Teachers and Prophets: Literature and Spirit in the Making of the Secondary Teacher of English

[摘要] The teacher of English in the secondary school may be understood in terms of his spiritual orientation with regard to the literature he studies. As a result of his adoption and endorsement, usually at school age, of the values apparently implicit in that literature, he finds himself at odds with the outlook and philosophy of 'ordinary' people. Through the higher education of the teacher an attempt, seemingly successful, is made to 'correct' his outlook on life so that it becomes consistent with that of the people he will serve professionally. This attempt at 'correction' is in fact only partially successful and leaves the teacher, in spiritual terms, without a philosophy - he can neither embrace completely the 'correct' view of life nor surrender entirely that represented in literature. Thus, his condition aggravated by the part he plays in the purposes of the school, he becomes in a spirit of both hostility and resignation the 'archetypal' teacher: unsympathetic, uninspiring and alienated from those he is set to teach.

[发布机构] University:University of Glasgow

[关键词] Teacher education, Language arts