http://www.curtispublishing.com/images/Rockwell/9560317.jpg

Click on the above link and look at the image of the schoolteacher that the famous illustrator Norman Rockwell used for the cover of the Saturday Evening Post magazine in March, 1956. Notice Miss Jones' clothes, her hairstyle, her posture, and the expression on her face. Notice how she has arranged her classroom. Look at the items on her desk and the general classroom décor. Observe the children, then look at what they have written on the blackboard.

How would you describe Rockwell's ideal schoolteacher? What might be the educational philosophy of this teacher? What does she believe about what is the "educated person?" What is worth knowing? What is learning? What is good teaching? What is the role of the school in society?

Pretend you are Miss Jones and write a letter home to your family about your work.

Look through your textbook for a picture of a teacher in today's classrooms. How is his/her appearance, and the appearance of the classroom different from Miss Jones'? In what ways do you think beliefs about education and teaching have changed since 1956? How has the nature of the work, and teachers' lives, changed?