Teaching like a Marine
Slogging through muddy obstacle courses, enduring long marches while bearing heavy backpacks, and accepting regular torrents of insults may not seem like a good model for public education, but those dedicated to the motto semper fi argue that schools nonetheless can learn much from studying the Marines. During a discussion Thursday afternoon at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), two former members of the U.S. Marine Corps discussed how their rigorous training and military careers prepared them for their current roles in education, and how those lessons can translate more broadly to the teaching field. Speaker Jenny DuFresne spent years as a Marine, tasked with the complex administrative duties associated with officers headed to flight school, and later as a logistics expert who moved troops and supplies at a moment’s notice. After her active service, DuFresne worked in the nonprofit and corporate sectors. Then one day she found herself wondering where...