”Teaching as an art and a calling: A Conversation With Michael Bennett”

“Of course there are many learnings that are little else but a mechanical skill, and in such cases there may well be a best way. But to become a different person because of something you have learned - to appropriate an insight, a concept, a vision, so that your world is altered - that is a different matter. For that to happen you need a reason. And this is the metaphysical problem I speak of.” Neil Postman

" It is a rare thing to encounter somebody with the character and spirit of our guest Dr. Michael Bennett.

This episode occurs at a time when society has never been more obsessed with the question of education and what it is for. Bennett came recommended by our producer Laurie Strickland.

Like some of our other guests he has had more than a single career in one lifetime; listening to him speak felt as if he were also recounting more than one life- time!

Bennett loves teaching high school as much I believe as any teacher possibly could.

He also has a scholarly side as he is working on his dissertation.

Now I must confess I could easily listen to him discuss his sales career with as much interest as when he is discussing teaching high school English and if you think about it, the fact that he had a rich, working life prior to becoming his calling, a teacher, might be one of the reasons why he is a good teacher.

One of the main themes I took from our fascinating episode (Bennett is one of those great talkers who you never want to shut up, admittedly rarer than the alternative) is the impor- tance of passion in a human life and identity in the special sense he appears to use that word. I don't want to say too much in these notes because I really don't want to spoil the effect of him telling his own story which, as I am sure he would say, is what education is all about.”

Mike’s Bio

“It’s a known fact that we don’t get to choose the circumstances of our birth.

Born a long time ago, Dr. Bennett grew up in a home that was full of darkness and resentment. As the years passed, Dr. Bennett escaped into the pages of lit- erature. While he thought it was escaping his reality, in fact, the escape was the beginning of his journey.

After a stint as a Combat Medic in the Army, Dr. Bennett went to school, earned his first degree, and join the treadmill of corporate America.

After selling his soul for too many years, he walked away from the wealth and the expense account to enter the classroom and embrace what Dr. Bennett calls, “the voice.”

Along the way, Dr. Bennett has earned four more degrees and taught in a variety of settings. He’s married, enjoys travel, ultramarathons, cycling, kayaking, and of course, reading.

Links to Michael’s beautiful body of work:

Dr. Michael Bennett Ed.D , Allatoona High School Honors 9th Literature & Honors British Literature, AHS Travel Coordinator JV Girls’ Soccer Coach

Links to Dr. Bennet''s Dissertation:

Vocational Identity: What Makes a Teacher and Why Do They Teach? A Qualitative Narrative Study https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/cgi/viewcon- tent.cgi?article=1030&context=seceddoc_etd