Review of Teacher Man (2005) by Frank McCourt

Completed April 9, 2013

It is with a sense of sadness that I put Teacher Man back on the bookshelf. A recommendation by two great teachers whom I admire, it is a teaching memoir both laugh-out-loud funny and profoundly moving. McCourt's accounts of his experiences teaching high school students in New York touches on so many aspects of humanity - both of himself and his students. 

McCourt is a storyteller. In the midst of despair and in the face of apathetic and, at times, disruptive pupils, the only way he could get through lessons was to tell them stories from his own life growing up in both America and Ireland, his own experiences of poverty and cultural confusion. In return, his students tell their stories - the euphoria of cheering for the moon landing on television only to find your father has died in the next room; a Jewish boy who wants to be a pig farmer but faces strong opposition from his Rabbi father.

Other McCourt teaching strategies I would love to steal: getting students to analyse (their own) forged parent notes as examples of good persuasive writing; studying recipes, setting them to music and singing them in class, accompanied by classmates on various instruments, then writing your own restaurant review of local eateries (including the school cafeteria); doing a human continuum with the class in response to the question "Would you tell 'Hansel and Gretel' to your children?".

I am sad that Frank McCourt is no longer around as I would have loved to meet him and hear him tell more of his wonderful and poignant stories. His love for teaching English as a subject and a life skill, together with his true compassion for, and connection with, his students, makes for an absorbing and inspiring read.

I am also sad that during the months I have been reading Teacher Man my own enthusiasm for teaching has waxed and waned. Although I am a passionate advocate of teachers and the teaching profession, even I have to admit that I am exhausted. As I always say, teaching is truly a work of heart and is most definitely not for the faint-hearted. Who would willingly lay their reputation on the line on a daily basis to walk into a classroom alone to face 30 teenagers, some of whom have come to school burdened by life and are not in a place where they will readily receive an education? Who would willingly take on the mammoth task of planning up to 5 periods a day of educational, engaging and meaningful lessons, while trying to fulfil curriculum requirements, fearful of constant and stringent scrutiny?

As I stand at this crossroads of my teaching career - do I continue on the rocky, uncertain path or do I head for higher ground - McCourt's sage advice remains in my mind: "Find what you love and do it."

If you are, have ever been, or harbour any thoughts of being a teacher, you MUST read this book!