White Plains CitizeNetReporter - Hugh McKiernan's Thoughts on Teaching.

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. An Address by Hugh McKiernan, Principal, Mamaroneck Avenue School at the Board of Education Tenure Meeting. May 28, 2003: The Principal of Mamaroneck Avenue School in White Plains, Hugh McKiernan, is retiring this year. When he introduced the teachers being recommended for tenure at MAS last Wednesday evening, he made some very moving remarks about the teaching profession and the quality of White Plains teachers. Here are his remarks:

HUGH McKIERNAN
The Principal of Mamaroneck Avenue School addressing the Board of Education last week on the new breed of 21st Century Teacher.
Photo by WPCNR News

GOOD EVENING, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION, SUPERINTENDENT CONNORS AND COLLEAGUES, ALTHOUGH THIS IS MY LAST APPEARANCE AT THE ANNUAL TENURE APPOINTMENTS, THE CANDIDATES I BRING BEFORE YOU TONIGHT MAKE THE EVENT A VERY SPECIAL ONE FOR ME.

AN ANONYMOUS WRITER ONCE SAID,

“THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER NEEDS THE EDUCATION OF A COLLEGE PRESIDENT, THE EXECUTIVE ABILITY OF A MANAGER, THE HUMILITY OF A DEACON, THE ADAPTABILITY OF A CHAMELEON, THE HOPE OF AN OPTIMIST, THE COURAGE OF A HERO, THE WISDOM OF A SERPENT, THE GENTLENESS OF A DOVE, THE PATIENCE OF JOB, THE GRACE OF GOD AND THE PERSISTENCE OF THE DEVIL.”

IT’S ONE HECK OF A JOB DESCRIPTION.

SOME FIVE OR SIX YEARS AGO, IT BECAME CLEAR TO ME THAT A NEW STRAIN, A NEW KIND, A NEW GENUS, IF YOU WILL, OF TEACHER HAD BEGUN TO APPEAR AT M.A.S. WHO FIT THAT PROFILE.

THIS NEW ITERATION OF PEDAGOGUE SUBSCRIBED OF COURSE TO THE BELIEF THAT ALL CHILDREN CAN LEARN, EACH IN HIS OR HER OWN WAY, IN HER OR HIS OWN TIME. THIS IN ITSELF WAS NOT STARTLING.

WHAT I HAVE FOUND THAT WAS MOST INSPIRING IN THIS NEW TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY TEACHER IS NOT THAT FIRMLY HELD BELIEF TO WHICH ANY TRUE TEACHER WOULD SUBSCRIBE.

NO, WHAT I FOUND WAS THAT THIS NEW BREED OF TEACHER HAS DEVELOPED AN INTUITIVE SENSE OF HOW CHILDREN LEARN, HAS MATCHED THAT INTUITIVENESS WITH THE SKILLS NEEDED TO TRANSFER THE BELIEF INTO PRACTICE, HAS THE LEVELS OF ENTHUSIASM AND ENEGRY TO SUSTAIN THAT PRACTICE AND, MOST SIGNIFICANTLY, HAS THE DEDICATION TO REMAIN FOR THE LONG TERM.

HERE TONIGHT YOU HAVE THREE PEOPLE WHO EPITOMIZE THE PROFILE I DESCRIBED. IT MATTERS NOT WHERE THEY CAME FROM: ANOTHER SCHOOL DISTRICT OR VIDEOTAPE PRODUCTION OR TOTS AND TODDLERS. IT MATTERS THAT THEY HAVE COME TO WHITE PLAINS TO HELP US WITH OUR MISSION.

A WRITER NAMED NATHAN PUSEY WROTE:

“A TEACHER’S TASK IS NOT TO IMPLANT FACTS BUT TO PLACE THE SUBJECT TO BE LEARNED IN FRONT OF THE LEARNER, AND THROUGH SYMPATHY, EMOTION, IMAGINATION AND PATIENCE, TO AWAKEN IN THE LEARNER THE RESTLESS DRIVE FOR ANSWERS AND INSIGHTS WHICH ENLARGE THE PERSONAL LIFE AND GIVE IT MEANING.”

THESE THREE CANDIDATES HAVE THOSE CHARACTERISTICS. THE AUTHOR JAMES HILTON PENNED THESE WORDS:

“IF I HAD A CHILD WHO WANTED TO BE A TEACHER, I WOULD BID HER GODSPEED AS IF SHE WERE GOING TO WAR. FOR INDEED, THE WAR AGAINST PREJUDICE, GREED AND IGNORANCE IS ETERNAL, AND THOSE WHO DEDICATE THEMSELVES TO TEACHING GIVE THEIR LIVES NO LESS BECAUSE THEY MAY LIVE TO SEE SOME FRACTION OF THE BATTLE WON.”

THESE THREE TEACHERS, WHO STAND BEFORE YOU HERE: GIVE WITNESS TONIGHT TO THAT DEDICATION.

TONIGHT WHEN YOU VOTE TO APPOINT (THEM) TO TENURE, IT IS WITH OUR GREATEST CONFIDENCE THAT THEY WILL CONTINUE THEIR HARD WORK AND DEDICATION, BEARING IN MIND THE WORDS OF CARL JUNG:

“ONE LOOKS BACK WITH APPRECIATION TO THE BRILLIANT TEACHERS, BUT WITH GRATITUDE TO THOSE WHO TOUCHED OUR HUMAN FEELINGS. THE CURRIUCLUM IS SO MUCH RAW MATERIAL BUT WARMTH IS THE VITAL ELEMENT FOR THE GROWING PLANT AND FOR THE SOUL OF A CHILD.”


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