What Do You Make? 620.5
During a dinner party, a self-important business executive said, “The problem with our education system starts with teachers. What can our kids learn from people who decided their best option in life was to become a teacher? Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.”
A guest protested, “I’ve been a teacher for 20 years, and that’s simplistic and unfair.”
“Really?” the executive said. “Then be honest, what do you make?”
“I suppose you’re thinking of money,” the teacher replied. “I earn enough, but let me tell you what I make.
“I make other people’s children read, think, write, wonder, and talk about important things such as the world and their role in it.
“I make them appreciate the value of education, not simply as a way to make a living, but as a way to make a life.
“I make them work harder than they want to and accomplish more than they thought possible.
“I encourage them to be skeptical without being cynical and optimistic without being naďve.
“I make them understand that the quality of their life will be determined by their choices, and I make them take responsibility for their actions.
“I make them feel proud, capable, and worthy when they try hard.
“I make them appreciate the importance of integrity and honor in a world that too often shows little regard for either.
“I make them respect themselves and treat others with respect.
“I make them feel proud and grateful to live in America where people are entitled to be treated fairly and with respect and judged by their accomplishments and character, not by their color, creed, or size of their bank account.
"Most of all, I make a difference.
“So now,” the teacher said to the executive,” tell us what you make?”
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
* This commentary is based on a parable of a dialogue about the impact of teaching inspired by verse by poet Taylor Mali circulating on e-mail distribution lists.
Although I loved the premise – a teacher responding to a critic with a declaration of the vital things teachers do – I wanted to stress different things and state them in different language than the version a staffer sent me last year, which had no attribution.
You will see that the tone and content of my version and Mr. Mali’s are quite different, but the core idea is definitely Mr. Mali’s.
An alert listener directed us to Mr Mali’s website (www.taylormali.com), in which Mali acknowledges he wrote the poem in 1999. Mr. Mali is not only a gifted poet and philosopher (as well as a great advocate of teachers), he is a generous man with sound values about the importance of getting credit. Here is what he says about the poem on his website:
"I am well aware that 'What Teachers Make,' a poem I wrote in 1999, has been elevated/reduced to the level of Inspirational Cyber Spam. It started happening shortly after I posted an unattributed draft of the poem on this very website.
"Since the poem appeared on my website, I figured my name was unnecessary. But I was wrong. I suspect the text of the poem got copied, pasted, and sent by well-meaning teachers and fans. Soon enough, the poem became anonymous, and people began to edit, alter, and 'sanitize' it. There are, to my knowledge, at least five different versions of the poem out there circulating. All of them are anonymous.
"The poem has taken on a life of its own. Thomas Friedman, the New York Times columnist, quoted one of the anonymous versions in its entirety as part of his Yale graduation speech in 2003. This led to a quotation by Harvey Mackay, the syndicated business columnist. National Public Radio did a story about the adventures of the poem in 2004.
"Am I disappointed not to have received credit for writing this poem that has inspired so many? Used to be. But the truth will always come out in the end. And if I had to choose between inspiring teachers anonymously or not inspiring them at all, I would choose anonymous inspiration every time."
You can see Mr. Mali deliver his poem very passionately here.
What do you think of this commentary?
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Comments
When I heard this on the radio today, it brought tears to my eyes. That’s because I knew you were also expressing what my wife, a first/second grade teacher, feels about she does in her classroom every day. She’s a proud American with traditional values and works damn hard at her profession as a teacher. It’s unfortunate that some of her students' parents don’t feel the same way about their kids' education as she does. That’s the real problem with the education system today. It’s the issue that no one can or will address.
Posted by: R. Dunn | May 28, 2009 12:51 PM
I love this one. It will be read at our school's faculty appreciation luncheon next week. Thank you.
Posted by: Eric D. Bruck | May 28, 2009 5:59 PM
I agree with Mr. Dunn. Parents do not feel the same way as his wife feels about their children's education. I am a school counselor. Sometimes I just want to say to a parent, "We can't fix your child." Given the parenting under which they have been raised, the values they have been taught at home, and the unstable atmosphere in which they live, we don't know how to counter that. Many parents seriously expect that we know how to make their child study, want to come to school, and make good choices when that has not been the tone of their own home. To counsel the child without counseling the whole family often is futile.
But the miracle is that there are some children who rise above the circumstances in which they live. They latch on to a good teacher who challenges them and changes their world. I hope Mrs. Dunn will experience the joy of knowing she is changing a life. And, you know, she may never know whose life she changes forever. Students don't usually come back to tell us how important we were to them. We just have to do our job and trust that some of the good seeds we sow will fall on good fertile soil and will sprout and be fruitful. That is why we educators never give up hope.
Posted by: David | May 29, 2009 7:41 AM
You brought tears to my eyes...thank you! Being a Spanish/science teacher for high school, I am my family's "failure." I was supposed to become a doctor. Due to my "poor" choices, I have been completely cut off from my family for over 14 years. My mother, who lives 10 minutes away, does not even know her three beautiful grandchildren. Thank you for affirming my profession. I love to teach and I love to see the students learn and strive for more.
Posted by: Jett Clyne | May 29, 2009 9:33 AM
This commentary isn’t just about teachers, it’s about using money as a measuring stick of success. I know many people who work in child welfare, abuse and homeless shelters, daycare centers, food banks, bereavement committees, senior homes, etc, who contribute to society well beyond their pay levels. Many people may not make great salaries, but they do make a great difference.
Posted by: James | May 29, 2009 1:24 PM
I was astonished at Jett Clyne's post, although I am not sure why. One would think a person in their 50s wouldn't be surprised to read that someone had been disowned by their family for living the life of their choice. I could understand it if the choice had been a life of evil doing (murder, rape, etc.) and the family couldn't stand to be associated with that individual any longer. However, choosing a profession that is different from what one's parents would have preferred is hardly a reason to cut all ties with that child. I guess some people continue to live in the past when children were chattel and obedience was everything.
Posted by: Stephanie | May 29, 2009 4:32 PM
I find this commentary quite interesting. I know a great many people who tie their self-worth to their position in society. Depending on the person being asked, the answers to the questions "What do you make?" or "What do you do?" vary wildly in quality and verboseness. Listening to the answers becomes a study into the psyches of both the inquisitor and the inquisitionee. The answers I most prefer were given by my father. His answer to "What do you make?" was "Enough." His answer to "What do you do?" was "About what?"
Posted by: Chris | June 1, 2009 6:52 AM
I used Taylor Mali's poem with proper attribution at a retirement luncheon for a group of university faculty last year. It was well-received and a number of those in attendance asked for the website link.
The issue of attribution is important, and I never fail to be disappointed when i see the famous poem Footprints used with the attribution Anonymous rather than with the author's name.
Margaret Fishbeck-Powers penned that poem when she was at a summer camp many years ago. Although she holds the copyright to the poem, it too has taken on a life of its own.
Like Taylor Mali, she would rather have the poem inspiring people without recognizing her authorship than not inspiring them at all.
The full story can be found in her book about the poem: http://footprintspoem.ca.
Posted by: Rod Thomson | June 5, 2009 7:50 AM
David,
If it is worth anything, the people who became teachers made it possible for students to become doctors. Without educators we would not have doctors.
Posted by: Bruce | June 5, 2009 9:40 AM