Dear Teacher-- Laoshi

                   In a recent book, Dana Goldstein characterized teaching as America’s most embattled profession.  Teachers are often scapegoats for our social ills, simultaneously blamed for low achievement by impoverished students, pressure upon the most privileged, and the drop in America’s test scores.

                At times, Chinese teachers experience similar pressure, for parents from China’s rising middle class want their children taught by those who can give them a competitive advantage.  But in China this criticism is muted because of the age old respect this culture affords to their teachers.  ‘Laoshi’  (pronounced LOU-SHU) is translated ‘teacher,’ but in addition to naming an occupation, the title carries a deep respect seldom afforded to an American educator.

             Above: Students sing for their teachers at a farewell assembly.

             Below: Gabriela Montes serves as an intern teacher in a Chinese elementary school.