I had hoped and planned to teach English in high school. But at the school my daughters went to, I found the students smug and privileged. Their interest in learning began and ended with whatever it took to get into Cal or Stanford. Grades, not learning. It’s easy to find the faculty lot—it’s the one filled with Honda Civics. The one with the Lamborghinis is the student lot.
Plus, after three decades a journalist, I expected to be able to teach writing to high school students. My master teacher said to me, “You can write. Can you teach it?”
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Here's a radical pedagogical idea: Grade students based on what they've actually learned. Then, it doesn't matter if they are learning to get good grades or learning for love of the activity. It doesn't matter <em>why</em> they are learning; it only matters that they actually learn it. It's analogous to making people not commit crimes. If they find it morally repugnant, fine. If they are terrified of the consequences of getting caught, that's fine, too. All that matters is that they don't do crimes; why they don't matters not at all.