"All too often, in the history of the United States, the school teacher has been in no position to serve as a model to the intellectual life," Hofstadter wrote. "Too often he has not only no claims to an intellectual life of his own, but not even an adequate workmanlike competence in the skills he is supposed to impart." Harsh words, perhaps, but Hofstadter"s idea makes sense: If teachers—on the front line of education—don"t have an active intellectual life, they"re not likely to communicate a love of learning and critical thinking to their students. In his 1995 book, Out of Our Minds: Anti-Intellectualism and Talent Development in American Schools, Craig Howley cites several studies about the education and habits of public school teachers. According to one study, prospective teachers take fewer liberal arts courses than their counterparts in other arts and science majors—and fewer upper-division courses in any subject except pedagogy. It appears, Howley writes, that prospective teachers do not often make a special effort during their college years to pursue advanced study in fields other than pedagogy. Frequent reading of literature in academic fields is the mark of the scholar, Howley says, so it"s logical to look at teachers" reading habits. Readers tend to be more reflective and more critical than nonreaders, argues Howley, who found that studies of teachers" reading showed two patterns: One is that teachers don"t read very much—on average, just 3.2 books a year. (In fact, 11 percent of those surveyed said they had not read a single book during the current year.) The second pattern is that when teachers do read, they prefer popular books rather than scholarly or professional literature. Of those who were reading about education, most were reading books intended for the general public. It"s true that U.S. teachers have traditionally been poorly paid and not well respected, which means that the best and the brightest are often not attracted to teaching. But until teachers can be role models and exhibit their own love of learning and academics, the children won"t get it. "Create a culture among the adults, a community of adults who are learners, who are excited a bout ideas in the other disciplines," says Deborah Meier, educator and author of The Power of Their Ideas. "The school must represent the culture it wants to encourage. If we want kids to feel that an intellectual life belongs to them, it must belong to the teacher, too."

单选题 According to Hofstadter, American teachers

单选题 In Craig Howley"s opinion, prospective teachers should

单选题 The author quoted the studies of teachers" reading to show that

单选题 The word "it" (Line 3, Paragraph 5) most probably refers to

单选题 It can be inferred from the last two paragraphs that