High Need

1.27.11 By Stephen Yang

When speaking about education in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday night, President Barack Obama remarked on the need to “prepare 100,000 new teachers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math” in order to create a more “innovative” and “competitive” union.  While I agree with President Obama, I believe that the need for extraordinary humanities and English/language arts teachers is just as great.  In order to compete in the 21st century global economy, our students need to retain their competitive edge as innovators and thinkers.  This goes beyond memorizing formulae and (dis)proving them in realistic situations.  It requires imagination, creativity, and an aptitude to read between the lines-intellectual habits that humanities and E/la teachers consistently teach and re-teach through critical readings of literature and society.  Creativity is innate in every human being, but it must be nurtured.  Students need to learn the value of re-imagining the union they will inherit one day.  Of course, there are no shortages of people who want to teach humanities and E/la classes.  But to find and place remarkable people who can teach these classes well is just as “high need” as any other academic subject.  Not all social scientists can explain the equivalence of energy and matter, but we do our part in making sure that the innovative spirit and dream of America continues to be the engine that propels this nation forward.