The Role of Love in Teaching
Re “Love Kids? Then Teaching Is Not for You,” Commentary, April 17: Regina Powers provides an excellent formula for changing the right to a good education into the obligation to go to school. A professional teacher can trudge through the state curriculum, but “in loco parentis” is not just law, it is a state of mind. A caring teacher wants to know why Maria is so quiet today as much as if she knows geometry. Without love, we are not educators, we are just teachers.
Tom Sloss
Fountain Valley
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Congratulations, Ms. Powers, for having the heart to say what most would like to say but fear being out of step in a world trying to equalize all things. When you said that loving kids has little to do with teaching, it brought back memories of my own school years. The teachers who showed the least affection were the ones I learned the most from. If we supported hard-line disciplinarian teachers, we would see the levels of children staying in school on the increase.
William R. Miller
Cathedral City
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The toughest, most demanding teachers are the ones the kids love. And those teachers are the ones they remember. It never occurred to me during my 20 years of teaching high school that “I love kids.” I just expected everyone to do his or her very best in my class. The lady who really taught me how to teach was tough, demanding, inspirational and creative.
The good old boys from the PE department got all the attention, extra pay, buses for games and advancement to administration. They are the ones that run our schools as principals, supervisors and superintendents and account for the anti-academic atmosphere that pervades our education system.
Duane Carter
Orange
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It is just as well that Powers is no longer in the classroom. If a teacher does not love children, then she has no business teaching.
Most problems in schools could be avoided if every child had at least one person in school who cared about her or him. My more than 50 years in education have taught me that there is much more to teaching and learning than just implementing the curriculum.
Respect for students and caring about them are traits of effective teachers. In fact, in 14 years as a superintendent of two fine districts, I wouldn’t hire a teacher or administrator who didn’t love and respect children. Powers needs to stay with her books.
Jack Price
Newport Beach
