Illustration by Ryan Putnam for Paradigm Magazine
Column Written by Jason Finn
Jason Finn, Ed.D., is a former U.S. Fulbright recipient, an author and English teacher of adolescent youth where he crafts lessons full of sublime stupidity with whimsical abandon since 1994.
Hey, Teach! Manifesto
A column about public education and all things that concern learning and teaching.
Education should be less about schooling and more about learning. Seems obvious, nobody wants to be schooled. You’ve been schooled, such a derogatory term. Over the course of many years as a student and nineteen as a teacher I have experienced much that can be categorized as being schooled. I have also seen and read much that represents great teaching and learning, both by teachers and students. This regular column will examine all that is right and much that is wrong in education today.
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Hey Teach! Apology Accepted
Teacher, you are forgiven.
Though I wonder what you were thinking?
You must have been absent on the day they taught about the human form
And what sparks us to life
And what holds us up
And together.
It is your fault
That you assumed America would see
With pure eyes
The depths you could reach
The heart, the mind
To teach
A nation of nexts, and henceforths, and ever afters
What it is to know and understand and do
And be
And feel.
You just simply didn’t get it.
Teacher, you are forgiven.
You must’ve been absent on the day they taught economics
And the measure of success
And supply
and demand.
It is your fault
That you assumed America would take stock
In its most natural resource
The workforce
Of people who can
And do
Show
Know
Help her children grow to be
The people who no longer see
That once you were the center of their need
To succeed.
I hope you don’t regret it.
Teacher, you are forgiven.
But now you ask too much.
You demand
To be supplied
With enough to survive
To thrive
Into old age with a soft place to land.
But what did you do to deserve more than what we decide you are worth?
You’re not rich
Or famous
Where is your fifteen minutes?
This is America, dear teacher; there is just not enough proof
Data
Scores
To make us sure
that you are working as hard as the rest of us.
Teacher, you are forgiven.
America has taken note of your scorn.
Though I wonder what you were thinking?
You need to pipe down
Know your place:
It’s at the beginning
The start
Day one
The on – your – mark
The foundation
The bottom
And don’t you forget it.
Marlene Kimble
The poetry technique of apostrophe is a rich prose that addresses an abstract idea, person, or thing. Fewer and fewer poems seem to embody this technique as they were much more prevalent in the 19th century. Indeed this is a letter to America, and it’s certainly abstract in that there is no voice to respond. The poem title “An Open Letter to You, America”, is tongue and cheek in that the invite is open for a response when verbally, none is possible.
While apostrophe is the most formidable technique present, it is hard not to praise the delivery of tone as it comes across as spiteful, indignant, and sarcastic. These overtones are necessary when writing from this poet’s position and stance of being shunned by society and the culprit for our country’s cataclysmic economic collapse. The repetition and verbal irony conveyed are the poet’s ploy at undermining America’s assault on teachers, the real unsung heroes in our society.
The facetious follow of “supporting myself, my family, my community” in apologetic terms as “a luxury” is the most evident dose of irony. America’s problems are personified by stating “they’ve got problems of their own”, only to cite systemic miscues like corporate bailouts as well as oil and gas collusion. Educators invariably bear the brunt of our societal ills as all Americans do, but we are the catalyst?
As educators, we mold and shape posterity, instilling skills and leadership in our students. Teachers foster creativity and impart the foundation for America’s future, a future that demands we are globally viable. What is worth more than our country’s future? Put a price tag on that. I’m sorry America, but no apology is necessary.