So, last time, I had us on our trip to New England, and we had just gotten to Long Wharf. The question was what to do next. We could have gone south along the water’s edge. That would have brought us to the New England Aquarium.(1) This is a very cool place. It is one of those marvelous sea-zoos where you can see everything from Jelly Fish to Penguins. Except, unlike some similar places, this is no animal prison, where unfortunate creatures are forced to perform for the amusement of bored humans. Here, you enter the animals’ space, and you darn well better respect them.
I like that.
Again, I have good memories of the place, and we took David there several times when he was little. But, this time, we elected not to visit it. More fun if you go there with children, you see. Maybe some other time. Perhaps if we can ever lure the kids and grandkids there.
But, the day was getting on, and we were getting tired. So, instead, we headed back to the T-stop, and took the train back to where we had parked the car at Wonderland. From there, we headed to the town of Revere, or more particularly, to where our friend Linda lives, on the beach, in what is known as the Point of Pines.
About the photo: Only one today, and it (gasp) actually deals with the story at hand. This is Linda and Martha at the beach near Linda’s home at Point Of Pines. We’ll see a great deal more of that beach as time goes on.
Let me take Linda, first. She is a long time friend of Martha’s. They taught together at Tufts University, back in the day when the department of education there was in its prime. That was, alas, back when education was genuinely valued in higher ed.
I don’t honestly know what the situation is at Tufts right now, but I do know that a lot of American universities have increasingly abandoned education -- teaching people to be teachers -- as they’ve moved ever more completely under the control of business and corporations. Increasingly, Schools of Ed are the outcasts of higher education. It’s the Business Schools, the Law Schools, and anything STEM that are the fair-haired children.
And teachers? Well, that’s not *really* a profession. Anyone can teach. Just throw ‘em in a classroom and give ‘em some worksheets to hand out. That’s all there is to it.
I sometimes wonder what will happen to us as a culture if we continue on this track. If we regard teachers as basically drones, and don’t value them or train them or reward them with a living wage...what will we do? Who will teach children? And the reality is that--in spite of the contempt with which so many MBAs, CEOs, and Red State governors regard teachers -- teaching is an art and requires considerable expertise.
If no one is left with that expertise, what then? Decline to barbarism? To a vast and studied ignorance?
I don’t know. But one thing I will share with you. Consider the fact that many of the same people who think that teachers are not important...the governors and mayors and chief executives and deep thinkers of think tanks...are also people who cannot successfully manage their own son or daughter. Yet, these same individuals, in their awful arrogance, are absolutely certain that they know best how schools should be run.
There is something terrifying in that.
But, getting back to Linda...
Martha and Linda taught together for years and years. They’ve known each other. Been friends. Watched each other’s children, and then each other’s grandchildren grow up. They’ve worked long hours together, and thought much about how to teach the young people who want to be teachers. And, together, they’ve had some astonishing successes. They’ve had many students graduate their programs and go on to careers in teaching and administration--and many of those students have stayed in teaching, not something easy to do in this day and time.
I knew, of course, what would happen when we got there. Linda and Martha would find themselves deep in conversation (as Patty and Martha had), and I’d be there smiling and nodding and not having a thing to add to the discussion. But that’s fine. Martha hasn’t had anyone to talk shop with for such a long and painful time. And me? Well, I had my phone, my Chromebook, and a Wifi connection? What else could I ask?
Anyway, we made our way to Revere, then drove to the seafront, and found ourselves way in the Point Of Pines area, which is small, residential district of many, many little houses, most now broken up in apartments, and all within walking distance of the beach. We pulled into a driveway behind Linda’s car, and...there she was. Standing at the top of her steps, smiling and greeting us.
And that was the beginning of the next stage of our adventures.
More to come.
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Footnotes
1. For more info on the New England Aquarium, see its website here: https://www.neaq.org/
2. It can be hard to put into words the level of anti-teacher and anti-education bias in the country today. But, here’s some articles that touch on the subject. First, this is an NEA piece on attacks on teachers (and who’s behind them): https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/who-behind-attacks-educators-and-public-schools. And here’s a piece on Tennessee's governor who relies on the head of an ultra-conservative, ultra anti-teacher college president for all his education advice: https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/revealed/revealed-teachers-come-from-dumbest-parts-of-dumbest-colleges-tenn-governors-education-advisor-tells-him
And as for the economics of teaching today, consider these stories. Here’s one report in Newsweek about an individual who left teaching and is now making $20K more a year at Walmart: https://www.newsweek.com/teacher-turned-walmart-worker-earns-20k-more-not-using-degree-viral-tiktok-1726129
And here’s another story about a teacher who became, instead, an OnlyFans model, and clocked in a cool million last year: https://nypost.com/2022/09/05/onlyfans-model-makes-1m-after-quitting-teaching-career/
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Care to help out?
I provide these blog postings for free. That’s fine and I’m happy to do so. But, long ago and far away, I was told that if you give away your material, that means you don’t really think it has any value.
So, to get beyond that, I’ve decided to make it possible for you to leave me a “tip” for my posts.
If you like what I write or the videos I produce, and feel you could make a small contribution to support my efforts, please go here:
That will take you to a Gumroad page where you’ll have the option of leaving me a few pence by way of encouragement.
Again, I don’t mind if you don’t. I just want to provide you with the option so that I won’t feel quite so much like I’m just tossing my works into the wind.
Either way, thanks hugely for dropping by the blog :-)
~mjt
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