Trampling over or traveling with? Reconsidering the culture of achievement

Herr, Kathryn, & Naiditch, Fernando. (2011). Trampling over or traveling with? Reconsidering the culture of achievement. Language Arts, 88(5), 356-364.


Envision an urban classroom of eighth grade boys only (no girls), most of whom are low-income students of color. What kinds of images do most people include in such a vision? Here, we get a look at such a classroom, but the picture is different from what most people would imagine. These boys can “just enter a room, sit down, and follow directions” (p. 360) and can get meaningful work done. They honor one rule: “You cannot interrupt the learning process” (pp. 359-360). Here, learning and knowledge are seen as their own rewards. There is respect among these boys and between the teacher and the students. Not only that, but there is a community here that shares struggles and strengths, and that is filled with openness and dialogue. The boys are encouraged to question beliefs and values, and to share their own feelings and experiences. The classroom seems like a safe but dynamic space where individual needs can be honored, addressed, and met, and where individual identities would be free to grow. It’s an idyllic picture, and I wistfully wish we had more teachers like Mr. Yardley in urban schools.

The picture we are shown in this article is quite different from what one might expect to see in an urban classroom, and according to the authors, it is in fact quite different from what went on in other classrooms within this same school. My question is, could what Mr. Yardley did be transplanted to other classrooms, or is it dependent mainly on Mr. Yardley’s unique personality and talents? Somehow, he found a way to reach these boys. Can it somehow be reproduced? Or are these outcomes unique to this particular context? While the narrative we read here looks like evidence of success, I am afraid that those who make policy are going to want harder evidence. How did these boys actually do on their test scores? We are not told anything about that. Yes, other kinds of learning outcomes are more important than test scores, but there is no “hard” evidence of any kind presented here. We have only this (undeniably vivid) observational record. It is a strong picture, but what would make it more convincing? As a teacher educator, I found myself wondering how we can develop more teachers like Mr. Yardley. He has high expectations for his students, and he pushes them, but he also respects and cares for them, and they know that. He is open with them, and he shares himself and his own feelings and struggles, but he also is a strong role model. How is that kind of balance built and maintained? How exactly did he win the trust of these students?

I found one of the vignettes here particularly interesting but also perplexing. This was when Mr. Yardley was required to implement a structure called “thinking maps” in literacy instruction. This structure was mandated in all classrooms, and clearly, it did not make sense to Mr. Yardley or fit well with the patterns of instruction established in the class. Mr. Yardley complied, but only marginally, and he made that compliance abundantly clear to his students, making comments like “…this is not for us; it’s for the management” (p. 362). I certainly sympathize with Mr. Yardley’s views, and I must admit to having made similar comments with my own college students when various formats for things were imposed upon my classes over the years (all of which soon passed away and were replaced by new formats). I wonder, though, if either Mr. Yardley or I should really be voicing all of those questions. Or, perhaps it is OK to voice questions, but maybe not in such a cynical, closed-minded way? Do we really want to completely undermine the authorities we are collaborating with in the educational enterprise, even when we don’t agree with them 100%? This article left many unanswered questions, but did provide food for thought.