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Applying a Lesson Learned as a Teacher.

-- By JacquelynHehir - 27 Feb 2010

Starting with what I know: the essential quality of a good teacher.

The best teachers are the ones who start with the assumption that they are responsible for their students’ failures. Although that probably sounds intuitive to a non-teacher, it is probably the hardest part of the job. At times failure seems inescapable, and there are always excuses and scapegoats: the administration, the parents, the curriculum, the generation, the apathy, the technology, the facility, the materials. The list goes on, and blaming these factors is so much easier than taking responsibility for the failure, and often becomes the default mentality for educators.

Yet, teachers who do take responsibility have a huge advantage over those who do not. They can change things. This is what makes them better teachers. Blaming factors outside the teacher’s control, even if they undoubtedly affect student achievement, does not provide an avenue to fix the problem. Instead, the best teachers embrace the fact that, no matter the context, they can and must do what is necessary to help their students succeed. If their students fail, so have they.

Application to the world at large.

As intuitive as it is that teachers should take responsibility for their students’ failures, people sometimes seem to find it much harder to accept the parallel and equally true concept that citizens should take responsibility for their society’s failures. Each of us, simply by existing in this world, are complicit in our society’s mistakes. Many of us do not acknowledge this, preferring to take the excuse and scapegoat route. Granted, as citizens, we cannot take responsibility for everything. Primarily this is because there are just too many battles that need to be fought, and sainthood is hard to come by. But that is not an excuse to do nothing.

John Brown took responsibility for American slavery. To an outside observer, there is no clear reason why he did this. He was not a rich man, he was not a politician, and he was not a slave owner; there was no direct link between his existence and the perpetuation of slavery. Certainly nobody would have judged him morally blameworthy if he simply spoke out against slavery when appropriate, and otherwise lived out his life quietly.

Yet, instead he acted. He claimed that, “The cry of distress of the oppressed is my reason, and the only thing that prompted me to come here.” But those cries were heard by thousands of people, many who did nothing, many who pretended to do something, many who made a lot of noise about how something should be done, and many who made excuses for why they could not do anything. So it could not have been solely those cries that prompted John Brown to act. Instead he made slavery his problem, his responsibility. Only then did he have the tools to actually make a difference.

Avoiding the fate of Stack

Of course, taking responsibility is only the first step. A teacher may understand that she is the one who has the ability to help her students succeed, yet do nothing. Or she may do something that is not tailored to the correct goal, or even something harmful. A. Joseph Stack fought against the injustices he perceived, but incorrectly selected his method. He thought that his act would inspire people to “wake up.” This is a laudable goal, but an unlikely result from his chosen action. So there are improper executions of responsibility, and it is important that the method one chooses is likely to result in the desired change.

Application to a legal career

So the question remains, how do people take responsibility as lawyers? Lawrence Joseph, through his character Robinson, points out that “A real lawyer knows how to take care of a legal problem.” Maybe the first step is to recognize that a lawyer can take care of legal problems, and when legal problems go unsolved, it is our fault. We, through luck or riches, are the ones who will become lawyers, and we have no excuse to shirk this responsibility. Yet, that explanation standing alone leaves some dissatisfaction. If the goal of a lawyer is to solve legal problems, then how do we define legal problem?

A teacher has the luxury of a few core goals, which are generally difficult to argue against. Children should be taught to read and solve math problems, and by measuring those abilities, teachers have a clear idea of their success. There are certainly other goals that a teacher may set, which are much easier to challenge, but that does not negate the reading/math core. Legal goals are more complicated. Lawyers working for corporations undoubtedly think that they are faced with legal problems, and celebrate themselves for solving those problems. Likewise, just as it is easy to argue that a criminal prosecutor is solving problems by ensuring punishment for those who commit crimes, it is also arguable that the criminal defender is working to solve the problem of a system that is not punishing crimes as much as it is punishing race and class. Somewhere, in all of this, are there core goals we all agree on? Or do we have to each make our own evaluation?

At this point, I don't pretend to have the ability to answer these questions. Although, I do think that John Brown offers us a good starting framework. He said, “I respect the rights of the poorest and weakest of colored people, oppressed by the slave system, just as much as I do those of the most wealthy and powerful. This is the idea that has moved me, and that alone.” If I may echo his wisdom, perhaps if we start with the goal of restoring/preserving respect for all people, we have found a worthy core.

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