Blog#1: Post

This blog is about the role and impact of a teacher through the eyes of one teacher. The subject is terribly controversial and this blog really hits home on who might be on each side of the debate or just what the debate might look like. The piece seems to be addressed to the audience that is attending this slam, but also it seems to the general public and more specifically those who may not give good teachers the credit they deserve. I believe that this would be more motivational if it were recited at a teacher’s conference for example and would be more persuasive/defensive if it were recited to a group of people who Mali is arguing against (he names the Others, “lawyers”).

The argument appears to be that teachers “make a difference” and that they can be looked up to by students because of this. Mali attempts to lay out how making a difference looks. Because Mali is so emotional about it I think that it is hard not to involve your emotions as well. The slam has a sort of upward momentum and ends right at what is the climax of his performance/argument. There seems to be more than one purpose here. On the one hand is seems that Mali is attempting to bash and ridicule the people who may not think like him but at the same time is informing him of what teachers are doing for students and what impact they are making.

Mali starts out by putting the audience in the opposing group’s shoes and starts to make fun of them, but then instead of ridiculing lawyers, he starts to support his side of the story. The author uses real world and seemingly true experiences to support his claims and it seems to be very effective. Because teachers are usually in their classrooms alone it would seem very weak for him to just say it is to because it is so since no one besides the students would really be around to see it. Each example is pretty specific but does involve different realms and disciplines of school (calling home, reading, math, grades, etc.)

Mali uses humor and sarcasm and examples to build up his argument and it seems very effective. Perhaps I am biased because I am a pre-service teacher and would need to ask a range of people to know if it is effective for all audiences. The quote of the lawyer in the beginning of the clip (“Those you can do and those who can’t….teach”) seems to be an Argument Ad Hominem or Ad Populism, depending on how one sees it. Mali body language also helps his ‘act’ and while Mali is talking from at least a comic and teacher Discourse, he seems to also be wearing the common man/teacher persona so as to be on the same level with the audience, whoever they may be. Since this is on YOUTUBE there is of course a place for comments and on this particular video (of which there are many duplicates) there is a lot of positive feedback—as least as far down as I have read. Perhaps I had not been exposed to this kind of argumentation before, but I thought he was pretty spectacular! Enjoy!