Reflections: My Posse Don't Do Homework

LouAnne Johnson is a former Marine Corps Officer and a journalist in the US Navy who restarted her career as an English teacher, aspiring to teach at a University. In the course of her certifications, she took up a part-time job teaching high school students English in a California public school. She is assigned to a class that held the terrifying reputation of having harassed and driven away multiple teachers in the past, the most recent of whom had burst into tears and fled out of class. With trepidations on one hand, and enthusiasm in the other she walked into a class full of stubborn, closed, boisterous, obnoxious, and defiant teens who try as they might couldn't dampen her spirits. Instead, they inspired in her the unwavering grit to make them learn and reform them for the better. In this book, Miss. Johnson recounts her real-life encounters with "problem" teens, sharing her strategies, challenges, frustrations and extremely inspiring and moving experiences.

In the Hindu tradition, a teacher (Guru), is highly revered and is regarded to be a life-altering influence in the pupil's life. Respect for the teacher was implicit, and their command and authority were unquestioned. With such cooperation, discipline and obedience in place, the Guru could concentrate on imparting lessons and molding the pupils. But in recent times, respect is no longer implicit for anybody. Without the stringent enforcement of law, even basic respect for fellow human beings cannot be assured. Knowledge is no longer as isolated and concentrated in the heads of a specialized few. Besides, education is now a service. One pays, the other delivers. With little respect and discipline, unfortunately, a teacher's foremost task is to establish trust and respect, before delving into any serious teaching. With unruly kids who don't hesitate to insult and harass, and who don't seem to care about their grades or future, the task gets exponentially harder. We have all witnessed many such scenes with fellow classmates. We have seen such students being verbally abused, "punished", failed, and tormented, all in a vain attempt to discipline and reform. Yet, every year the same events unfold until everyone reaches a dead end, gets tired of flogging and being flogged at and there is unanimous resignation. Indifference sets in. The teacher no longer cares if anyone learns, and the belligerent ones no longer have to try to care.

In all these years of countless classes and numerous teachers, I can remember only a few... the rest no longer have a face, or a name, until memory is sufficiently squeezed. These few stand apart from the faceless crowd, not necessarily due to their exceptional teaching abilities, but because they truly cared, supported and helped. Miss. Johnson is one such a teacher. Rather than blame, criticize and get disheartened, she always took the initiative to first understand the student, their personality, and the life they led. As in most public schools, the "less-ambitious" students were cooped into a different set of classes. Most of these students hailed from the low-income minority communities. When forced to voice out their lives, we see how riddled their lives are with emotional abuse and poverty. If an adolescent grows up in an atmosphere that demeans their self-respect and motivation, corrodes their perception of the world, and demoralizes their spirit, why would they care about a homework in class? The bigger problem is getting one meal a day and escaping a beating from their step parent. These students put up vile defenses to guard off their inner insecurities and vulnerabilities. Their defenses cannot be broken down through meaningless punishments. Teachers like Miss. Johnson turn their world over by first offering them emotional support. It's miraculous how people turn over a new leaf, if given the right encouragement, acceptance and trust.

The stories are full of hopeful, sagacious and inspirational techniques. The most crucial trait that sets teachers like Miss. Johnson apart, are their abilities to adapt and innovate. If one technique of reinforcement doesn't work, they try another, and another, until they get through to the students. They never give up, nor do they keep butting against a dead end. They have the right knowledge of psychology to apply them at the right instances. In the journey, they erase the line between them and the students, get accepted as one among them, while still commanding respect and admiration. They realize that forging such a bond of trust and acceptance is a culmination of plenty of tiny steps, and they patiently work on their steps like dribbles of water trying to erode a stone. Tagore says, "Not hammer-strokes, but dance of the water, sings the pebbles into perfection."

But not every story is a success. She relates her experiences of students with whom she could never reach through. The bitter truth dawns - we can't help somebody who does not want to be helped. No matter how far we reach out into the waters, we can't pull someone out unless they try to hold onto our hand. Parents and guardians also play a significant role. Without any cooperation from them, some students continue to deteriorate. Despite such emotionally draining experiences, Miss. Johnson has still not given up. She continues to help hundreds of kids make a decent life. I truly envy such a satisfying profession, wherein one can retire to bed with the contentment of having touched someone in a significantly meaningful way.
In Miss. Johnson's words, "For every student who slips through the cracks, a dozen or two dozen step over the cracks and walk out of high school with a diploma in one hand and a dream in the other. It's these kids - the ones you don't read about in the newspapers because good news doesn't sell - who keep me coming back every year to my lopsided wooden desk, my crumbling bulletin boards, my outdated textbooks, and my own handful of dreams."
My lofty (and often scoffed at) ambition is to be able to do something as constructive with my life and career. Stories such as these galvanize and encourage it further.

Through the book, she also highlights the discrimination, unnecessary politics, power play and stagnant policies present in schools. Constrained by rules, policies and skeptic higher authorities, she has to fight many battles for her students. Each battle reiterates her commitment towards her students. As a former journalist and an English teacher, Miss. Johnson's writing is impeccable. Her words are touched with humor and insight. Her frustrations are palpable. Her genuine care and persistent dedication to help students advance in their courses, and in their lives, make us reminisce on our favorite teachers who made a difference to our lives.

On Education Reforms

Life has suddenly gotten busy and nerve wracking, thanks to the semester winding down and all the scores of deadlines staring at me in the face with an evil laugh that I'm behind most. Friday afternoons lend themselves well to a beautiful nap, especially when the weather chooses to be good. So in order to get myself a short break I thought I'd post something. But since I can't spend time writing one, I thought why not recycle my old writings that I recently uncovered :).


Since in the previous post on Capital Punishments, we touched upon the subject of education as a primary means of reformation, I'm pasting my thoughts on education reforms in India.


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From December 2004


The fundamental framework and thinking of people all over India still remains stringent. Lets think on the following
1. why are there still Indian software engineers(and the like), working abroad, who still demand or never question dowry? These people take it as yet another fact of life--I’m a guy earning well in a country away from my homeland. I’m just worth so much of dowry.
2. why is the birth of a second girl child into a family(no no I’m not talking abt the so called lower or down trodden section. I’m talking abt the so called upper middle class), bring about the reply----“Ah, it would have been better otherwise. Hmm...you better start saving up dear fellow.”
3. why do eyebrows raise when you demand to get into a profession other than medicine/ engineering?
4. why do comfortable commuters in a train, flinch with disgust on seeing a haggard man/woman/child(a fellow being of their nation), begging for money and food?
5. finally………the cream of it!
Why is it that 75% of final year engineering students never know how to fix a simple failed brake, a leaking faucet, a dimming monitor, change a fuse, fix a fan, when all through four rigorous years they were taught and made to pass far more complex stuff.
Now all these above said people are educated…well-educated as a matter of fact(hey engineering is no joke :-)). So how exactly has education served its purpose? An educated mind is supposed to cross the petty fences laid out by society to think beyond the horizons to implement positive reformations. It is to cull out the old and rusted principles and customs and to replace them with bright polished ones. A broader perspective, an open mind amicable to changes and suggestions……well I could go on.


‘Educating’ the masses alone isn’t enough. The real sense of that word is long buried deep. It is imperative to infuse ethics with learning. Our system of education has to evolve into a more healthier version where
· morals and ethics are not rhetorically told to be mugged up and reproduced
· the teacher is no monster near the black board and the students are no subjects. A more impersonal atmosphere encourages learning and more interaction.
· Corporal punishments, such as caning, beating, kneeling, verbal abuse, etc need to stop.
· Textbooks should not be encouraged as sole bibles without knowing whose every line and verse, the student is made to dread a mortal fear of ‘failing’.
· There’s freedom to explore and learn on a higher plane. There’s no stifling of potentials because of societal norms
· Its not mere numbers that determine a person’s ‘success’ in life, but it is the wholesome knowledge and personality gained out of schooling.


All these are easier said than done. But what I’m driving at is, the art of imparting education has lost its true sense. People are neither taught to gain knowledge, nor to survive. Its all on a short term basis--- how to get good marks in this particular test/semester, how to get into those companies, how to improve the pass percentage of the school. The aim has become shallow and fails to look beyond the present.


If we want our future generations to carry on with our struggle, we need to pass on the torch to people who truly understand the crux of our problems with an astute mind driving towards progress in its wholesome sense. These qualities need to be inculcated in the young. As they grow, schools have the responsibility of pruning their tangential characteristics and fine tuning their latent talents. All these cant be accomplished with a cane in hand and a rigid inflexible mindless rigmarole of memorizing and spitting out Newtonian theories.


One thing I glaringly find missing is---the dignity of labor. I still remember a documentary on the discovery channel that was a three hour session wholly dedicated to the study of sea-weeds. I really admired the professionalism and seriousness with which any topic or study is handled without being discarded as useless. Anything started on, is delved into its core and deepest trench and depths. I’m not advocating the study of weeds. But its that kind of passion and enthusiasm for learning and experimentation that needs to be developed. In simple words--teach the brain to think, appreciate the mind to explore, make mistakes and learn, while holding stiff the reins of discipline.


The Chinese saying--“teach a man to fish”, speaks well. It can be extended to teach a man to hunt. I say why restrict with fishing? What if the river dries up? It is essential he knows to explore his surroundings to survive.


Once there are bright ‘educated’ minds out to strive for the nation, social evils would diminish and erode away, as every generation passes, leaving behind healthier and more wise remnants(or shall we say leaders), who would flourish the nation with progress.
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After a little more than 4 years, I still would hope for such reforms in Education. How exactly, and what tangible steps to take, I don't know. This requires a change in attitude, scratching the syllabus and starting from scratch. Some schools have started exploring such things, but today, with engineering colleges still mushrooming in every street corner, and job opportunities getting more stringent, I'm sure it will take a good 2-3 decades before we can expect changes.