Thread by @biblioracle

I'm new to the "teach like a pirate" thing, but I'm wondering why the more straightforward "teach like a teacher" isn't seen as superior. To me," "teacher" contains far more metaphorical power than anything it can be compared to because it already contains multitudes.

I use analogies to other roles in my pedagogy (guide, coach, cheerleader, learner, etc...), but ultimately these are disaggregations of the larger thing, "teacher." To say we should teach like something other than a teacher is to reduce our conception of teaching, not expand it.

Maybe pirate is one of those roles teachers sometimes inhabit (I don't get it, but as I say, my familiarity is limited), but by definition it can't be a substitute. If we're pirates, some part of "teacher" is inevitably lost. Am I missing something here?

Granted, "Teach like a teacher" isn't an attention-grabbing marketing scheme, but I gotta say, I think it's superior as a way to consider the labor of teachers.

I find the idea that teachers must be something other than what they are to be symptomatic of underlying systemic issues that have eroded teacher autonomy and professional status. In Why They Can't Write, the final chapter has a section that's essentially, "Let teachers teach."

The book considers the systemic barriers teachers face (too many students, lack of autonomy, standardization, surveillance) and how those barriers prevent them from truly "teaching." The problem isn't that teachers need to be different. They just need to be allowed to work.

And of course, even teachers being given the necessary freedom and resources to do the work isn't sufficient if we don't also consider the larger systems of oppression students live within. But to me, teachers have a better chance of challenging those systems than pirates.