"HARD BARK"
Dr. Bob Kizlik
Updated February 5,
2010
This is a series of short articles on the realities of
teacher preparation, teaching, and parenting. If you would like to relate an
experience in this area, please send it to me. Hard Bark is about having the
temperament and resilience to teach as a professional. Keep the length to about 250-300
words.
I just had to send this for your hard bark
section. My husband is a high school teacher in south Florida. He has over 25
years experience, a master's degree in science and is National Board certified.
last year, the principal of his school retired. He was an effective leader, who
understood the partnership between the administration, teachers, and parents. He
was replaced by a man who had never been a principal, but he has connections
with the county school board. The new principal, within months, changed
practically every school policy, does not enforce rules for dress code,
tardiness, bad language, disrespect, and has little regard for academic
achievement. Three assistant principals have transferred already, and out of a
faculty of over 100, I would guess that at least 50 have asked for reassignment
next year, including three department heads. I only send this to you in the
hopes that perhaps a person preparing to be a teacher will read it and
understand that you really do need, as you so aptly put it, "hard bark."
The new principal is a joke, but he'll never be fired, it's just the way the
system works. Thanks for putting this on your site.
I'll never forget the day. It was during a final
examination I was giving to a class of elementary education majors a few years
ago. The exam consisted of several parts, one of which was a short essay on some
topic. In the directions I said to be explicit when describing the topic. A
short while into the exam a student came up to my desk and asked, "What does
this word mean?" I asked what word she meant, and she pointed to it on the exam.
The word was explicit. I explained what the word meant, and filed this incident
away. I could not believe that a college senior did not know the meaning of
explicit. I checked her records and discovered she had an SAT of 1040, which
indicates a modest level of proficiency, enough at least, all other things being
equal, to predict success in a teacher education program. Oh yes, and success as
a teacher. Maybe.
John Russell, the name of the character played by Paul
Newman in the 1967 movie "Hombre," was told, in the latter part of the film by a
man he had just shot in order to protect a group of innocent, yet cowardly
people, "Mister, you've got a lot of hard bark on you, coming down here
like that." Indeed he did, because he
was both physically tough and tough minded. He was also realistic, honest, fair,
and understood that sometimes doing the right thing involves risk. There is a
lesson in all of this for education students.
Without a doubt, young men and women entering the teaching
profession today need to have some "hard bark" on them. If they don't, the small
wounds inflicted by dealing with the everyday problems of teaching,
disciplining, planning, counseling, dealing with administrators, colleagues,
parents, and so on, mount up. If they're easily wounded by disappointment,
rudeness, and even unfairness, they won't last because these things happen, and
nothing will change that.
Knowing the meaning of the word "explicit" may not be
important in order to be a teacher, but I'll wager that those that don't know
this word don't understand what "hard bark" is all about.
Some years ago, an elementary school teacher in a county
in Florida was supervising her students outside in the school playground. Two
5th grade boys began fighting. The teacher went over and broke up the fight. The
boy who was winning the fight became incensed at the teacher for preventing him
from concluding the fight in his favor. He was agitated. Finally, he said to the
teacher, "when I come back to school tomorrow I'm going to bring a knife and gut
you with it."
The teacher was shocked, and sent the boy to the office.
The next day, the boy's parents were called to a meeting at the school to
discuss the incident. at the meeting were the boy, the teacher, the boy's
parents, the principal, the assistant principal, and the school guidance
counselor. The boy, when confronted with his words to the teacher did not
deny that he said that. He was placed on a five day suspension from school. At
the end of the meeting, the boy's mother went up to the teacher who was
threatened and said, "what did you say to my son that would cause him to want to
do that to you?"
Hard bark indeed.
In the neighborhood where I live there is a mixed bag of
people ranging from young married couples with no children, to singles, to
parents with children in grades one to twelve. There are also parents with
college age young adults who attend the local university or community college.
At the end of the main street in the development is a major four lane divided
highway. The development is upper middle class, with its disproportionate share
of $50,000 SUVs and well-kept houses with manicured lawns and shrubs. School
children go to the corner to catch the bus, and they are always accompanied by
parents. There seems to be a rotation of parents who wait with their, as well as
other children until they are safely on the bus. Several busses stop roughly
from about 7:15 AM to 7:30 AM. All is well except for one parent.
A boy who I don't know and his mother make a solitary trip
each morning to the school bus stop. They live about three blocks from the bus
stop. The boy is about seven or eight years old. Many mornings, he rides his
motorized scooter to the bus stop. Trudging behind with a knapsack full of his
books is the mother. They wait together for the bus, and all the while the
mother preens the boy. Then after an emotional goodbye, the mother wheels the
scooter back home. This scene, with a few variations, is played out each day,
and in the afternoon, of course, the mother is there with the scooter and the
whole process plays in reverse. In no way is the boy physically impaired.
Given this is likely to go on for some time, I wonder
about the hard bark the boy will need some day when his mom isn't around.
