TED Talks Education
Rita Pierson: Every kid needs a champion
Filmed:
Readability: 2.6
10,893,254 views
Rita Pierson, a teacher for 40 years, once heard a colleague say, "They don't pay me to like the kids." Her response: "Kids don't learn from people they don't like.'" A rousing call to educators to believe in their students and actually connect with them on a real, human, personal level.
Rita F. Pierson - Educator
Rita F. Pierson spent her entire life in or around the classroom, having followed both her parents and grandparents into a career as an educator. Full bio
Rita F. Pierson spent her entire life in or around the classroom, having followed both her parents and grandparents into a career as an educator. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
I have spent my entire life
0
591
3880
00:16
either at the schoolhouse, on the way to the schoolhouse,
1
4471
4407
00:20
or talking about what happens in the schoolhouse.
2
8878
3765
00:24
Both my parents were educators,
3
12643
2399
00:27
my maternal grandparents were educators,
4
15042
2942
00:29
and for the past 40 years I've done the same thing.
5
17984
3938
00:33
And so, needless to say, over those years
6
21922
2790
00:36
I've had a chance to look at education reform
7
24712
3516
00:40
from a lot of perspectives.
8
28228
1831
00:42
Some of those reforms have been good.
9
30059
1954
00:44
Some of them have been not so good.
10
32013
2269
00:46
And we know why kids drop out.
11
34282
2197
00:48
We know why kids don't learn.
12
36479
1479
00:49
It's either poverty, low attendance,
13
37958
2855
00:52
negative peer influences. We know why.
14
40813
4076
00:56
But one of the things that we never discuss
15
44889
2346
00:59
or we rarely discuss
16
47235
2241
01:01
is the value and importance of human connection,
17
49476
4269
01:05
relationships.
18
53745
2333
01:08
James Comer says that no significant learning
19
56078
3597
01:11
can occur without a significant relationship.
20
59675
2795
01:14
George Washington Carver says all learning
21
62470
2777
01:17
is understanding relationships.
22
65247
4107
01:21
Everyone in this room has been affected
23
69354
2396
01:23
by a teacher or an adult.
24
71750
2453
01:26
For years, I have watched people teach.
25
74203
5313
01:31
I have looked at the best and I've look at some of the worst.
26
79516
3383
01:34
A colleague said to me one time,
27
82899
1821
01:36
"They don't pay me to like the kids.
28
84720
2209
01:38
They pay me to teach a lesson.
29
86929
2073
01:41
The kids should learn it.
30
89002
1298
01:42
I should teach it. They should learn it. Case closed."
31
90300
3629
01:45
Well, I said to her,
32
93929
1890
01:47
"You know, kids don't learn from people they don't like."
33
95819
3488
01:51
(Laughter) (Applause)
34
99307
8024
01:59
She said, "That's just a bunch of hooey."
35
107331
3294
02:02
And I said to her, "Well, your year is going to be long
36
110625
3240
02:05
and arduous, dear."
37
113865
2221
02:08
Needless to say it was. Some people think
38
116086
2297
02:10
that you can either have it in you to build a relationship
39
118383
2963
02:13
or you don't.
40
121346
1624
02:14
I think Stephen Covey had the right idea.
41
122970
2204
02:17
He said you ought to just throw in a few simple things,
42
125174
3542
02:20
like seeking first to understand
43
128716
2306
02:23
as opposed to being understood,
44
131022
2241
02:25
simple things like apologizing.
45
133263
3103
02:28
You ever thought about that?
46
136366
1087
02:29
Tell a kid you're sorry, they're in shock.
47
137453
3639
02:33
I taught a lesson once on ratios.
48
141092
2430
02:35
I'm not real good with math, but I was working on it.
49
143522
3924
02:39
And I got back and looked at that teacher edition.
50
147446
3074
02:42
I'd taught the whole lesson wrong. (Laughter)
51
150520
3297
02:45
So I came back to class the next day, and I said,
52
153817
1957
02:47
"Look, guys, I need to apologize.
53
155774
2450
02:50
I taught the whole lesson wrong. I'm so sorry."
54
158224
3778
02:54
They said, "That's okay, Ms. Pierson.
55
162002
1378
02:55
You were so excited, we just let you go."
56
163380
2463
02:57
(Laughter) (Applause)
57
165843
5107
03:02
I have had classes that were so low,
58
170950
3758
03:06
so academically deficient that I cried.
59
174708
3846
03:10
I wondered, how am I going to take this group
60
178554
2952
03:13
in nine months
61
181506
1947
03:15
from where they are to where they need to be?
62
183453
3024
03:18
And it was difficult. It was awfully hard.
63
186477
2854
03:21
How do I raise the self-esteem of a child
64
189331
3372
03:24
and his academic achievement at the same time?
65
192703
2943
03:27
One year I came up with a bright idea.
66
195646
2146
03:29
I told all my students,
67
197792
1845
03:31
"You were chosen to be in my class
68
199637
3533
03:35
because I am the best teacher
69
203170
1656
03:36
and you are the best students,
70
204826
1547
03:38
they put us all together
71
206373
1444
03:39
so we could show everybody else how to do it."
72
207817
3169
03:42
One of the students said, "Really?"
73
210986
2305
03:45
(Laughter)
74
213291
1801
03:47
I said, "Really. We have to show the other classes
75
215092
3250
03:50
how to do it, so when we walk down the hall,
76
218342
2335
03:52
people will notice us, so you can't make noise.
77
220677
2729
03:55
You just have to strut."
78
223406
3054
03:58
And I gave them a saying to say: "I am somebody.
79
226460
2768
04:01
I was somebody when I came.
80
229228
1365
04:02
I'll be a better somebody when I leave.
81
230593
2124
04:04
I am powerful, and I am strong.
82
232717
1993
04:06
I deserve the education that I get here.
83
234710
2690
04:09
I have things to do, people to impress,
84
237400
2237
04:11
and places to go."
85
239637
1689
04:13
And they said, "Yeah!"
86
241326
3010
04:16
You say it long enough,
87
244336
1421
04:17
it starts to be a part of you.
88
245757
3766
04:21
And so — (Applause)
89
249523
6037
04:27
I gave a quiz, 20 questions.
90
255560
4047
04:31
A student missed 18.
91
259607
2710
04:34
I put a "+2" on his paper and a big smiley face.
92
262317
5212
04:39
He said, "Ms. Pierson, is this an F?"
93
267529
3747
04:43
I said, "Yes."
94
271276
2509
04:45
He said, "Then why'd you put a smiley face?"
95
273785
3296
04:49
I said, "Because you're on a roll.
96
277081
2248
04:51
You got two right. You didn't miss them all."
97
279329
4072
04:55
I said, "And when we review this,
98
283401
1800
04:57
won't you do better?"
99
285201
1619
04:58
He said, "Yes, ma'am, I can do better."
100
286820
2529
05:01
You see, "-18" sucks all the life out of you.
101
289349
3632
05:04
"+2" said, "I ain't all bad."
102
292981
2082
05:07
(Laughter) (Applause)
103
295063
5772
05:12
For years I watched my mother
104
300835
3141
05:15
take the time at recess to review,
105
303976
2834
05:18
go on home visits in the afternoon,
106
306810
2824
05:21
buy combs and brushes and peanut butter and crackers
107
309634
3019
05:24
to put in her desk drawer for kids that needed to eat,
108
312653
2734
05:27
and a washcloth and some soap for the kids who didn't smell so good.
109
315387
3229
05:30
See, it's hard to teach kids who stink.
110
318616
3707
05:34
And kids can be cruel.
111
322323
2447
05:36
And so she kept those things in her desk,
112
324770
2633
05:39
and years later, after she retired,
113
327403
3120
05:42
I watched some of those same kids come through
114
330523
3022
05:45
and say to her, "You know, Ms. Walker,
115
333545
1984
05:47
you made a difference in my life.
116
335529
2422
05:49
You made it work for me.
117
337951
1329
05:51
You made me feel like I was somebody,
118
339280
2039
05:53
when I knew, at the bottom, I wasn't.
119
341319
3559
05:56
And I want you to just see what I've become."
120
344878
1785
05:58
And when my mama died two years ago at 92,
121
346663
3292
06:01
there were so many former students at her funeral,
122
349955
2833
06:04
it brought tears to my eyes, not because she was gone,
123
352788
2824
06:07
but because she left a legacy of relationships
124
355612
3668
06:11
that could never disappear.
125
359280
2508
06:13
Can we stand to have more relationships? Absolutely.
126
361788
4526
06:18
Will you like all your children? Of course not.
127
366314
4677
06:22
And you know your toughest kids are never absent.
128
370991
4058
06:27
(Laughter)
129
375049
1992
06:29
Never. You won't like them all,
130
377041
3098
06:32
and the tough ones show up for a reason.
131
380139
3410
06:35
It's the connection. It's the relationships.
132
383549
2934
06:38
And while you won't like them all,
133
386483
1635
06:40
the key is, they can never, ever know it.
134
388118
4112
06:44
So teachers become great actors and great actresses,
135
392230
3791
06:48
and we come to work when we don't feel like it,
136
396021
2151
06:50
and we're listening to policy that doesn't make sense,
137
398172
3162
06:53
and we teach anyway.
138
401334
3181
06:56
We teach anyway, because that's what we do.
139
404515
4064
07:00
Teaching and learning should bring joy.
140
408579
3150
07:03
How powerful would our world be
141
411729
2550
07:06
if we had kids who were not afraid to take risks,
142
414279
3750
07:10
who were not afraid to think,
143
418029
1268
07:11
and who had a champion?
144
419297
1493
07:12
Every child deserves a champion,
145
420790
2465
07:15
an adult who will never give up on them,
146
423255
2210
07:17
who understands the power of connection,
147
425465
2713
07:20
and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.
148
428178
3915
07:24
Is this job tough? You betcha. Oh God, you betcha.
149
432093
4770
07:28
But it is not impossible.
150
436863
3233
07:32
We can do this. We're educators.
151
440096
1756
07:33
We're born to make a difference.
152
441852
2284
07:36
Thank you so much.
153
444136
1391
07:37
(Applause)
154
445527
5293
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Rita F. Pierson - EducatorRita F. Pierson spent her entire life in or around the classroom, having followed both her parents and grandparents into a career as an educator.
Why you should listen
Rita F. Pierson, a professional educator since 1972, taught elementary school, junior high and special education. She was a counselor, a testing coordinator and an assistant principal. In each of these roles, she brought a special energy to the role -- a desire to get to know her students, show them how much they matter and support them in their growth, even if it was modest.
For the past decade, Pierson conducted professional development workshops and seminars for thousands of educators. Focusing on the students who are too often under-served, she lectured on topics like “Helping Under-Resourced Learners,”“Meeting the Educational Needs of African American Boys" and "Engage and Graduate your Secondary Students: Preventing Dropouts."
Pierson passed away in June 2013.
Rita F. Pierson | Speaker | TED.com