Paul Tough, Week 2: Let’s share our first impressions of “Getting an A,” plus our questions and the topics we want to explore
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Hi there, Article Clubbers, and welcome to the many new members who joined this week. It’s great to see how quickly we’re growing. This month, we’re discussing Paul Tough’s “Getting an A,” a chapter from his outstanding book, The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us.
Last week, we read (and some of us vigorously annotated) the chapter. This week, we’ll begin our discussion by sharing our first impressions, questions, and topics we want to explore. If we have questions for Mr. Tough, we’ll include those, too.
If you’re new to Article Club: I’m happy you’re here! In the comments, say hi and introduce yourself. Then I’ll email you the chapter so you can join the discussion.
OK, it’s time to discuss!
What were your first impressions of “Getting an A”?
What questions do you have — for the group or for Mr. Tough?
What topics do you want us to explore more?
In the comments, say hi and share your thoughts. Remember, there’s no need to be smart here: Just go for it. Enjoy getting to know your fellow Article Club friends, reply to one another’s ideas, and build off one another. Most of all, have fun!
Coming up this month
Next Sunday, Feb. 16: Mr. Tough will answer our questions as part of a podcast episode. We’ll reflect on what he says and deepen our conversation.
Sunday, Feb. 23: We’ll convene in person (1-2:30 pm in Oakland) or online (4-5 pm PT via Zoom) to discuss “Getting an A” in depth.
One last thing: I want to thank Mr. Tough for getting the word out and encouraging his followers to join Article Club. I look forward to asking you our questions soon!
Article Club is a new experiment in community reading. We read and discuss one outstanding article or book chapter a month, both online and in person. We invite the author to join our conversation, too. If you’re interested, please sign up and check us out! Article Club is part of The Highlighter, a weekly newsletter featuring the best articles on race, education, and culture.
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Great article and well written! I found it very inspiring. It also reminded me of my husband because he was never much of a test taker and no one motivated him like this excellent teacher motivated Ivonne. He returned to get his BSE when he was unemployed in 2014 but was discouraged in Calculus. The teacher literally told the class that half of you would fail. To me that was a crappy teacher, but it was enough for my husband to accept a job and leave school again. Treisman sounds like a great guy.
[my first impressions]
this read was very relatable - i connected with the stories of ivonne and uri in many ways. it was a couple years ago that i was a student at any institution but the memories (and traumas) of that are still very fresh.
what the education institution does so effectively is gaslight very bright and capable students into believing that their "failures" are reflective of their potential and capabilities. screaming from the mountain top, it is not!
what paul does so well is not make ivonne's experiences a cliche of marginalized-student-works-hard-struggles-then-by-magic-overcomes-it. what resonated with me most is the scene where ivonne cries out of frustration in the moments leading up to her midterm. the image strikes me as the most human thing, that sometimes our own head gets to us and we can't help me to release what's bothering us the most.
[questions for paul tough & the group]
- while i admire uri's approach to education, how sustainable is it for educators in the current state of things? educators are already spread very thin and placing the responsibility on the educators to provide more to their students (at no extra cost!) seems like a one way ticket to burn out.
- i'm a bit conflicted by uri's way of teaching freshmen calculus, especially in how he introduced a very advanced theory that was intentionally meant to challenge students in ways they haven't before. does this approach make the subject more inaccessible? what are your thoughts on this?