Kai Parker's Interview with a Social Studies Teacher

Mr. O is a veteran teacher at Raptor High School in California. Raptor High has a student body of 1325. It only has one feeder school, Predator Middle School. It operates on a block schedule, with three blocks each day and a forty-five minute tutorial after the morning break. Most students have three classes at a time, which switch halfway through the year after winter break. Some students take classes the whole year, with days alternating between class set A and class set B. Raptor High is having problems with this type of scheduling and is anticipating having to change it in the near future. Some of the problems that have developed over the years with block scheduling include: unintentional tracking of students due to scheduling conflicts. Another is non-conformance with the state's P.E. requirement for graduation of 20 credits. Additionally, for many students, their fall class content is being tested in the spring on the STAR test when they have not had the class for half a year. Raptor High is very tuned-in to this fact because they are a year 1 improvement school according to No Child Left Behind.

Mr. O has been teaching for a total of 34 years, 28 of them at Raptor High. He previously taught nearby at an all boys' school, Palm Tree High. Mr. O has taught everything that falls under a Social Studies Credential. He taught Geography, Government, and World Cultures at Palm Tree High, and since coming to Raptor High, he has taught the freshmen social studies course known as Choices, as well as World Cultures, and Government. Mr. O was a Political Science Major, and teaching Government has always been his passion as well as his goal. He currently teaches AP Government and AVID Government, and will have a "sheltered" Government class in the spring. He has been teaching purely government classes for the last twenty-two of the twenty-eight years he has spent at Raptor High.

Upon entering Mr. O's classroom, it becomes apparent that the content covered is provocative and relevant to today's issues. The walls are covered with student work and posters and propaganda, maps of the U.S. with the states colored-in red or blue, depending on the way the vote has gone in different election years. Many of the posters are very provocative; they have to do with current political issues like abortion and marijuana legalization, among other things. Mr. O is in a trailer that has a wonderful view of the scenery behind the school. His desk is in the back of the room, near the window overlooking the slough. There is quiet, classical music playing in the background. The desks are arranged in rows, angled around the corners and sides of the walls to accommodate the large class sizes crammed into such a small space. The room has a very comfortable feel. It is an inviting and welcoming space.

At the front of the room is an overhead projector and pair of very clean white boards. In one corner on the white boards, homework and reading are given for the AP class. The rest of the boards are spotless.

The desks are of the sort that the chair is attached to the table, and there is a little basket underneath the chair. In each basket is a textbook.

When asked about his teaching pedagogy, Mr. O wrinkles his brow. "I wouldn't really call it a pedagogy," he says. "It's more of a methodology." He calls his style "student centered," and explains that most of his teaching is focused around a discussion oriented, Socratic delivery of the material. According to him, the content being taught in government is different from any other subject matter in school, or even within the social studies content because of its immediate relevance to students' lives. It’s giving them the knowledge and instruction necessary to be citizens, to be able to participate in society and have their voice heard; to be active, contributing members of society. Because of this, the content is very real and alive to students. It is important for them to be thinking about that content or issues in ways that will transfer over to their adult/public life once they are out of the public school system.

In his sheltered class, Mr. O focuses a lot more vocabulary development. This he accomplishes by putting phrases and terms on the board and going over how the class perceives their meaning and building a collective consciousness about them. He feels that his method of delivering the material in a largely discussion oriented format automatically makes it more accessible to a variety of learners because whatever they bring to the table is what they start with. It is his job to assess where they are at, and gently lead them to where he wants them to be. He is somehow able to accomplish this while making them think they are simply going where they want to go, instead of following his subtle, gentle lead.

For him, the purpose of education is to develop critical thinking, getting students to see beyond their immediate self, to use reason and thought to cultivate respect for others. These are the skills that they will be able to apply to any situation they may find themselves in right now, and in the future.

Obviously, for Mr. O, the fact that he teaches his passion helps him to stay motivated and enthusiastic after thirty-four years on the job. He also says that watching the learning process is very rewarding, and he accredits those moments when students understand as being the reasons he teaches. Mr. O even goes a step further and says that when another student says something that somehow helps their colleague to understand in a way that they were unable to before, that is the real magic. "I know it sounds trite," he says, "but it’s true."

I leave Mr. O's room feeling very inspired and awed by his amazing powers of discussion mediation. Watching him teach has given new meaning to phrases like "wait time," and 'leading" or "guiding" questions. He truly is a facilitator and a master teacher. He stays out of the way, and yet he somehow manages to get them where he wants to go. I can’t wait to get back to my own class and try out some of the questioning methods he used. With any luck, in thirty-four years I’ll be as good as he is in leading discussions!