Educators of Different Eras With Same Values

       In Studs Terkel's book Working, he adventures into the life of school teacher Rose Hoffman. Hoffman is a veteran of the education system and was currently working at a school in a what she describes as a "changing neighborhood". Those two simple words I believe are very symbolic in this piece because of the United State's ever changing ethnic background in the post economic depression era. Hoffman goes on to say, "We had a smattering of ethnic groups in those times—people who worked themselves out of the Depression by hard work.". Hoffman took great pride in everyone that worked hard to get themselves out of rough times and back on track to be successful. Rose did not care what background the student came from and tried to make sure she challenged each student to their limit.

      Although Hoffman was proud of everyone's hard work, she struggled with the new types of students she was teaching. She says, “In the old days, kids would sit in their seats." Rose was not used to the inattentive children and seemed almost like she would racially stereotype them. Even though she had to overcome so many obstacles in her time as teaching, Rose never failed to invent successful ways to teach her students.

     Another chapter in the book Working by Studs Terkel was entering the work life of Pat Zimmerman. Zimmerman was a headmaster at a low-income alternative school in the late 60's. As a teacher, Pat had to overcome the challenges of troubled students who needed guidance in their lives and he was there to provide it. Zimmerman realizes the amount of problems each individual student has and does not want to add extra stress onto each student. What he says about competition in school is, "The only one I accept is the student’s competition with himself." Zimmerman was a strict teacher but overall only cared about making a student into a successful human being and making them push themselves. He also says, “I make a distinction between people who deserve to be cared about and some who have completely given up”. Zimmerman has a strict mindset on how to help the people who care. He strives to help kids who want to be helped. Although Zimmerman has a unique style on helping unprivileged kids, he is still making a difference in many of their lives

     Lastly, in the podcast "How Does a Principal Work?" David Plotz talks to Andrew Rubin. Rubin is a principal and teacher at a low income, grades 5-8, charter school in the Houston area. Plotz talks with him about his daily struggles at the school and how he succeeds in helping his students in the school. The first thing Rubin says that he tells parents is that "My first job is to keep their kids safe". I believe that is a great thing for Rubin to say because having security in a learning environment always helps the learning process. Rubin seems to create a great environment in the school and makes sure that the kids are successful instead of making the stereotype that low income children are unsuccessful. Rubin also says, "whatever it takes to get the students who usually don't go to college, complete college.". I believe this excerpt is very important because Rubin is trying to change the course of his students lives and set them up for success later in life.

     Concluding, all three of these individuals seemed to have the same goal of helping low income students thrive in a society that sets them up to fail. Also note that each individual had come from different walks of life and different time periods yet had the same aspirations to help the children they were mentoring. To finish, each of the educators successfully dedicated or are dedicating their lives to children and making them well rounded individuals even in the worst of situations.


Andrew Rubin