school life
The English Teacher
When the lack of a cohesive curriculum comes back to bite
BY THOMAS WAGNER
I retired in 2002, after 29 years as a public-middle-school English teacher in Jackson Heights, Queens, a stable working-class neighborhood in New York City. During the course of my teaching tenure, I came to some conclusions about my beleaguered profession (more careworn as the years progressed), including that learning to use language could not be entirely
unlike learning to dance, repair computers, Certification exam. My students—all college or do brain surgery. I noticed that it required graduates—were generally bright, dedicated, a rigorous, continuous sequence of concept decent people, but most of them had a lot building through listening, practicing, memof difficulty organizing their thoughts into orizing, and repeating, and that English the form of a short essay and a limited teachers, like physics teachers or math teachknowledge of the mechanics of writing. ers, had to be focused, well-prepared, and In fact, most of my students had already specific about what must be taught. Just failed the licensing exam. Why? This was telling teachers to “use their creativity” and not rocket science: sentence patterns, parahoping that all particulars would be covgraph structure, punctuation, transitions. ered was institutionalized wishful thinking. But, then, why should they have been Yet at no time during my 30 years in the expected to be capable writers when the classroom had I ever been informed what Department of Education, which had these I was actually supposed to teach. Poetry? same folks as a captive audience for more Transitive verbs? Letter writing? “Do what than 2,400 days of schooling when they At no time you want,” I was, in effect, told. “If in were students, had never considered that doubt, go to the language-arts book room during my 30 years subject-verb agreement or use of the and see if you can find a complete set of comma might have been squeezed in in the classroom some textbook and use it as your guide.” among the “activities” as essential requireIn my final year, the assistant superinments? And apparently nobody in their had I ever been tendent dropped by my class with the prinschools of “education” seemed to think that cipal and later told her that it was nice to see informed what I was preparing a person to teach might include a teacher still teaching grammar. There was how to But actually supposed knowingreal worldwrite a paragraph. had no hint that a curriculum policy might be now the loomed large. They re-examined—just a wistful comment about failed the teacher’s exam and the fluffy jarto teach. the winds of change. To get to the point, gon about “enhancing group activities” had there is no sequential program of language to be put aside so that I might prepare development that can be assumed in the them to get a teaching job. New York City public-school system. While All of this was to be accomplished in six the word “curriculum” is now in vogue, three-hour sessions. there is little awareness that this might require the actual Of course, this instruction should have been prescribed specification of academic content to be taught in each grade. when they were in elementary school. There is now great That this near-anarchic approach to teaching English had pressure to lift scores in writing and reading, but still litrepercussions was brought home to me in the year following tle interest in determining how. my retirement, when I was hired by my union, the United FedThomas Wagner is a retired New York City public-school teacher eration of Teachers, to teach two sections of a six-session as well as a former taxi driver, debate coach, union leader, and course to prospective teachers. The class was designed to member of the San Antonio Golden Gloves. help them pass the essay part of the New York State Teacher
PHOTO COURTESY THOMAS WAGNER
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