‘Teacher of Teachers’

Madeline Hunter’s teaching methods are useful and practical, if not always applicable. But I am worried that her emphasis on “the ability of the teacher to teach” as the panacea for our ailing educational system is a gross oversimplification of a complicated problem.

The research on what produces successful learning is inconclusive. Certainly effective teaching strategies are an integral part of quality learning. Yet to single out teacher performance as the primary factor in learning obscures the real issues facing education. A lack of parental support and supervision, not to mention oversized classes, will continue to undermine education with or without Madeline Hunter’s techniques.

Teachers must not be the easy solution or scapegoat for a costly problem. Until teachers are well-paid professionals commanding the respect and support of our community, until classrooms are filled with a manageable number of students, even the best teacher following Madeline Hunter’s theories will fall short of our educational goals.

MARIE McREE

Santa Monica