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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What story was Ashton-Warner asked to read while trying to get the child to nap?

2. Which basketball-playing student claimed she would not return to school after being punished for bad behavior?

3. What did Mrs. Cutter send to Ashton-Warner in "Life in a Maori School, 1"?

4. What did Professor Baillie say killed education?

5. Which student's mother turned away from Ashton-Warner while walking through town?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the two worst enemies of teaching?

2. Why was Ashton-Warner so worried about the prospect of being visited by the inspector?

3. Why was it important to offer only present tense verbs to new readers?

4. Why did Ashton-Warner focus on teaching her Maori students nouns at first?

5. How did Maoris and whites differ in terms of communal gatherings?

6. What happened when Ashton-Warner attempted to secure school uniforms for her students from a nearby shop?

7. What was the reaction of strangers to Ashton-Warner's multi-colored Maori belt?

8. What was Ashton-Warner's attitude toward the white students who accused Maori students of theft?

9. Why was Ashton-Warner upset about the way she handled Mark Cutter when his mother insisted that her son was advancing too quickly in class?

10. Why did Ashton-Warner say that when giving first words to her students, she avoided showing them any illustrations of those words?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At one point in the book, Ashton-Warner admitted that at least one of her white students would have performed better had he been given access to the "white" readers she hated so much. Did her efforts on behalf of her Maori students come at a cost for her white students? Is it possible to help one previously disadvantaged group while also ensuring that the "advantaged" group does not fall behind? Should teachers base their teaching on reaching specific groups or should all the students, regardless of background, be expected to conform to the standard used in that classroom? Is it possible--or desirable--to differentiate instruction in a diverse classroom?

Essay Topic 2

Ashton-Warner's book, "Teacher," was extremely influential and continues to be taught in schools of education today. Research if and how her approach to organic teaching has influenced the classrooms of today. How is organic teaching taught? Is it ever fully implemented or was it ultimately unique to a handle of schools and classrooms? Does today's push for school accountability and standardized testing make it more difficult to incorporate organic learning as practiced by Ashton-Warner? Or does organic teaching provide a promising way out of today's difficulties in the educational system?

Essay Topic 3

Although Ashton-Warner was willing to sometimes rein in her classroom, overall she accepted the fact that there would be noisy chaos among the children. How does a teacher harness this sort of energy when asking the students to perform specific tasks? How does he ensure that it does not become disruptive? Based on Ashton-Warner's experiences, is this noise ever destructive? Would it be possible to allow this level of noise in most modern-day classrooms or would the differences among the children preclude allowing it?

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