This is Jennifer Gonzalez welcoming you to episode 156 of the Cult of Pedagogy podcast.

In this episode, we are going to talk about subversion as an essential tool of the Master Teacher.

When you hear the word revolutionary, what kind of person do you picture?

Are they marching in the streets, fist in the air, speaking passionately to crowds,

leading boycotts, strikes, demonstrations?

I'm guessing that whatever you're seeing in your mind, it's not a teacher.

Maybe you can picture a teacher strike, but beyond that, do you ever think of teachers as revolutionaries?

I am starting to because some of the best teachers perform revolutionary acts every day.

I'm not talking about helping a child get over a difficult academic hurdle or inspiring a class to try hard on a test.

I'm talking about breaking the rules to do what's best for kids.

I'm talking about subversion and I've come to the conclusion that if someone wants to be a master teacher,

acts of subversion are a necessary part of the job.

I've always kind of known this, but the idea really crystallized for me while I was reading Melinda Anderson's new book, Becoming a Teacher.

In the book, Anderson illustrates the complexities and joys of teaching by following the career of Laquiesha Hall,

an English teacher in the Baltimore Public School system.

Readers watch Hall struggle to find her voice as a first year teacher, hook up with mentors who would support her growth,

and work through the trial and error cycle of developing lessons that would reach the kids in her classes.

As her career progresses, Hall also occasionally chooses to buck the system for the sake of her students.

The first instance of this was when she allowed students to opt out of reading the text required by her school's curriculum,

and instead choose something from Hall's library of racially and culturally diverse books.

The move resulted in far more students being engaged in and excited about the task of analyzing literature.

This small but significant act of subversion is the kind of thing I'm talking about.

...