Talking with Inspirational Teacher Andrew Gardner
By Liza Young
At the age of 29, Andrew Gardner has already been a first
grade teacher for seven years. With passion and dedication
to the field, Gardner has developed a teaching style that is
creative and innovative, fostering an enjoyment of learning
for his six-year-old students.
Gardner ascribes his
motivation to pursue a career in education as part social
mission and part family influence. As a major in American
Studies, he came to the conclusion that “the
promises of America have been overridden by systemic problems
and education is a way to help eradicate them.” His mother
was a special education teacher involved with research in Fragile
X syndrome; his father is a renowned professor at Harvard.
Gardner feels that
young children present a unique window of opportunity; that
teaching them to read is a “mind-blowing
process.”
An internship at Yale
presented a starting point for Gardner to watch the greats
in action—developmental educators
of young children such as Edward Zigler and James Comer—while
working 30 hours a week at the Child Study Center. At the Children’s
Store Front in East Harlem, where Gardner taught immediately
following his internship, he became an advocate of the Orton
Gillingham method which provided a guideline to follow, but
he also felt that he wanted to understand the underlying theory
behind teaching reading and that he should “get more
education in the field of education.”
While working on his
master’s degree at Bank Street
College of Education, Gardner found Professor Madeline Ray
who was inspiring in the field of social studies while Professor
Harold Melnick was instrumental in clarifying the National
Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards, facilitating
Gardner’s understanding of the theoretical underpinnings
of various curricula such as Trailblazer. While a student at
Bank Street, Gardner also continued working in the classroom,
interning at Children’s Workshop and the Manhattan Country
Day School, both of which had alternative tuition policies,
with a diverse socioeconomic population of students.
After completing his
master’s degree, Gardner began
working at The School at Columbia—which also has a socio-economically
diverse population—during its very initial phases, witnessing
the development and evolution of the school. It was there that
his creative and innovative approaches to teaching led to the
linkage of the modalities of art and music to learning. With
a strong musical background, Gardner began to integrate songs,
movement and instruments into the classroom. Eventually he
began using music on a daily basis in the classroom, incorporating
it into lesson plans as well as for fun. Gardner made music
an integral part of the learning process. During a lesson at
Manhattan Country School students in his class learned about
Martin Luther King by creating lyrics such as: “All day,
all night Martin Luther King fought for our rights.”
As part of the end of the year project at The School of Columbia,
Gardner had students create individual photo journals on their
computers, thus fusing the learning of technology, art, photography
and communication. Another end of the year project was the
creation of a circus. Performances were given for parents and
Gardner recalled with laughter, the excitement of the children.
Gardner has devoted
time outside of school hours to help children in need. Sensitive
to the loss of a parent (his mother died when he was 18 years
old), he helped one of his former students through the crisis
of his mother’s death.
After seven years of teaching the first grade, Gardner is
about to embark on a journey that will include the mission
of becoming fluent in Spanish. Beginning with an exploration
of his roots in Nuremberg, Germany, he plans to spend time
in Madrid, studying Spanish at a language immersion institute.
Enhancing his music skills in Seville is also on his agenda,
learning flamenco guitar. Following ten weeks of immersion
in Spanish, Gardner hopes to be fluent enough to fulfill his
goal of doing volunteer work in Costa Rica and Guatemala.
When asked about his
future goals, Gardner’s eyes twinkled
as he spoke of possibly teaching adolescents, a group where
he feels he can make a positive contribution. His passion for
education, his sensitivity to students’ needs, his dedication
to young people will undeniable make for a continued successful
and rewarding career.
Buena suerte en su viaje Andrew.#
