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Educational Objectives and the Joys of TeachingAuthor(s): Philip W. Jackson and Elizabeth BelfordSource: The School Review, Vol. 73, No. 3 (Autumn, 1965), pp. 267-291Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1083673.

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PHILIP W. JACKSONELIZABETH BELFORDUniversity of Chicago

Educational bjectivesnd theJoysof TeachingINTRODUCTION

In teaching,as in everycraft,therearemasters rom whomappren-tices can and should learn. The professionas a whole might gainmuchfrom such persons,but, as Dewey observed,"thesuccessesofsuch individuals tend to be born and to die with them; beneficialconsequencesextend only to those pupils who have personalcon-tact with such gifted teachers." He continued, ". . . the only waybywhichwe canpreventsuchwastein thefuture sbymethodswhichenable us to makean analysisof what the gifted teacherdoes intui-tively, so that something accruingfrom his work can be commu-nicated to others."'

A majordifficultyn followingDewey'sadviceis contained n thefirststep of decidingwhich teachersshallbe consideredgifted.Thecriteriaof teaching effectivenessare notoriouslyelusive. Selectionaccording o one standard,such as growthin studentachievement,will not necessarilyreplicatethe results obtainedby applyingsomeother standard,such as the judgmentof administrativesuperiors.2Underthese circumstances,he best approach o the problemmightbe to apply many differentcriteria,selecting as gifted only thoseteacherswho areoutstandingon all or mostof them.Unfortunately,the cost and complexityof such a proceduremake it impracticalexcept in researchfocusingexclusivelyon the questionof teachereffectiveness. f we are to move aheadin answeringotherquestionsbefore the debateoverthe definitionof good teaching s adequately

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268 THE SCHOOL REVIEW Autumn 1965

resolved,the only alternative s to select the criterionthat seemsmost appropriate or each researchproject, and then use propercautionand restraint n treatingthe results.In the present studythe judgmentsof administrators ere used toidentifya groupof outstandingeachers. t is recognized hatadmin-istratorsmay differ n theirdefinitionsof "goodteacher,"and theirdirectknowledgeof some teachers'classroompracticesmust surelybe minimal.Nonetheless, n most school systems, reputationshavea way of spreading,andaftera time a teacher'smerits,as perceivedby students,parents,and fellow teachers,and as reflected in testscores and other indicatorsof student achievement,are likely tobecomeknown to the administrator, articularlywhen the teacheris judgedto be unusuallygoodorbad.Of course,whenthe evidenceis scanty or conflicting, he administratormay have to rely on hisown contact with a teacher to makea judgment.But hopefully,fora few fortunate ndividuals he signs of teachingtalent are neitherscantynorconflicting. f the administrator ererequired o nominateas outstandingonly a very small numberof his staff,presumablyhe would tend to choose those for whom there is this surfeit ofevidence.His nominees-the teachersto whomhe pointswith pride-seem likereasonablyattractiveobjectsof studyif we hopeto learnsomethingabout teaching from those who have the reputationofpracticing t with greatskill.After identifyingthe objectsof the administrator'spride,we arenextfacedwith the questionof how best to studythem.Perhaps,asDewey's suggestion implies, the ideal way to learn from suchteachers s to watch them in action.Certainlymost of our teachereducatorsbehave as if this were so. Observationtypicallyplays animportantpartin teacher-trainingrograms.But the teacher'sclass-room behavior does not alwaysreveal the orientingattitudesfromwhich specific actions spring. Talk is necessary,particularly alkaboutthe professionalaspectsof life in the classroom.Two aspectsof that life are especiallyintriguingbecausethey are relatedto somanyothereducationalquestions:the ways by which the talentedteacherjudges her own professionalsuccess, and the qualities of


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THE JOYS OF TEACHING 269

classroomife fromwhich she deriveshermajorsatisfactions.Thesetwo interrelatedtopics-success andsatisfactionn teaching-providethe focus of the study describedhere.3

THE SAMPLEIntensive interviews were conducted with twenty elementary-schoolteacherswho were consideredoutstandingby theirprincipalsorsuperintendentsrboth.Thesamplewas drawn rom a metropoli-

tan private school and from the public schools of three suburbancommunities.The private-schooleacherswere well knownby oneof the authorsandwere selectedon the basis of a consultationwiththe principaland a personalknowledgeof their reputations n theschool.The publicschoolteacherswere identifiedby administratorswho were requestedto select a small number of their very bestteachers.Thegeneralpurposeof the interview("tolearnmoreabouthow outstanding eachers view theirwork")was disclosed to boththe administratorsnd the teachers.With but two exceptionsall ofthe teachersnominatedby the administrators ere interviewed.A sampleas smalland as highlyselect as the one consideredhereis difficult o treatas representative f anylargergroup.Nonetheless,the responsesof these particular wenty teacherswere examined nthe hope that they would contributeto our understandingof theteaching process in general. The question of how many otherteachersshareour subjects'views of life in the classroom s morerelevantto some aspectsof the findingsand theirimplications hanto others. This question will be treated in some detail after thefindingshave been presented.Meanwhile,to the extent that infer-ence to a larger populationis warranted,the present sample isprobablybest thought of as representingthose elementary-schoolteacherswho rise to positions of leadershipand respect in "ad-vantaged" choolsystems.

THE INTERVIEWThe interviews,with one exception,wereconducted n the schoolsin which the teachersworked.In all but two or three instancesthe


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teachers were interviewed in their own classrooms. The classroomsetting was chosen for two reasons. First, it was believed teacherswould feel most comfortable there. Second, because the interviewfocused on classroom events, it was thought desirable to surroundthe teacher with as many memory aids as possible. It is not knownwhether or not these expectations were justified, but in the one casein which the interview was held in the office of one of the authors,the teacher in question seemed rather uncomfortable and gaveshorter and less elaborate responses than did the other teachers.

Typically the interview lasted an hour, although some ran as longas two hours. With one exception the interviews were taped and atyped transcriptwas prepared later. An interview schedule was used,but the order in which the questions were asked varied slightlyfrom one subject to the next.

Leading questions (e.g., "What are the major sources of satis-faction in your work?") were asked at several points in the interviewand the teacher was encouraged to elaborate upon her initial re-sponse. In many instances the teachers covered the questions onthe interview schedule without having them specifically asked, butif it appeared that a particularquestion was not going to be coveredspontaneously, the interviewer asked it directly.Because the sample was small and the interview loosely struc-tured, a quantitative summary of the teachers' responses is inappro-priate. Further, only a small portion of the total interview materialis treated in the present paper. Accordingly, verbal descriptions ofthe total group of responses are given, supported by verbatim ex-cerpts from representative interviews. Unless otherwise indicated,the quoted excerpts are intended to illustrate points of view judgedto be typical of the total group or a dominant subgroup of theseoutstanding teachers.

RESULTSIn the most global terms, the goal of the schools is to promote

learning. Thus, ideally, we might expect teachers to derive a major


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source of their satisfactions rom observinggrowthin achievementamongtheir students.Further, he students'performance n tests ofachievement(commercialor teacher-made)would seem to provideobjectiveand readilyobtainedevidence of this growth.Logicallyatleast, the conscientious eacherought to point with pride or disap-pointmentto the gains or losses of students as measuredby testperformance.But, as is often true in humanaffairs, he logical didnot occur. One of the most interestingfeatures of the interviewmaterialwasthe absenceof reference o objectiveevidence of schoollearningin contextsin which one might expect it to be discussed.Indeed, even when asked how they knew when they had done agood job, these outstanding eachers almost never mentioned look-ing for gains in test scores. Insteadthey more often described cuesobtained from student behaviorduringthe teachingsession. As aninstance,success in capturingand holding students' attention wasfrequentlymentioned as an indicatorof teachingeffectiveness.Oneteacherdescribed n the followingway the evidence of effectivenesson whichshe typicallyrelies.

When the kids are sparking and interested and excited in what they'redoing. I think it's the feeling of the class and it's the way the class behaves.I don't think you can tell off in a vacuum and I don't think you can tell bythe objectives and I don't think you can tell by the tests. It's the degree towhich, I guess, they feel part of the activities of the room and participateinthem with some pleasure. [T 11, p. 34]4

The student'sexpressionof interest and enthusiasm-hiswilling-ness to become involved and to participatein classroomaffairs-providesthe teacherwith immediatefeedbackon the effectivenessof her behavior.The followingcommentsare typical of those thatmentionthe student's nvolvementas a measureof teachingsuccess.. . . when they are eager, I think that's your best clue to whether it's goingacross or not. [T 3, p. 14]

Their interest in something,whether I've gotten my points across to them,without a test, or just in casual conversation if they're making use of thosepoints, I can tell whetherI've gotten acrossto them or not. [T 9, p. 32]


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Although teaching might be thought of as being chiefly concernedwith cognitive reorganization-with producing invisible changeswithin the student-this select group of teachers did not rely verymuch on pious hopes concerning the "unseen harvests" of theirlabor. In their view the results of teaching were quite visible. Insome instances the most important behavioral indicators were thosereflecting intellectual progress;in others, as we have seen, the visiblesigns that counted most were those that give evidence of the students'total involvement in the task at hand.

But I think you can see your progress-oh, one instance this year that hap-pened, they were having a modern math demonstration and I really didn'tknow if I was doing this right or if they were learning anything, and so theyhappened to pick my room to give the demonstration in. . . . And I didn'tknow how it would turn out. But behavior-wise and everything, they werebeauti-- They just were wonderful. I couldn't believe it was my group ofchildren. And I think times like that it shows up . . . I was very pleased;so I got an idea they were getting some of this.. Little things like that goon--. [T 17, p. 22]

For some teachers the expressions on the students' faces aresufficient. When asked how she would determine when a lesson hadgone particularly well, one teacher replied:

The reaction, I think, of the children and what they seem to have gainedfrom it. Their interest, their expressions, the way they look. [T 2, p. 18]A teacher in the middle grades reported this example of intellectualdiscovery and its facial consequences:. .. the day we were talking about (language) one of them wondered, cameup later and said, "If we didn't have words, there'd be no knowledge andwe couldn't tell anybody anything. All we could do is feel." And you couldjust tell from the look on her face that this whole thing suddenly had dawnedon her. [T 13, p. 9]

Of course the teacher's interpretation of these signs is not infalli-ble, as is indicated by the following comment from a teacher whowas asked how she knew when she was doing a good job:

It's a feeling, also, as I said before. And maybe I am overly enthusiastic;I may not be reaching them, I may just be so elated and think "Boy, that's


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great "and then I get down and they may be sittingthere, "What's he doing?"[T 12, p. 17]Somewhat less fleeting than alert expressions and raised hands areindications that the student is willing to work above and beyondminimal expectations. These signs of a more enduring interest ap-

pear in a variety of forms.They bring things to you, well, like articlesout of magazines;maybe they'lldraw a picture. Especially for science or geography, they'll draw maps orsomething.I mean, to me, that shows they must be interestedif they've takentime and they'll bring it on paper . . . They'll ask me things they can doso to me that shows me that they're interested. [T 9, p. 32]Oh, another way, whether or not they bring . . . slides of a certain thing;whether they bring in little pamphlets from the World's Fair, you know, forcurrent events. A visitor, a cousin from out of town, "Could she please stayhere for the morning?"You figure you've got something. Maybe the mothertried to get rid of the child for the afternoon. But there are, well, parents,

who come in to school; the child wants them to see what we're doing. [T 12,p. 16]I think, their responses and their interest-well, for science, if they bringthe things in that they need for experiments. [T 3, p. 14]If I have encouraged them to do more than what is basic, the type of

thing that they have to do, the textbook readings in the basic text-if theyhave gone out into other books and tried to find pictures and other things,then I feel that at least I-they are interested in the subject and have tried.[T 1, p. 14]

Testing, when it is mentioned at all, is given little emphasis.These teachers treat it as being of minor importance in helping theteacher understand how well she has done. Among the twentyinterviews the most enthusiastic statement about testing was thefollowing from a fifth-grade teacher who described how she knewwhen she was doing a good job.

Well, I don't rely entirely on tests. And their attitude toward their work,and I usually find out what they knew before we started, and see-well, Ican tell by their tests, I can tell by their attitude, and we usually make note-books and I rely quite a bit on the notebook and that type of research-[T1, p. 14]


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Several reasons for the teacher's avoidance of paper-and-penciltests are hinted at in the interviews.In the very early grades,forexample, there are few commercial tests available even if theteacher wanted to use this kind of formal evaluation.

Well, as far as testing goes in second grade, you really-if you want tolook at the test results to get the answers there really isn't anything in secondgrade. Oh, I mean just little basic things that you've made up, like they usethe Iowa Test and so forth in third grade, and the only way you can tellfrom these is to look the following year. You have no way the whole year tofind out. [T 17, p. 22]

Also, in schools having a formal achievement-testingprogram,the results,if they are ever reportedto the teacher,arrivetoo lateto do much good. When asked whether she used objectiveachieve-ment dataprovided by the centraloffice,one teachercommented,Sometimes. Sometimes I-for instance when the kids get the standardized

scores at the end of the year, I'm always very anxious to see those and seehow they made out. By that time it's too late to do anything about it; that'sone of the things. [Interviewer: But might it affect what you do with thenext group?] With the next class? Not terribly. [T 11, p. 35]Froma psychologicalviewpoint,however,the scarcityof usefulinstruments and poor administrativepractices in handling themare not as importantas is a generaldistrustof tests that was evi-dent in severalof the interviews.Two majorforms of this distrustcan be identified.First is the belief that childrenbehave atypicallyon tests; that test informationoften does not confirm he teacher's

judgmentderivedfromher classroomcontacts.Furthermore,whenthese contradictionsbetween test scores and teacher judgmentoccur,the teacher seems more likely to deny the accuracyof thetest informationhan to alterherpreviousassessmentof the student.The followingset of remarkstypify this point of view.Well, I have written tests, but I don't count that as a large part, becauseI know myself, I've gotten C's on a written test and-especially if I knew Iwas going to have it . . . I think oral participation in class I stress; their in-terests. .. . [T 9, p. 30]I mean tests of course will help some, but I don't think the child always

responds on a test so that you can tell exactly what progress he's made. I


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mean, a lot of them just never do well on a test, but on their daily work theyprobably show that they're making some progress. And I think their attitudetoo; you find that they come in sometimes and they-they have so many dis-likes, and "I don't like this," "I can't do this." And when their attitude beginsto change, and they enjoy it and they can do something, why then I findthat-I feel that they're making progress then, and I can see progress too.[T 10, p. 20]

And actually I'd say that at times it's discouraging, because you feel like youhave-well, you feel like you've covered stuff very thoroughly, and you give atest and you see the scores, and you think "Oh my Did I really teach this?" Andthen I stop and I say, I think, well, they have certainly learned more than theyknew before, and you can't expect them to get every little detail.... [T 1, p. 6]

A second form of distrust is represented by the suspicion thatperformance on achievement tests is more a reflection of nativeability than of teaching effectiveness. Thus, when annual gains orlosses areobserved, they are often interpreted as "natural"phenomenawhose informational value to the teacher is very small. A third-gradeteacher puts the matter this way:

Don't you think your test grades-Well, of course, the achievement is part,but then you can't compare this classroom's results with another classroom'sresults because you have entirely different children. And I don't think weshould judge accomplishment by the test results, by the child's achievement.No, I think-well, I so well recall the class that I had that went all the wayfrom 3-1 to 4-2 and just imagine, workbook and all, and still had time leftover. I've never had a class like it-since or before. Well, I would hate to havethat class's achievement records put beside, well, let's say, last year's whichwasn't very good. The achievement was all right, district-wise and national-wise, but to put those two side by side, I either didn't do a good job lastyear, or I did an outstanding job that other year. And it wasn't that. It's justthat I had the material to work with. That was all. [T 3, p. 15]

A fourth-grade teacher made the following comment when askedto describe the conditions under which her teaching behavior wouldbe influenced by the test performance of her students:It would if, for instance, all my kids had low reading scores. This isn'tgoing to happen. I mean, it may not have anything to do with the teacherwhen that happens. [T 11, p. 36]

In the extreme case objective testing is perceived as being underthe control of the authorities, completely unconnected with teaching


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objectives and with the routine of the classroom. When this pointof view is present, it is hardly surprising to find the teacher lookingupon testing as if it were just a nuisance.

Well, I was very upset that I had to spend an hour on standardized testing.Just for the SMSG book, to find out whether or not they know the math,because I know what they know. Except it is a survey, so we have to do that.[T 12, p. 21]

I think of some of the things that make me tired-today was a very tiringday, because the children were tested this morning, and actually I didn't domuch. You know, I graded their papers and that's it. I'd rather have an activeday. I think I'm more tired after a day of doing nothing. [T 9, p. 12]

In sum, then, the interview excerpts suggest that the outstandingelementary teacher does not often turn to objective measures ofschool achievement for evidence of her effectiveness and as a sourceof professional satisfaction. The question of how well she is doingseems to be answered for most of these teachers by the continualflow of information from the students during the teaching session.Spontaneous expressions of interest and enthusiasm are among themost highly valued indicators of good teaching, although the qualityof the student's contributions to daily sessions is also mentionedfrequently.Before leaving this discussion of teachers' attitudes toward tests,it is necessary to point out that the focus of the interview questionswas on the teacher's evaluation of her own work, rather than on theteacher's evaluation of her students' work. This distinction may notseem too important at first glance because the teaching and learningare closely intertwined in most educational discussions. If theteacher were doing her work well, we might expect to find thatthe student was doing his work well. Logically, at least, evidenceof teaching effectiveness ought to be interchangeable with evidenceof learning effectiveness. But, as most educators know, things arenot that simple. The criteria of good teaching are not necessarilysynonymouswith the criteria of scholastic attainment. Thus, teachersmight respond quite differently if the question "How can you tellwhen you are doing a good job of teaching?"were changed to "How


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can you tell when yourstudentsare doing a good job of learning?"In the presentset of interviews he emphasiswas on teachingratherthan learning.Thoughfleeting signsof student attentionandinvolvementdoubt-

lessly are gratifyingto the teacher,they are not the greatestsatis-factionsthatlife in the classroomhasto offer.The joysof teaching-and,at least for this groupof devotedprofessionals,"joys"s a moreaccurate word than "satisfactions"-thejoys of teaching are many.They are not limited, as we have seen, to the officialbusiness ofachieving educational objectives (though that may account forpartof them); insteadthey reflectthe varietyof responsibilities ndopportunitiesthat comprise the role of the elementary-schoolteacher.One way of organizingthis assortmentof pleasuresis toorder themin termsof the intensityof emotional nvolvementeachentails.

At one extreme would be the continualsatisfaction,usually oflow intensity,that comesfromthinkingof oneselfas servinga goodcause. A sense of personalusefulnesscomes closest to describing hisclass of satisfactions.As one suburban eacherputs it,I think it's kind of like missionarywork. I've always been very sociallyminded, and I think that we really do have a lot of work to be done rightin these communities,not just in the underprivileged-of course the other, too.

[T 12, p. 20]A distinguishing eature of the elementaryteacher'smissionarywork, s, of course,the age of its beneficiaries.The teachernot onlyhelps people, she helps them at the most crucialtime of their lives-when they are young.

Well, I think when you're helping young people, and-I don't know, it'srather hard to answer. You're teaching them something new all the time,you're helping them to develop, especially down at this age, if they do notget a good background-this is my feeling anyway, I don't know about anyoneelse, but I feel that if they do not have a good backgroundby the time theycome out of second grade, that they will have troublegoing on. [T 17, p. 23]

Underlyingthe sense of usefulness, then, is a spirit of urgency.Likethe missionary,he teacherhas only a limitedtime to complete


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her work. Moreover, if she does not succeed, the ill effects maybe irreparable. The possibility of failure, of time running out, andof wasted efforts introduces an element of risk and danger to theteacher's task that is absent in many of the "safer"forms of socialservice-such as the ladies' aid volunteers. Also, the fact that theteacher might fail means, of course, that she might succeed. Herperception of student progress, as an informal indicator of her suc-cess, is mentioned by several teachers as an important source ofsatisfaction providing a more intense emotional experience than thosederived from the mere fact of membership in a good cause. The fol-lowing set of quotations eptomizes this point of view.

Let's see, the rewards. I think just seeing them happy and seeing themprogress is the biggest reward. [T 3, p. 27]

Seeing a child be successful. I think this is the thing we are striving for,really, in education. We want to see a child find his place in life and be suc-cessful, and when he's on the road to this, even in school-We watch, at leastI do; I watch my youngsters as they go along and progress. I check up withthe fourth-grade teachers and see if-whether or not there are strengths orweaknesses or things that I should have been doing with them to help themalong the way. [T 2, p. 20]

Well, progress for one thing. I mean we try to keep a very close-I try tokeep a very close check as to how they're getting along. I feel that if I havea child that comes in the fall and has many problems, many difficulties, andhe overcomes some of those, then I feel that we're making progress, andwe're getting someplace. [T 10, p. 20]

I get a bang out of seeing their faces light up with an idea, or a sense ofaccomplishment. [T 11, p. 50]

In the last quotation, the words "bang"and "light up"call attentionto a characteristic of classroomlife that provides an additional sourceof emotional arousal and satisfaction: the frequent occurrence ofunexpected events. The fact that no one can predict with great ac-curacy what a day's teaching holds in store creates, at least forthe teacher who craves variety, an atmosphere of pleasant anticipa-tion about her work, perhaps even excitement. This feeling is wellexpressed in the following quotation:


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. . I just wish that everyone could feel an excitement that there is in teach-ing of-the eagerness to get into the classroom.And it's the strangest thing,I'm sure that you must feel it too, even on your level, that no matterif you'resad, or if you don't feel well, or, you know, even if things aren't the rosiest,you can come in in the morningand someonewill come up, and it's gone. Allof a sudden if he's sad, if the child is sad, you forget, you know. Becauseeither you're needed, or maybe a child has come in with somethingthey justhave to tell you, you know, and it's just the biggest thing in the world. Andall of a sudden you know you forget. And I just wonder if there are otheroccupations like this, where people, you know, find the same gratification.[T 16, p. 11]

Elements of the unexpected and of surprise are also prominentin the following statement:Oh-well, I've mentioned some of them. Class discussion that veers in a

surprisingdirection, that you never thought it'd go. And it goes higher thanyou ever dreamed possible. A child who will-well, for example, who neverhad any ideas that showed, and suddenly makes an observation,brings twothings together: "That'sjust like this." Well, sometimes it's a joy from onekid who suddenly made a spurt and did something that you never thoughthe could do. Sometimes it's a whole class that does something together thatyou never thought a class could do. ... Well, a little girl one year, she wasin the fifth grade, and after class one day she came up and she said, "I justlearned how to divide." That was that day-it was that class period, I don'tknow how it happened, but it happened. [T 13, p 41]

Of course, surprising and unexpected classroom events do notalways have to do with the attainment of learning goals. Sometimesa student's behavior is just plain amusing or entertaining, and haslittle or no relevance to educational matters.

Oh, I enjoy children's reactions to things, and the things that they say.Things that they do; they're so funny, sometimes, I have wished sometimesthat I had time to write a book, but you can't put them down on paper andmake them sound as funny as they really are when they happen. [T 2, p. 10]

The unexpected events of the classroom vary considerably insize and importance, from small happenings that are often merelyfunny or annoying to great leaps of progress and motivationalawakenings. The more dramatic transformations, which in someways resemble acts of religious conversion, add yet another source


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of satisfactionfor the teacher to experience-at a deeper level ofemotion than those already described. If unexpected events ingeneral bring excitement to the teacher'swork, these classroom"miracles," hichareofmajorproportions nd of greatpsychologicalsignificance,affordthe teacherwho is fortunateenough to witnessthem somethingclose to a thrill.In their descriptions he teachersoften use literarydevices, suchasmetaphor ndsimile, oemphasizehedramatic ndalmostmagicalquality of some of these transformations.The students in questiondo not simply change for the better, they "see the light of day," they"wake up," they become "uncorked,"and so forth.

There are the advanced ones, who you see you have helped advance more;there are the very very slow ones who all of a sudden see the light of day,and you feel like you've shown them the way; even if it was just their owndevelopment, you sort of give yourself credit. [T 3, p. 27]

I think I have satisfaction seeing someone progress, especially a slow childor an average child who all of a sudden comes out, maybe in the middle.I had one in here, at the beginning of the semester who wouldn't work, he'djust sit; he's very intelligent, on the verge of being a genius I understand,writes like a second-grader, wouldn't bother doing work, would forget things.This went on and on, and he was sick, and he was (absent?) and all of asudden in January he came back-he's got average handwriting now, but hefinishes everything, he gets almost straight A's, I mean, it's the satisfactionmaybe you have gotten across to him; maybe it's him, he just woke up. [T9, p. 33]

... let me cite one case specifically where a child did a series of trianglesand thought it was beautiful, and it wasn't beautiful. So I asked her to useher eyes and observe and see if she could make it better, and she was quiteagreeable to going, looking out the window and looking at the forms thatwindows make, and looking at the forms that a building makes, and we workedon her drawing, and I don't think I've ever seen a more thrilled face thanwhen she realized that she could do something to make it more interesting.She sort of became uncorked. [T 5, p. 18]The sources of satisfaction discussed thus far have been presentedin order of increasing emotional intensity-from a sense of personalusefulness, to a feeling of accomplishment, to excitement created bythe unexpected, to the thrill of witnessing dramatic change. The


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most dramatic change of all, and, hence, one of the greatest thrillsof teaching, occurs when the person who changes is a student whomother teachers, or adults in general, have given up for lost. Thissituation, which is epitomized in the story of Helen Keller's child-hood, and which was so movingly portrayed in the play and movie,The Miracle Worker, might not happen too often, but when it doesit is memorable, as the following comment indicates:

It's also the successes you've had when you've had, say, a child that'sbeen a real severe problem and some way you've reached him and you'vedone something for him. And I don't-I just don't think there's almost anyjob that has the depth of feeling that you have in a situation like this. Oh,perhaps a doctor, when he saves a life or something. But I think in most pro-fessions, they don't have-well, it's almost a spiritual thing that you get whenyou've had a success reaching a child or helping him. [T 7, p. 16]

Because these transformations cannot be accurately predicted,and because they sometimes seem to happen despite, rather thanas a result of, what anyone has done to the student, it is impossibleto give credit for their occurrence wth much certainty. Nevertheless,their unpredictability neither dulls the teacher's enjoyment of theseevents, nor discourages her from taking at least partial credit forthem.

But it's a real satisfaction to see someone change, a great change, this littlegirl that I mentioned, the first of the year I was about to give up on her, Ithought she wasn't getting anywhere, and now I think probably she's doingpretty well, doing quite well in science and I would hope in other subjects.I think I want to take a part of that credit, but maybe she'd have done it any-way. With these things you never know. [T 20, p. 40]

The desire to witness these most moving of all classroom expe-riences, and possibly to have a hand in their occurrence, doubtlesslyincreases the attractiveness of troubled, "lost" unwanted childrenin the eyes of many teachers. When room assignments are made,it is not unusual for a teacher to seek out such students for herclass. In a sense, these youngsters are academic long shots: thereis small chance of their ending in the money, but the assurance ofan enormous emotional payoff to the teacher if they do. The refer-


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ence to gamblingmust not leave the impression hat the teacherismerely playing games-selfishly stacking the membershipof herclass to producethe biggest emotional"bang."But there is some-thing attractiveabout the underdog,and many teachers feel anaffectionand closeness to these children quite unlike that whichthey feel toward the more "well-adjusted"or successful student.

I have favorites as people. I mean, there are some kids who are just plainmore attractive than other kinds. And it's not always in terms of what anadult would think attractive. I can find a kid with a lot of problems extremelyattractive. (Take Billy, for instance). I first saw him get up in front of awhole audience and make a goddamn fool of himself, this little bitty boy.I asked for him for my class. He is a thoroughly unattractive child in many,many ways. But there was a kind of a bond. Just from watching everybodylaughing and not being sure whether they were laughing with or at him.You see, there's this kind of attractiveness too. [T 11, p. 22]For some teachers a sudden change in a child's behaviorreleasesspecialfeelings of warmth and affection.

This little girl whose drawing I just described, I didn't have much feelingfor her for a long time, because she was kind of colorless and was kind ofneutral, and all of a sudden she's kind of popping out, and I love her forthese discoveries that she's making. [T 5, p. 18]The use of the word "love" n the above quotation ntroducesasourceof satisfactionthat transcendseven the thrill of observing

a student'smetamorphosis.During their interviewsmany teachersspoke of their deep affectionfor particularchildren.At this levelof emotionalattachment he role of teacherqua teacherbegins toblur and to mergewith the role of mother.Occasionallya teacherreferredspecifically o the relationshipbetweenteachingandmoth-ering and spokefranklyand poignantlyof the motivesunderlyingher own behavior.

I think a teacher has to find where she enjoys, what age she enjoys-andI'm sure a lot of that's the personality of the teacher. Like with me, I kindof like the mothering; probably part of this is we never could have childrenof our own. And I feel a real loss here. And so it pleases me, you know, in-side, to get some of this love and affection. Which I think I'm missing. Whereprobably with another woman, or man, they would enjoy teaching a little


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more stimulatingmaterial, and, you know, they don't have this other need.[T 7, p. 7]Well, for me, of course, it's working with the children-I am married, Ido not have any children of my own. And I feel that I get a lot from beingwith them; this is the thing that I probablywould miss most about teaching,because I just feel that-And some of them become, to you, very close, and yetin teaching you just cannot treat one child different from the other child, andyet, you figure this is- "If I had one, I would like it to be-" you know, havea child to be like this child, or somethinglike that. I mean, that for me is the

one thing I enjoy, because I do enjoy being with them. [T 10, p. 23]Not all teachers, of course, admit to feelings as deep as thosediscussed here. One, in fact, explicitly denied the appropriatenessof the term "love"when used to describe her relationship with herstudents.I think respect, I would call it, rather than love or affection, I'd call it

respect. [T 6, p. 25]Yet this same teacher, when asked what the close of the school

year was like, remarked,Well, I'm very unhappy sometimes [at the end of the year] because I'dlike to teach them again. You know, another year? You become so attachedto them sometimesthat you just would enjoy having them again. [T 6, p. 25]The pain of separation was mentioned by several of the teachers.

Although it is the opposite of satisfaction, this discomfort at thethought of the students' departure deserves mention because it at-tests to the closeness of the ties that develop, sometimes evenagainst the teacher's will.

Then, he says, comes June, "Oh, I hate to see these children go." So youdo, you just get attached to them. [T 3, p. 27]In the beginning of the next year, for years, I've resented the next teacher.Because she's got my kids. Then, as the years go by, I'm learningto live withthis kind of thing. [T 5, p. 20]I don't know just why, but I do get very attached to them through the

years. . . . One of the joys of the holiday season is hearing from so manyyoungsters.Some of them are now in high school. [T 18, p. 27]As the preceding interview excerpt indicates, in a few happy in-stances the teacher-pupil relationship never truly ends. The reward


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of being remembered with affection by former students is importantto many teachers. Also, many continue to participate vicariouslyin a student's accomplishments long after he has left the classroom.This extension of the teacher-pupil relationship over time adds afinal (though somewhat milder) type of satisfaction to those al-ready discussed. The probability of deriving pleasure from the re-membrances or achievements of former students obviously increaseswith years of teaching experience.I had a lot of satisfactionin picking up youngsters who probably wouldnever go to college and encouragingthem to go to college, and loading theminto my car on Saturdaysand taking them to a college campus and helpingthem to apply for whateverit was they had to apply for, and get them startedin college. And I've had some real rewards n that; one of them is a Ph.D. andis on the faculty of--- now. I don't know, they may have all gotten intocollege without me, it's hard to know. But this was a real satisfaction to me.[T 20, p. 39]

Well, this year, probablyI won't see any specific gains in the youngsters-yes, he's grown though, but I won't really see what's happened to him untilhe gets into fourth grade, then you begin to see, and this gives you a realpleasure. Another pleasure is when they come back to see you from highschool, and from college and they have been successful, and some of theyoungsterswho were no great shakesin thirdgradehave become valedictoriansor somethingin their high school careers and this makes you feel real good,that maybe a little of what you tried to teach them has really rubbed off.[T 2, p. 10]I still think of whatever these kids become I put my licks in somewherealong the line. And I still have a terrificfeeling of pride. [T 5, p. 20]

This last set of comments creates the image of a mature teachersmiling with pleasure as she looks back over the experiences of hercareer-a modern version, in female dress, of the closing scene inGoodby, Mr. Chips. Such a scene, despite its mildly saccharinequality, provides a fitting backdrop for a discussion of the over-allsignificance of the interview material.

DISCUSSIONEarlier the question was raised of whether or not the attitudesof these twenty teachers were typical of any larger group. At that


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point the small size and unusual qualities of the sample were men-tioned as were the dangers of making unwarranted inferences on thebasis of the present findings. At the same time it was acknowledgedthat the purpose of the interviews was to enlarge our understandingof the teaching process in general. A fruitful approach to consider-ing the significance and implications of the interview material is toreturn to the question of what can be said about other teachers onthe basis of the responses from the twenty who participated in thisstudy.One way of rephrasing the general question is to ask whetheror not an overwhelming majority of elementary teachers mightanswer our questions in much the same way as those we interviewed.Perhaps classroom life is just as rich and rewarding for the run-of-the-mill teacher as for teachers with enviable reputations. Perhapsthe joys of teaching are distributed equally among all

who tend theyoung. The answer to this question is unknown and obviously wouldrequire comparing the responses of a group of "average" (almostas difficult to define as "outstanding" ) teachers with those of a groupsuch as the one used in this study.Yet even without waiting for data from a more representativesample it is safe to predict that some teachers will look like theones portrayed here and others will not. The question of howmany are included in the term "some" would be of great interestif our goal were to produce a demographic description of the en-tire teaching population. It would also be of interest if our goalwere to identify the unique characteristics of the good teacher. Butthe present study aims to do neither of these two things. Ratherthe aim is the more modest one of seeing how some highly admiredteachers view life in the classroom and then speculating on theconsequences of the views they hold.If a group of lawyers, selected as outstanding by circuit courtjudges, was found to be severely critical of the Supreme Court, thatfact would be important within certain contexts whether or notthe same views were held by the general membership of the legal


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profession. Similarly, if a group of teachers, thought to be unusuallytalented by their superiors, was found to be extremely suspiciousof the value of objective tests for measuring teaching success, thatfact would have significance whether or not the same views wereshared by others. The importance of what such a group thinksstems from the fact that these are the teachers, presumably, to whomspecial awards would be given if merit pay or other methods ofrecognizing talent were instituted within the schools in which theywork. These are the people to whom beginning teachers might bedirected when they seek professional advice. These are the staffmembers most likely to have student teachers assigned to theirrooms. They are also the ones to whom outside visitors are mostfrequently introduced. In short, these teachers often serve as modelsfor others. If it turned out that these model teachers resembled theaverage teacher in important respects, it would be difficult to deter-mine whether that resemblance spoke to the effectiveness of themodel, or to the inability of the judges to discriminate betweenthe average and the exceptional, or neither. In any event, judgmentssuch as those just described are being made constantly in schools.The qualities of the persons on whom these professional kudos arebestowed may be expected to have consequences for both theoryand practice.Teacher training is one area of practice for which the findings ofthe present study would seem to have special significance. If, ashas been suggested, teachers such as the ones described here arelikely to serve as models for student teachers, it is reasonable toask whether the image of ideal teaching described in abstract termsin education courses matches the opinions and practices of theflesh-and-blood ideal with whom the student must work.

In many respects these teachers do seem to be voicing a "pro-gressive"point of view-the party line, as it were, of modern Ameri-can education. They are interested in the "whole child" and in"meeting the needs" of students. They do seem to agree with theold saw about teaching children rather than school subjects. Thus,


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these teachersmight be countedon to reinforce much of the pro-fessional advicepresented n the student teacher'strainingcourses.There are some aspectsof that advice,however,with which theseseasonedteachersmighttake issue or at least fail to mirror n theirown actions.The pointsof possible controversywould include someof the classic admonitionspresented n courses n curriculumheoryand educational ests and measurements. n these coursesstudentsare often told, for example,that the good teachermust define hiseducationalobjectivesbehaviorally,or that the good teacher mustlearn to make formalevaluationan integral part of the teachingprocess.Yet the highly respectedteachers nterviewed n this studydo not seem to pay much attentionto the precisedefinitionof theirobjectivesor to formalproceduresof evaluation.Indeed, as theseteachers alked,they left the impressionhat the schools'curriculumguides lay unreadat the bottom of their supply closets, and thatreportsof the schools'testing programswere scanned but seldomstudied.

Of course one of the privilegesthat comes with increasedstatusin any job is to ignore some of the rules and regulations hat aremandatoryfor the beginner. Usually, however, the rules the sea-soned workerdisregardsare those shown by experienceto be un-necessaryor trivial.As masteryis gained, wasted effortstend tobe eliminated and essentialsretained. But surely the college in-structorswho exhort the teacher-to-be o define her objectivesinbehavioral erms and to test for the outcomesof her efforts do notbelieve they are advocatinga set of inanepractices.One explanationof the apparentcontradiction s that the ex-pectationsset by the training nstitutionsare too high. Frequentlyin discussionsof the disillusionmentof the beginningteacher it isimpliedthat the teacher does not live up to the ideal presentedinher trainingcoursesbecauseof the overbearingdemandsof reality,not becauseany elementsof the ideal were unworthyof emulation.But if the seasonedteachersacceptedthe model of professionalbe-havior set forth in so many trainingcourses,they should at least


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have expressed some displeasure or regret over their inability tofulfil the standards set by that model. No evidence of such feelingswas found in the interviews.Here then is a source of potential conflict for the student teacher.It is also an interesting problem for our test-makers and curriculum-

designers to ponder. If talented teachers tend to ignore tests andcurriculum guides, is it merely because they have not been taughtto use them effectively? Is it possible that these educational toolsare most useful for those who are just beginning to teach and thosewho possess only mediocre teaching ability? Perhaps as teachersmature in their jobs they become less concerned with the attainmentof specific curricular objectives and more concerned with the over-all development of their students. If this were so, the job of helpingexperienced teachers to assess pupil progress might be very differ-ent from the job of equipping apprentice teachers with the rudi-mentary techniques of educational evaluation. Once again it isimportant to call attention to the distinction between teaching andlearning. If we search exclusively for evidence of learning, we maybe led to overlook some of the crucial signs of good teaching.Fom the standpoint of the school administrator the importantquestion is whether these prized teachers, even though a bit un-orthodox in their ways, are helping him work toward the achieve-ment of institutional goals. The occupational satisfaction of thepresent group of highly select teachers certainly bears an ambiguousrelationship to the objectives of the schools. From one point of viewthese people seem to care very little about the success of their ef-forts, or at least about conventional evidence of that success. As wehave seen, class achievement and its measurement do not interestthem very much. Even the assessment of individual students, whendone by paper-and-pencil tests, does not absorb their energies. Thus,to the extent that educational goals are expressed in terms of groupachievement and assessed by objective measures, they are viewedwith relative indifference by these teachers.From another point of view, however, there is no limit to the


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teacher's concern with educational goals and her delight in theirattainment. When these goals are stated in terms of the individual,rather than the group, and when the teacher is allowed to apply herown criteria of attainment, a totally different picture of the teacher'srelationship to institutional objectives emerges.There is, to be sure, something a bit old-fashioned if not down-right antiquated about the teacher's reliance on memory, suppliedby unsystematic observation, to tell her how well she is doing inthe classroom. In this respect her behavior resembles the physicianwho shuns the modern thermometer in favor of the old hand-on-brow method of estimating a patient's temperature. The disregardof these gifted teachers for precision and thoroughness in theirevaluation procedures certainly seems antithetical to the advicebeing urged upon educators by teaching-machine enthusiasts,systems-developers, and other defenders of the human-engineeringpoint of view.

Yet, despite its anachronistic flavor in this age of the computer,the world view implied in the comments of these teachers is of apiece. Ideologically it is related to the romantic tradition in thearts, and shares with that tradition an idealized image of Man andhis potential. It also softens the harshness of some of life's realitiesby perceiving them through the distorting lenses of optimism andinnocence. It is the world view of Voltaire's Dr. Pangloss, untaintedby cynicism or sarcasm.

Though we all may not share the attitudes of these elementaryteachers, and we may even find their sweetness a bit cloying, itis likely that this romantic orientation contributes to the teacher'sability to become totally involved, in an intensely personal sense,in the work of the classroom. This involvement, as we have seen,serves as the source of many of the teacher's pleasures, but, evenmore important, it serves to humanize the institutional environmentof the school. Thus, it possibly eases the induction of the youngstudent into that institution. It is difficult to overestimate the value


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of such a humanizing effect, for, as the famous social theorist,Charles Horton Cooley, reminds us:An institution is a mature, specialized and comparatively rigid part of thesocial structure. It is made up of persons, but not of whole persons; each oneenters into it with a trained and specialized part of himself. ... In antithesisto the institution, therefore, the person represents the wholeness and human-ness of life; . . . A man is no man at all if he is merely a piece of an institution;he must stand also for human nature, for the instinctive, the plastic and the

ideal.5Thus, as the scene fades, and our kindly old teacher nods overthe fire, it is visions of former students that dance in her head, not

memories of last year's achievement-test scores. And as all weRobert Donat fans know, this is as it should be.

NOTES1. John Dewey, The Sources of a Science of Education (New York: Horace

Liveright, 1929), pp. 10-]1.2. The interested reader will find several studies of the criteria of effective-ness discussed in the Handbook of Research on Teaching, ed. N. L. Gage (Chi-cago: Rand McNally & Co., 1963). Other recent discussions include J. W.Getzels and P. W. Jackson, "Research on the Variable Teacher: Some Com-ments," School Review, LXVIII (Winter, 1961); P. W. Jackson, "The Teacherand Individual Differences," in Individualizing Instruction: Sixty-first Year-book of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I (Chicago:University of Chicago Press, 1962), chap. v; and W. Rabinowitz and R. M. W.Travers, "Problems of Defining and Assessing Teacher Effectiveness," Educa-tional Theory, III (July, 1953), 212-19.3. Previous research on teacher satisfaction has focused almost exclusivelyon two questions: first, what draws teachers into the profession? (See, e.g.,May V. Seagoe, "Some Origins of Interest in Teaching," Journal of EducationalResearch, XXXV [May, 1942], 673-82; and B. Wright and Shirley Tuska,"How Does Childhood Make a Teacher?" Elementary School Journal, LXV[February, 1965], 235-46.) Second, how do teachers respond to certainpractices that affect the over-all organization of the school? Andrew W.Halpin and Don B. Croft's The Organizational Climate of Schools (Chicago:Midwest Administration Center, University of Chicago, 1963) is a recent ex-ample of this type of study. See also C. Mathis, "The Relationship betweenSalary Policies and Teacher Morale," Journal of Educational Psychology, L(1959), 275-80.


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Because of the interest of administrators n school morale and retentionof teachers, previous research has focused more on dissatisfactionsand com-plaints of teachersthan on positive aspects of satisfaction.See, e.g., J. Gabriel,An Analysis of the Emotional Problems of the Teacher in the Classroom(Melbourne: F. W. Cheshire, 1957); A. T. Jersild, When Teachers FaceThemselves (New York: Bureauof Publications,Teachers College, ColumbiaUniversity,1953); and P. M. Symonds,"Teachingas a Functionof the Teacher'sPersonality,"Journalof Teacher Education, V (March, 1954), 79-83.4. The code following each interview excerpt identifies the teacher (T)and the page (p) of the interview transcriptfrom which the quotation wastaken.

5. Charles Horton Cooley, "Institutionsand the Person," in SociologicalTheory, ed. E. Borgattaand Henry J. Meyer (New York:Alfred A. Knopf,Inc., 1956), p. 254.

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