Teacher Man

This first chapter of Part 2 is about McCourt moving on from McKee after eight years. When he completes his master’s degree, he gets a job as an adjunct lecturer at New York Community College, where he teaches Basic Composition and Introduction to Literature. Most of his students are older, working adults. They have full-time jobs and are taking classes at night to try to move up at work. The majority are Black or Hispanic, and many speak a language other than English as their mother tongue. When it comes time to teach how to write a research paper, McCourt struggles. They don’t seem to be curious about ideas, but in fact they feel that they have no voice in American society. The end result is that the students’ work is mostly copied from reference books, but McCourt passes them anyway with decent grades. He believes that he and the students are both in an impossible situation.

After one year, McCourt loses the adjunct position because he is not working toward his PhD. He finds work at another vocational high school, Fashion Industries High School. The head of the department, he writes, doesn’t like him, but there’s a shortage of teachers and he has experience.