Nate Nesbit
4/17/10
Bill Ayers Speech
Last Thursday I attended a speaking appearance by the Dr. Bill Ayers, I say speaking
appearance because it wasn’t really a speech as much as it was a collection of connected
thoughts. That style of speaking mirrors my own, so I found myself entranced not only by what
he was saying but the manner in which he was saying it as well. The main topic of his speaking
was education and some of the difficulties involved in such a pursuit. He began by asking the
audience for a show of hands of those planning on being teachers, then jokingly called everyone
else out and asked why they were not. He made a lot of very good points but I would like to
bring up the ones that resonated most with me because they are the ones that I will carry with me
in all of my dealings with the education system.
The first story that he shared with us was his experience on the first day of his teaching.
A five year old boy asked him “why does the ball bounce?” At the time he couldn’t for the life of
him think of the answer to that rather benign question. It was followed by such questions as
“why is the sky blue?” which he also had no answer for. At the end of the day the only question
he had answered was that the floor was sticky because they had spilled pop on it. He spoke about
how as a teacher you need to be prepared for anything and everything from your students
because even then they will surprise you.
He also shared a personal story about his son and sensitivity. While riding a bus in New
York, his son asked what a “Kike” is, and he did so loudly enough for everyone to hear him. Dr.
Ayers calmly explained what the term meant and how it was a very bad term to which his son
replied “why don’t you wipe it off then?” He was completely taken aback, he stood on a seat to
wipe it off, but he still wasn’t sure what had just happened. When teaching you can’t be afraid of
or ignore sensitive topics, if they come up they need to be discussed at least a small amount so
that they know that the topic is sensitive. That is a very difficult thing to do and you need to
never mess it up, you need to be a “super human”
The challenge of education isn’t creating a curriculum and going through it every day, it
is seeing every single one of your students as a 3D individual with a mind, soul, needs and
feelings. You need not only to recognize this but you also need to adjust to these variables and
go out of your way to make sure that none of your students feel neglected. It’s also your job as a
teacher to allow the students to express their unique ideas in a way that is both respectful of
everyone while still being true to what they’re thinking. He said this later by saying that “every
human is of incalculable value” which really summed up his position.
He brought up a lot of valuable points about why it is that teachers are being blamed for
the current state of education in this country. While it is important it is also is something that will
change over time into new issues and debates. The most valuable thing that he said was about
three quarters of the way through his time. He said that in our country, as a democracy, we need
to be teaching our students to have courage, take initiative and to be individuals. I think that if
that can be done students will have the will and desire to learn and master subjects without the
prodding of parents and teacher. When every student has a strong desire to learn and succeed the
problem of educational social justice will begin to finally disappear.
