Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire by Rafe Esquith

This book is about the fifth-grade classroom of Rafe Esquith in Los Angeles, California. I would recommend this book to anyone as it is truly inspirational. What does this have to do with class? Well, I’ll tell you.

When we first began discussing the purpose of education in class this semester, I was of the opinion that school’s purpose is primarily academic and vocational, perhaps a little bit social, and an even smaller bit personal. As the class has progressed, I have learned that there is more to the social purpose of school than getting students to obey rules and get along together. After reading this book, I have decided that, ideally, a large chunk of the purpose of school should be social and (if we do our jobs right) all else will follow. Part of socializing students is enabling them to function successfully in the economic, political, and social institutions that make up our culture, to their benefit and the benefit of society.

Mr. Esquith’s motto for the classroom is to work hard and be nice to each other. He leads his class according to Lawrence Kohlberg’s Six Levels of Moral Development which are: Level 1: I don’t want to get in trouble, Level 2: I want a reward, Level 3: I want to please somebody, Level 4: I follow the rules, Level 5: I am considerate of other people, and Level 6: I have a personal code of behavior and I follow it. Mr. Esquith says that most people are somewhere in between Level 1 thinking and Level 4 thinking, but that we should aim for Level 6. A Level 6 person works hard, manages time wisely, has integrity, is responsible, caring and considerate, does not do things solely to receive credit for them, and knows himself well. I cannot do Mr. Esquith’s description enough justice. He somehow helps his students to be better, more successful people while teaching them what they need to know academically and vocationally. In fact, the social lessons that he teaches cause his pupils to become better students!

In order to teach Level 6 thinking, our job as teachers is to try to reach level 6 thinking ourselves. How can we teach students to be organized if we are always late, keep a messy desk, and can never finish grading papers in time to hand them back when we say we will? How can we teach students to value learning if we don’t continue to learn? How can we teach them to value themselves and others if we don’t treat them with kindness and respect? I find myself to be the victim of levels 1-4 thinking far too often for comfort.