes with teachers down at the bottom. We have to elevate teachers.
Glenn Cook, Editor-in-Chief
