Accountability—try fishing

I have always considered analogies untenable as illustrations of the reality intended. They are used as the means of proving that chalk equals cheese whereas all they prove, in fact, is that chalk equals chalk and cheese equals cheese. I may be two faced, but I here intend analogy, not to prove my case but simply to make it. You may accuse me of casuistry, and I'll bow guiltily to the charge, but I hope that will not prevent me from presenting an idea that has been haunting me for some time. I'm a fisherman. I love to fish. I fish a lot and I'm skilled at it. I read avidly about fishing; I have the best and latest equipment; I talk to fellow fishermen, and I have accumulated a formidable amount of fish-lore. I know what bait to use when and where; I know the best hooks to fasten it on. I am, in short, a compleat angler. And yet, I don't always land a fish. Occasionally, I barely get a nibble. Some days my catch is good, particularly at certain times of the day in certain seasons of the year. On such a day I feel great; on a bad day I am always a little disappointed, but, nevertheless, ready and happy to try again next time. Substitute teach forfish, teaching forfishing, and teacher forfisherman, and you know, if you haven't guessed, what I am talking about. If I fail to land a fish, I am not thereby a bad fisherman, and you wouldn't hold that I was, especially in view of what you know about my knowledge, skills, prowess. If I fail to get a student to lear, am I a bad teacher? Of course, if the answer is no, you are running counter to current opinion. But the truth, surely, is that the fisherman is largely at the mercy of the fish; if the fish don't bite, are not in the mood, or whatever, provided the fisherman has used his considerable ingenuity, he can do no more. The fisherman hasn't failed as a fisherman; he simply has not succeeded in catching a fish-so with the hunter, the soldier, and-dare I say it-the teacher. For the past several years I've heard that there are no failing students, just failing teachers-as if teachers were solely responsible for pupils' learning. I will happily, of

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