The Benefits of the Mature Teacher

An Introduction to a Bigger World

Northside Junior High School was much more integrated than Normal Park. There was a neighborhood down the hill from the school that was predominately Black with kids I knew from little league baseball. I couldn’t claim that these students were close friends, but we got along and interacted naturally. We encountered African American staff, including the assistant principal, and most of us referred to them as respectfully as we did our white teachers.

Aside from a rough start in athletics, the change of classes and the introduction to electives such as band, shop, and art got my attention. I was good enough to earn third chair trumpet in the school orchestra. In art, I won another school competition that fall. Exciting start for this seventh grader.

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Observation and physical interaction with the environment around me made

my engagement with the world more compelling.

I had several good teachers in seventh grade, the most impactful being Ms. Lyons, my art teacher. Drawing and painting were like breathing to me. Rarely a day went by when I wasn’t drawing a pastoral scene or working from photograph in Sports Illustrated. Ms. Lyons’ introduced me to a disciplined approach of rendering from observation. We worked from still life arrangements or would take turns modeling for the class. My improvement was substantial. Later in my career as an art teacher I would adopt many of Ms. Lyons’ strategies. Observation and physical interaction with the environment around me made my engagement with the world more compelling. As my rendering skills and media manipulation improved, so did my academic performance.

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Seventh grade represented a calm before the storm both personally and in

the school community.

Seventh grade represented a calm before the storm both personally and in the school community. This was a year prior to busing, and our coming transition was smoother because we were significantly integrated. We were comfortable with our diversity. My world was getting bigger, and I liked it.

Unprepared

When I became an Art Teacher in 1982 in Charlotte, NC, I was oblivious to the complexity of the classroom. Eastway Junior High School was roughly 60% white and 40% black with a predominately working-class student body. Charlotte began busing in 1970, and the community remained determined to make it work. There were students who were ready for school, struggling students, and students who simply went through the motions. I was told by another teacher not to smile until November. I learned all too quickly that this tactic was wrong. I would discover authenticity, and relationship was the key to student compliance.

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Nothing in my student teaching prepared me for classroom organization.

My school day started around 7:30 a.m. and I would get back to my apartment around 7:00 p.m. because I also coached sports. Nothing in my student teaching prepared me for classroom organization. By October, I sat down with the principal to tell him that my disciplinary strategies were not working with the Art II class. He acknowledged that this was a challenging group where he felt compelled to intervene.

Mr. Bell

Venton Bell was a big man with an imposing personality. One morning he walked into the that class holding a paddle. The students quickly became quiet. Mr. Bell met me at my desk as an 8th grade boy walked in loudly and late with a big grin on his face. He asked, “Is this one of the problems?” I nodded. He looked at that student and said, “Young man, why are you wearing a hat in the building? You know that’s against the rules. Come here.” Mr. Bell motioned for the student and I to join him in the art storage room. He had the young man lean against a cold kiln. After one lick, the young man sheepishly went back to his seat rubbing his back side. He paddled at least seven more students. Afterward, I was probably as shaken as the students. After about a week, the class was back to talking and playing as before. What I learned through that experience was that fear was no substitute for preparation and student-centered lessons. It took me a while to master the combination.

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My early survival as a teacher was the result of a supportive staff, a competitive

nature that would not give up, and my family of educators.

Mr. Bell understood that I was not prepared for the dynamic of a junior high school classroom. He would be firm yet very supportive with me when I made mistakes and helped me grow. My early survival as a teacher was the result of a supportive staff, a competitive nature that would not give up, and my family of educators. I was confident enough to know I would get better.

The Value of Experience and Reflection

When I entered the profession, some studies estimated that we lost about 50% of our teachers by the time they got to their fifth year. As I gained experience in the classroom it became all too clear to me that traditional teacher preparation was misguided and, too often, counterproductive. It would have been far more productive for me to teach one or two classes in the beginning while mentored by and observing veteran teachers and coaches. This may seem to some to be a luxury we cannot afford in staffing public schools, but I would argue that revolving door of teachers has a detrimental impact on too many students.

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Teaching is a skill set that is best honed through experience in the classroom

with significant time reflecting with master teachers and professors.

My ability to improve my classroom organization was a direct result of my knowledge about art with the ability to motivate students. This brought me to the conclusion that it would be better for undergraduates to focus on learning content later preparing to teach through a graduate internship paired with training in pedagogy. Teaching is a skill set that is best honed through experience in the classroom with significant time reflecting with master teachers and professors. My experience later as an assistant principal and principal taught me that few young adults at the age of 22 or 23 are ready to teach.

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My students would have been better served if they were not partially

responsible for my maturation as a teacher.

I was fortunate. I had experienced success as a student and an artist. I knew what it took to achieve and that learning to teach would take time. My students would have been better served if they were not partially responsible for my maturation as a teacher. If we prepared teachers properly, schools would be more effective, teachers would feel supported, and students would thrive.

© Paul A Bonner