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The Private-School Stigma

By David Cutler posted 01-27-2015 01:58 PM

  

Dear Colleagues, 

I would love to hear your thoughts on my recent Atlantic piece, The Private-School Stigma. I've pasted the first two paragraphs below:

I’m on a train one day when I overhear several teachers talking about how much they hate grades and how they wish they could throw out their grade books. I chime in, saying how much I agree. For one, even for students at an early age, grades undermine a love for learning and curiosity by imposing external motivators.

But when I explain that I teach at a private school, I receive what has become a familiar, disapproving stare, as though I’m one of those teachers—privileged and misguided, and entirely shameless for even calling himself a teacher. My initial enthusiasm for discussing grading has devolved into an empty, unwelcome feeling, like I’m trespassing on public-school territory and "real teacher"discussions.


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