Teacher Man

Chapter 15 is about particular students McCourt taught at Stuyvesant. He starts by describing Open School Day there, which are quite different from those of the vocational schools where he had previously taught. Parents have high expectations for their children and can be demanding. There are more parents to deal with, too. Because divorce is more common among the middle class in this community, McCourt has to work with stepparents and sort out how to meet with parents who won’t be in each other’s presence.

One of his students is Bob Stein, a student who always sits in the back on a windowsill instead of at a desk. He amuses the other students—and McCourt, who laughs inwardly—with his funny banter, but he is never prepared for class. For example, he never has pen or paper even though it’s a writing class. Bob wants to be farmer when he gets older, which upsets his rabbi father. The father complains to McCourt at his Open School Day meeting that if he and his wife put Bob through college, there is no way his son is going to settle for raising pigs and corn. Observant Jews don’t eat pork, and people would talk.