After reading the article on Mr. Escalante, it made me reflect on my own education and teaching career. One thing I do believe, for every Escalante that's recognized by the media, there exists a hundred other educators who have given their dedication and passion for the craft just like him.
Re: Mr. Escalante
There is no direct translation of the term 'tener ganas' into English. The closest is 'to have a desire for' or perhaps what we hear a lot nowadays, "to really want it". My parents would often tell me, "Hazlo, pero con ganas", and again, with no direct translation the closest I can deliver is "Do it, but like you mean it", which still lacks the true meaning of "tener ganas" or "con ganas". What I do know is that I did enter the teaching profession con ganas. I do wake up and what gets me out of bed is my ganas to get to school early enough to prepare for the day with all the crazy ideas and formal educational theories in place. After nearly twelve years, I have the same ganas to see even that one spark light up.
Similar to Mr. Escalante, my ganas came from my immigrant background, specifically my mother and her mother. Two women who back in Colombia didn't have so bad, actually, but thought why not look for better? By the time I was born, New York City was where they called home. As early as I can remember, I could hear my mother tell me that school and a good education were my destiny and sole reason for existence. Never mind that Spanish was my first language, that I didn't even begin to speak English until first grade. Back then, there wasn't the big hoopla of getting tested, IEP this, Bilingual that. They just stuck me in a classroom and that was it. I managed to get through kindergarten and first grade and by the time I was in second grade, apparently my English was good enough because I was a straight A student, even bringing a list of vocabulary words that I found helpful to the attention my teacher (the writing was on the wall as a future educator even way back then). I never dreamed of complaining about school because I saw how hard my family worked to send me to (parochial) school. Horrors if the teacher sent a note home - I didn't say I was the best of students, I had a chatty side that the teachers would often put as being a 'social butterfly' (I suppose I had trouble staying in my seat, too. Today, I'd have a doctor's note identifying me with ADHD). But back then, the teacher was always right, suffer the consequences for being written up both at school and home. My parents always sided with the teacher, and for good reason, they were right about my performance and behavior!!! My parents wouldn't hear of any excuses, because that's what they were, excuses. And my teachers from their perspective knew my potential, because, well, they were teachers and they'd see me everyday. But through the extrinsic motivation from my family and my intrinsic motivation to do well, I always knew that education was key to success. I never received a lengthy explanation about the value of education from my parents. It was warranted, it was just a fact that I accepted. Nowadays, most adults seem to think that children need to be given a dissertation on the subject and then given the opportunity to choose whether or not they agree. I know of this because I've seen it in my own family in my own generation. I didn't have the luxury to choose or ponder if I wanted to get the type of education my parents were providing for, and I am thankful for that. My family's ganas and my own is what made me want an education and makes me the educator as well as the continuing student that I am today.
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