The Oxymorons of Teaching

By Cindy Reitzi
Madison substitute teacher

Beautiful tyrant, fiend angelical!
Dove-feathered raven, wolvish-ravening lamb!
Despised substance of divinest show!
Just the opposite of what thou justly seem’st!…
Was ever book containing such vile matter
So fairly bound? O, that deceit should dwell
In such a gorgeous palace!
Romeo & Juliet
Act III, Scene II
—a literary oxymoron

As teachers rehearse for a new school year, preparations and ponderings may pull in two directions, the negative and the positive; the what-to-dos and the what-ifs. The pedagogical pre-emptive strike called ‘planning.’

Like an extended oxymoron, seeming opposites and contradictions are normal in teaching. Teachers don’t always know “who they’re getting” this year and they plan accordingly. Part of teaching is about planning for the predictable and preparing for the unpredictable.

Musing over grades

Like death and taxes, nothing is more inevitable than grading in teaching. Grading (or the measurement of achievement in some form) has repercussions, like concentric circles, rippling out from individual teachers and students to parents, college admissions offices, to state or federal institutions that are nowhere near a school.

Most teachers have mixed feelings about grading. At the high school level, it has a serious impact on a student’s future. In its worst form, it is a marker of “worth,” of who succeeds or fails in school, who stays or goes or, later, who goes on. However, it is not always an indicator of who “succeeds” in later life.

Understandably, given these high stakes, grading is a process that can erode internal motivation to learn, producing “reluctant learners.” (Teachers then take classes on how to motivate these students).

In its best form, grading is still constructed by individual teachers. Teachers can take control of the process or let it control them. The best teachers and administrators I know advocate grading what you, the teacher, value.

Obviously, a grading system has to be based on course content and must assess what (and if) students have learned what the teacher intended to teach. It should also be fair, with clear expectations. Still, depending on what is developmentally and course-appropriate, teachers can create systems that reflect their educational values. Some teachers, for example, feel that it’s important to encourage students to form solid academic habits and life skills as well as appropriate social skills. They construct grading systems that reflect those values. Others really value student independence and thought, and fashion something more along those lines. Either way, grading can reflect the belief that assessment should motivate, not discourage, students to learn and try harder, not give up.

Predictably unpredictable

The inevitable, less predictable elements of teaching are those spontaneous classroom moments that make some teachers feel nervous and others say, “bring it on.” This is not the “planable” part of teaching and so it’s best to assume a stance of “readiness” to see what happens.

One of my “spontaneous” elements was a character named Lawrence, who illustrated this arena in teaching quite well. Lawrence was one of those pedagogical oxymorons that become apparent when you’re selecting the comment boxes on the grading sheets. At the end of the school year, I was marking off the “doesn’t do squat in class” options and alternately, checking off “a pleasure to have in class.” Both were true.

Lawrence was smart and a great discusser, but didn’t do his homework or read the assigned books, and consequently, (to his surprise) he flunked English. It wasn’t for lack of brain power. Lawrence contributed immeasurable insight and humor to class discussions on a variety of topics.

Lawrence’s class was chatty, somewhat difficult, but ultimately a likeable group. We had great discussions, but too many students interrupted each other and this made me tense. One day, I was chewing them out (again). Just as I was winding up into my this-is-rude-and-we-need-to-show-each-other-respect speech, Lawrence cut in enthusiastically with, “You go, girl!” slicing through the tension.

All of us burst into laughter and I was laughing too hard to maintain my teacher scowl. “I give up,” I said, throwing up my hands. We moved on to a little more productive class discussion that day.
Recently, I was searching through the school staff directory and found Lawrence’s name. Lawrence is now in his mid-20s, working at a local middle school. I’m delighted that my former “class clown” is now in education. This seems perfect poetic justice and payback. I just hope his students are giving him as much spontaneous joy as he contributed to my class. My hunch is that he’s an excellent educator.

As we gear up for this year, why not embrace the oxymorons of teaching, those elements of the landscape that ground us with predictability and surprise us? As Hamlet put it, “the readiness is all.”

Posted September, 2001