Chapter 3 "Classics In the Classroom"

I enjoyed reading this chapter, but there was one part that caught my attention more than anything else. It was the part in the chapter that talked about reading for empathy. I tend to read literature to escape my sometimes boring life, and dive into another adventure instead. This is a typical thing to read for. Yet, I enjoyed reading about how many of the interns/students at Columbia University are required to read literature to help them become more empathetic towards their patients. "The Death of Ivan Ilych" is supposed to make them realize that what they are doing isn't simply just a job, but that they are affecting people everyday with what they do. I found that to be very interesting because usually you wouldn't think such a task like this would be required of doctors. I always just think they are more like robots who come in, do their job, and don't worry about anything that may potentially go wrong with any of their procedures.

Yet, when I really started to think about this part in the chapter, I think about my future as a teacher. I am going to have students from all different backgrounds, religions, ethnicity and heritage. I am going to need to be empathetic for the students that I am going to be teaching. I need to learn about who they are, where they come from and the things that they can relate to. Too many times we see teachers who are ignorant or naive about what is going on in the lives of their students. I refuse to be one of those teachers. I want to not only educate them, but allow them to further educate me. Those boundaries don't need to exist between students and teachers, they should be broken down and allow everyone to connect on much deeper levels, which I believe in turn will enable further education development to occur.