Tuesday 10 December 2013

Fighting mediocrity: "There Are No Shortcuts"


I came to There Are No Shortcuts by Rafe Esquith, through a piece on Rafe by Jack Canfield in his book The Success Principles. It was only a brief mention, but for some reason I kept coming back to it, so I sourced the book (in paperback – a rarity in itself with my kindle by my side these days) and began to read.

As a mum of four bright, pretty standard children, I have a predisposition to worry about applying too much pressure on them, or being too strict, expecting too much or conversely, not laying down the law properly at all. The holy grail of parenting being that sweet balance that gives your children their ultimate happiness at the same time as their maximum potential to succeed at everything life offers them. This mind-set was topped off by my own experiences as a pupil, attending a lovely primary school, but going on to a demanding and ridiculing high school. My tolerance for pressure on children, to perform academically and maintain good behaviour, is constantly wavering in an attempt to find the right balance.

So as I began to read There Are No Shortcuts, I wondered just what the effects were on these children, how the passionate teacher, Rafe, puts in ridiculous hours from 6am to 6pm (plus all his work at home & at other jobs to pay for school supplies & trips) with many of the children doing the same, with further options for music and study on a Saturday as well. His basis, of moving from an American private school where he spent the first 2 years of his teaching career to his new job in The Jungle, an inner-city public school, and realising that the children there would need so much more commitment and excellent teaching to reach the same standard as the children he taught originally, is a foundation I can understand. As the book progresses, the results seem to speak for themselves, but there is that niggle that maybe he is going too far in his efforts and carrying the children along with him, whether they want it or can cope with it or not.

But then we come to Rafe telling us where he fell down, when the systems he had created back fired and children held resentment against him because of it. This was where the book became inspirational for me. Rafe demonstrates something that I’ve known academically for a long time, but personally have struggled to do effectively in practice. He describes how he discovered the problems, how devastated and angry he felt, and then went on to learn from his failure in such an adept way, creating ever more value as a teacher for his students, that the failure became a necessary part of his journey to become the great teacher he is now. He took his failure, faced it squarely and developed himself from it. Harder than he makes it look.

Rafe also talks about the many obstacles, or ‘road blocks’ as Jack Canfield would call them, that a teacher faces – people who seem to deliberately get in your way and can make things almost impossible – and most importantly, how he dealt with them (for better or worse).

Rafe talks to us through his book, mostly directing his comments towards the ‘young teacher’ who he knows will feel pressured to follow the norm of mediocrity to keep their job. He also speaks to us as parents, urging us to get involved, pay attention, know what goes on in your child’s classroom. He speaks very candidly about how his skills grew as a teacher and at what cost. He talks so proudly of his students and all they achieved, but not constantly in the academic sense. He praises their unique characters. He understands and cherishes them as individuals.

There Are No Shortcuts is an engrossing, honest and often funny tale, full of highs and lows through the fascinating life of a teacher determined to create excellence.

Rafe sums it up best himself, “I’m a very ordinary fellow who made one smart move. I would not allow today’s educational fiasco of systemized mediocrity and uniformity to crush me into the robot so many potentially good teachers become.” His passion shows through in his book as it must in his classroom. In essence, he’s the sort of guy I wish my children had for a teacher.

Heather Zanetti

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