Frank McCourt

 While watching the videos on Frank McCourt, I was struck most by his passion not for any particular subject, but the engagement and enthusiasm of his students. I also feel very strongly about the importance of student-centered education, but I sometimes have doubts about its ability to meet administrative expectations. While it is of course important to teach content (or else why would I be here?), it is more important in my own teaching philosophy to teach soft skills, the sort of skill that is broadly applicable beyond just mathematics. Creativity, resilience, confidence. It seemed that Frank also believed in the importance of students as people first, which I found very encouraging, given his success.

I also resonated with his work in a vocational school. I spent some time in 2019 creating a tool for nursing students to improve their numeracy. While I wasn't in the classroom, I did have to grapple with a clear, explicit distaste for the subject. A teacher of mine often said "learning requires the willing participation of the student." At the time, I took this to be a bit lazy, as it does shrug off some responsibility from the educator. Now, I look at it a different way. Learning does require the willing participation of the student, but it is part of the role of a teacher to engender that spirit of willing participation. A great way of doing that, as Frank says, is to be yourself.