The Meaning of Scholarly Activity and the Building of Community

O ver 30 years ago, I was a sixth-grade teacher in a fast-growing suburb of Los Angeles. The school was new; the district was building a new school every year. (It was a time when people could buy new houses for $100 down.) Some students in my class had been to as many as 12 schools. Many came from poor families; some were students of the military; others had moved to Califor nia from the Midwest for the promise of a new life. Educa tional change was in the air; it was the era of "individualiz ing instruction " and "modern math. " But there were 45 students in my class, and I was responsible for teaching more than 10 subject areas. I had a teaching credential from UCLA where I had par ticipated in what was to be the last year of a teacher-preparation program based on the teachings of John Dewey. I had learned to teach by participating in the creation of all the materials and activities that I was to use as a teacher: for