Real Middle School Teachers

Effective middle school teachers are more than the sum total of their educational beliefs and practices. They are whole persons whose lives reflect receptivity to growth, treasured relationships, and the intertwining of their personal and professional lives. This article uses the children's classic, The Velveteen Rabbit, as a metaphor to describe effective middle school teachers. Key words: Middle School Teachers, Effective Teachers, Metaphor, Case Study, and Qualitative Research "Real" Middle School Teachers "What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit. "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you." "Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit. "Sometimes," said the Skin Horse. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt.... doesn't happen all at once." The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others.... He had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive ... and pass away.... He knew they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it. "I am the nursery magic Fairy," she said. "I take care of all the playthings that the children have loved.... I come and ... turn them into Real." "Wasn't I Real before?" asked the little Rabbit. "You were Real to the Boy," the Fairy said, "because he loved you. Now you shall be Real to every one." [The Rabbit] gave one leap and the joy ... was so great that he went springing about..., jumping sideways and whirling round. He was a Real Rabbit at last. (Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit) I became a middle school teacher after spending 10 years teaching in elementary classrooms. I was scared to death of my assignment, but I quickly discovered that I loved middle schoolers and thrived on teaching them. As I rubbed shoulders with effective teachers committed to middle schoolers, I began wondering what made them so successful. It was obvious to me that they were unique, but I wondered how that had happened. What allowed them to continue giving and giving of themselves without burning out? What enabled them to successfully navigate the many changes in the field of education while maintaining their focus on students? How had they become so down-to-earth that even perceptive middle schoolers viewed them as authentic individuals? In the middle school literature I discovered what effective middle school teachers do and believe, but I wondered if there were common ingredients that shaped and directed these teachers' lives. The Quest Because of my questions, I spent a year observing in the classrooms of four effective middle school teachers, interviewing them, and trying to understand who they are and the events that have shaped their lives. I decided to use a qualitative case study design for my study since it would allow me to draw from the wisdom and insight of those who have experienced and understand the myriad facets of teaching middle schoolers. This design allowed me to listen to the stories of those who have "lived [long] in the [middle school classroom]" (Williams, 1981, p. 12) and have blazed a trail for others to follow in the quest for excellence in middle school education. A major task was to find effective middle school teachers willing to give of their time and themselves to participate in my study. I wanted to work with teachers recognized by fellow educators as effective middle school teachers. This led me to follow Maxwell's (1996) suggestion of using purposeful sampling when persons are "selected deliberately in order to provide important information that [cannot] be gotten as well from other choices" (p. 70). I combined purposeful sampling with reputational selection, or participants "chosen on the recommendation of an 'expert' or 'key informant'" (Miles & Huberman, 1994, p. …