"If you want a good education, you need to have good teachers."

So said William Deresiewicz, writer for Slate, in his article "Spirit Guides." Deresiewicz believes that teaching is not an engineering problem, nor is it "a question of transfering a certain quantity of information from one brain to another."

"'Educate' means 'lead forth.' A teacher’s job is to lead forth the powers that lie asleep within her students," he said. He added that when it comes to teachers, students would rather have mentors; those who turn to one-on-one instruction every now and then. Deresiewicz looks at this issue not only in K-12 education, but also at the college level, and he encourages all levels of teachers to take on this practice.

"My years in the classroom, as well as my conversations with young people about their college experience, have convinced me there are two things, above all, that students want from their pro­fessors," he said. "Not, as people commonly believe, to entertain them in class and hand out easy As. That’s what they retreat to, once they see that nothing better is on offer. What they really want is that their teach­ers challenge them and that they care about them. They don’t want fun and games; they want the real thing."

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Article by Kassondra Granata, EducationWorld Contributor