Reading a Tracy Kidder book always makes me feel richer. He has the talent to take on global issues and personalize them. Mountains Beyond Mountains introduced us to real life hero Doctor Paul Farmer and world health concerns. What Strength Remains brings to light the genocide in Burundi and Rwanda through the eyes of a young survivor. Recently, I read an earlier book by Kidder titled Among Schoolchildren and again was impressed by the detail and caring that he puts into his work.
Tracy Kidder spent nine months with Christine Padden Zajac and her class of fifth graders. The school was located in the depressed "flats" of Holyoke, Massachusetts and the twenty students were a mixture of ethnic families, academic abilities and behavioral challenges. As the school year progresses, we get to understand the work and energy that a compassionate, but indomitable, teacher gives to her students.
As any teacher will tell you, there are humorous as well as heartbreaking moments in a class room. Some moments require a hidden grin and others make for full -out- laughter. The painful moments come with the student that is beyond a teacher's help and must be removed to a more "structured" situation or, the talented student who falls through the cracks, never to be seen again. There were days that Mrs. Zajac felt that discipline was taking up most of her time and that some students were being cheated out of the education that they so badly needed.
Author Kidder has the talent to sit back, allow the reader to observe and end up as involved as Mrs. Zajac was with her class. Each student became an individual. Sometimes, we meet the parents and have a better understanding of why the child's behavior is self destructive or defensive. Sometimes, we know the "why"by the parent's never showing for a parent teacher conference.
A scene that I found particularly touching was the school's science fair. The students who had parents who were involved did well, won the prizes; it was easy to spot the students with non-involved families who felt like failures. For this reason, Mrs. Zajac made it a point to try to have such competitions eliminated from the school's schedule.
Among Schoolchildren was published in 1989 and I would like to think that it is a bit dated by now. On a class trip to a village set in 1830, it is noted that, except for the inkwells, the classroom was very familiar. It seems that public education has not changed much.
Also very touching were some of the facts that the author threw in now and then. The quotes from over the centuries of what education should be were very idealistic, but still a long way from reality. We may have become more aware of sexual abuse, the numbers are still very high, and althought teachers have recieved better training on how to regognize abuse, their hands are tied if there is not some kind of evidence.
Among Schoolchildren is a beautiful tribute to our teachers. Good teachers should have public monuments built in their honor and the undying respect of the community. Tracy Kidder once again shows us the human side of something we tend to take for granted.
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