Teacher Who Couldn't Read Becomes Literacy Activist | Gimundo

Teacher Who Couldn’t Read Becomes Literacy Activist

Despite 35 years of education, classroom teacher John Cocoran had a dirty secret: He didn't know how to read. Now, he's a published author, and has created a nonprofit organization to make sure others don't share his experience.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on February 16 2008

John Corcoran had 35 years of education behind him, including a bachelor’s degree, and many graduate and professional-level classes. He had worked with at-risk youth as a classroom teacher. He’d taught a wide range of subjects, including social studies, English grammar, and world history, always holding a textbook at his side. But in all his years as a teacher, he never once cracked the spine of any of his books.

His entire life was an act: The esteemed teacher was unable to read.

It sounds unbelievable that someone completely illiterate could manage to make his way through high school and college without being caught, let alone become a high school teacher – but somehow, Corcoran always managed to fake his way though any challenge.

“I can remember when I was 8 years old saying my prayers at night saying, ‘please, God, tomorrow when it’s my turn to read please let me read.’ You just pretend that you are invisible and when the teacher says, ‘Johnnie read,’ you just wait the teacher out because you know the teacher has to go away at some point,” he told San Diego’s KGTV.

During high school and college, he relied on friends to help him complete his homework assignments, and when he had to turn in essays, he simply purchased other students’ to pass off as his own. After making the absurd decision to become a teacher, Corcoran would ask his students to read out loud from their text books, and used group discussions and guest speakers to help his students learn without revealing his embarrassing secret. He made it through 17 full years in the classroom without slipping up.

Eventually, he left the world of education behind for the more lucrative real estate market, where he made millions of dollars over the next decade (letting his wife handle all the paperwork, of course). But he still felt as though his life wouldn’t be complete until he finally learned how to read – so one day, he built up the courage to walk through the door of a literacy center and admit that he needed help. It took a lot of work, but within one year, he was reading at a sixth-grade level.

Now, the formerly illiterate man is a published author: His book, The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read, shares the heart-wrenching tale of his struggles in the world of education, illuminating an important issue that often remains hidden in our society. In 1997, he founded the John Corcoran Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides free tutoring and literacy services to children and adults. Since he finally spoke out about his own struggles, he has become a staunch advocate for the importance of literacy.

“I believe that illiteracy in America is a form of child neglect and child abuse and the child is blamed and they carry the shame,” he says on his website. “If we just teach our people how to read, we’d give them a fair chance.”

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Heroes, Non-Profits,

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