By Nicole Jacovino

Special to the Gazette

Vito Perrone believes there needs to be a connection between what children learn and what they see in the world. That means that teachers must know not only the subjects they teach, but the students they're teaching.

Perrone, director of teacher education at the Graduate School of Education, has been teaching for 40 years. And while the world has changed dramatically in that time, students still have the same need for a sense of connection, a bridge from what they already know to what they need to know.

Teachers must provide that bridge. That requires adherence to the fundamentals -- for Perrone, moral and intellectual obligations are still the core of teaching -- but also better preparation.

Perrone believes teachers need a strong academic background; thoughtful work in curriculum rooted in a potent historical-cultural base; work in child and adolescent development tied closely to natural environments; and good practice in a school setting alongside mentors who are themselves students of teaching.

And when they're practicing, teachers should keep in mind their own journeys of learning as well as the need for ongoing learning, using their own classrooms as a principal source.

"Even though I have been at this work for 40 years, my journey is still in progress," Perrone said in a talk marking the fourth decade of his teaching career. "I am still learning. We should all be still learning."

Teaching Is Not Telling

As a youngster, Perrone taught neighborhood kids outdoor games like soccer, kickball, and football. He also engaged them in reading, writing, and crafts. He learned three things from this early foray into teaching: teaching is not telling, readiness for learning matters, and hands-on experience is critical.

"It's important for students to learn by actual experiences," Perrone said. "Learning to play baseball meant in the end actually playing baseball; learning to read meant actually reading real books, real texts."

Perrone's philosophy goes against the grain of the time-worn educational model in which a teacher stands in front of the classroom and talks. Perrone wants students to relate what they see in their world to what they learn in school.

Perrone uses an example from his days teaching high school. He had two students who were brothers in one of his history courses. They were consistently late to class.

He learned that these students were tardy because they set traps before school near the swamps by their house. Perrone lived in the city, so he didn't have any idea about what trapping was. When they invited him to visit their house, he went one Saturday.

When they walked through the forest that day, Perrone was impressed by the brothers' knowledge of flora and fauna and quickly considered them first-class naturalists. "They seemed to understand everything about the growth of plants and the habitats of various wildlife," he recalled.

Then he found that the brothers struggled with their biology class.

"I found these young men's abilities and talents inspiring, yet they were hardly making it at the school," Perrone said. "They did not see themselves as exceptional learners, and they were given virtually no encouragement to believe they could be successful academically or to consider any post-secondary education."

Perrone learned a valuable lesson from these two young men. "To teach students well, you must know them well, understanding more fully what they are all about," he said.

In other words, to be a good teacher, one must first learn from the students.

Today, Perrone is still teaching this philosophy -- to other teachers.