The Accidental Gift of Being a Teacher
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14507/er.v32.4313Abstract
I am a teacher. Others might classify me as an “educator” since for nearly a half-century, I have also been a superintendent, a teacher educator, and university professor. But it is classroom teaching—not administration or scholarly research—that has defined my adult life. Teaching has permitted me to be a lifelong learner, a persistent questioner, performer, and friend to former students and colleagues. Even as a 90-year-old, after a career of teaching, superintending, and doing research, I confess, that I still teach through my writings.
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Moreover, teaching history and trying to understand the past of education have forged my core personal and professional values. Knowledge of the past has shown me that both constancy and change mark human affairs. Through an historian’s eyes, the present can be seen as having deep roots in the past. Thus, for nearly five decades, teaching in general and history in particular have been paramount in my life. Yet chance has also played a crucial role in my becoming and remaining a teacher.
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References
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