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Publication
Touchstone (1950), Edition: 1st Touchstone Ed, 304 pages
Description
First published in 1949, Jesse Stuart's now classic personal account of his twenty years of teaching in the mountain region of Kentucky has enchanted and inspired generations of students and teachers. With eloquence and wit, Stuart traces his twenty-year career in education, which began, when he was only seventeen years old, with teaching grades one through eight in a one-room schoolhouse. Before long Stuart was on a path that made him principal and finally superintendent of city and county schools. The road was not smooth, however, and Stuart faced many challenges, from students who were considerably older--and bigger--than he to well-meaning but distrustful parents, uncooperative administrators and, most daunting, his own fear of failure. Through it all, Stuart never lost his abiding faith in the power of education. A graceful ode to what he considered the greatest profession there is, Jesse Stuart's The Thread That Runs So True is timeless proof that "good teaching is forever and the teacher is immortal."… (more)
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0000-1093-6695
User reviews
LibraryThing member Stevil2001
This book is nuts. When it opens, Jesse Stuart has just finished his junior year of high school when he takes a year off to teach at a rural one-room school in Kentucky. He ends up in physical altercations with students nearly his age, is shot at by community members, and has to deal with students
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who have been in the first grade four or five times. Then, done with the education profession, he completes high school and goes to college. At that point he's hired to teach a small rural high school single-handedly. His school does so well his students beat the local city high school in a competition. So the next year he's hired to be the principal of that high school! Underpaid, he only does that for a year and goes off to graduate school. After not finishing because the building containing a draft of his master's thesis burns down, he returns home... where he's hired to be superintendent of the school district! Which of course turns out to be his craziest year yet. If this wasn't a memoir, I wouldn't believe. I kinda still don't. But it's endlessly fascinating. Stuart's passion for education oozes from every page, which makes the end of the book (where he gives it up) weird and underexplained. It's hard to be inspired by it, though, as it all seems so effortless for Stuart-- indeed, he often claims he was simply blessed with highly intelligent students. But if that's all, he seems to have ended up with a hugely disproportionate number. Thankfully, the book isn't aiming for feel-good, but (aside from the occasional preachy moment) entertainment, and it succeeds nicely at that. Show Less
LibraryThing member hslone1
Wonderful autobiography of Jesse Stuart and how he became a teacher, and then author.
LibraryThing member JenniferRobb
A friend sent me this book which I am also going to share with my mom. Jesse Stuart was a teacher, principal, and school superintendent in rural Kentucky at various times.
The parts I liked best was when he was describing his experiences and his students. I didn't recognize the poem/rhyme that the
Much is also made of the good teachers who were not rehired because of the politics of rural Kentucky schools. In fact, I don't recall him discussing too many bad teachers.
The parts I liked least were when he had to segue into the politics of the schools--the trustees, the state school laws, the board of education, etc. I agree with him that it did seem a bit complicated, and it also seemed like if the trustees or board changed then each brought in their own teachers etc. whether you were a good teacher or a bad teacher.
I'm not quite sure what their wages from then would equate to today. It seemed that it was hard to live on what a teacher made, especially since they were probably only paid for the months they taught (6 or 7 from what I recall). That fact seemed to run some teachers off the profession after a while (including the author). Then again, there was a whole school that taught without getting paychecks for a while, so that wasn't the only determining factor. There was also no teacher's pension plan or retirement plan back then--at least not when he first started teaching.
It's interesting that while we still have trouble attracting and keeping teachers, we now also have the problem of how to get rid of some of the "bad" teachers so, while the unions have done much good, at times, they probably also hinder education. I do agree that teachers shouldn't be dismissed, as some of these were, on a whim based on who is in charge--but there are some teachers who don't put in the effort with their students, who don't really teach, and who probably should leave the profession who can't be ousted from their positions because every time it's tried, it's blocked. That's not good either.
The parts I liked best was when he was describing his experiences and his students. I didn't recognize the poem/rhyme that the
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school children did at recess that inspired the title. I've never been good at symbolism but I thought it was interesting that he could recognize that the rhyme discussed "play" and apply it to his beginning students at his first school. It seemed like he made learning fun for them and also for the remedial English students at an Ohio high school much later in his career. It seemed many of the students he had were good, motivated students who wanted to learn. Many went on to become teachers themselves. Much is also made of the good teachers who were not rehired because of the politics of rural Kentucky schools. In fact, I don't recall him discussing too many bad teachers.
The parts I liked least were when he had to segue into the politics of the schools--the trustees, the state school laws, the board of education, etc. I agree with him that it did seem a bit complicated, and it also seemed like if the trustees or board changed then each brought in their own teachers etc. whether you were a good teacher or a bad teacher.
I'm not quite sure what their wages from then would equate to today. It seemed that it was hard to live on what a teacher made, especially since they were probably only paid for the months they taught (6 or 7 from what I recall). That fact seemed to run some teachers off the profession after a while (including the author). Then again, there was a whole school that taught without getting paychecks for a while, so that wasn't the only determining factor. There was also no teacher's pension plan or retirement plan back then--at least not when he first started teaching.
It's interesting that while we still have trouble attracting and keeping teachers, we now also have the problem of how to get rid of some of the "bad" teachers so, while the unions have done much good, at times, they probably also hinder education. I do agree that teachers shouldn't be dismissed, as some of these were, on a whim based on who is in charge--but there are some teachers who don't put in the effort with their students, who don't really teach, and who probably should leave the profession who can't be ousted from their positions because every time it's tried, it's blocked. That's not good either.
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Subjects
Awards
Notable Books List (1949)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1949
Physical description
304 p.; 8.25 inches
ISBN
0684719045 / 9780684719047