Forgetting, Learning, and Living: How Education Makes a Difference Even Though We Forget Most of What We Learn

Abstract

Teaching is an ancient activity so thickly encrusted with multiple layers of history and conventions and narratives that it is difficult to see it with fresh eyes. American culture is awash in stories and stereotypes about schooling that range across personal anecdotes, TV programs, movies, and common stereotypes. References to these stories and stereotypes can and do pop up in nearly any venue or conversation. All of us are familiar with such images as the absent-minded humanities professor who mismatches his socks and never combs his hair, the nerdy science professor who burns acid holes in his neckties, the mean teachers, the prudes, the cool guys, the scary smart aristocratic types with a talent for humiliating students, or, finally, the sensitive teachers who (especially when played by glamorous, attractive actors) inspire their students to overcome unwanted pregnancies, abusive families, dirt-floor poverty, and school systems that have already counted them out. Our culture is so saturated with such myths, narratives, images, and stereotypes that it is difficult for real life teachers and real life students to see and own their own educational experiences.