Class Act

The subject: the Declaration of Independence. The scene: a seventh-grade history classroom at Caddo Middle Magnet School in Shreveport, La. The teacher: a substitute who wrote his name, "Mr. Bennett," in big letters on the blackboard. His teaching method: Socratic.

For 50 minutes last week Secretary of Education William Bennett and his 27 pupils discussed the origin and meaning of the Declaration. When Bennett asked to whom the document was addressed, one student answered King George III; another said the British Parliament. Bennett told his class, "I think it is fair to say it was written for the whole world, for everybody . . . We were establishing a nation. And we were telling the world why we were doing it."

Shreveport was the first stop on an eight-city tour designed by Bennett to focus attention on "the art of teaching." Also on the list are Washington; St. Louis and Clayton, Mo.; Osburn, Idaho; San Jose; Raleigh, N.C.; and Concord, N.H., where Bennett will sub for Sharon Christa McAuliffe, who is preparing for her January trip aboard the space shuttle. Bennett, a University of Texas Ph.D. in philosophy, who has taught at several universities, said he found teaching "one of the toughest jobs anyone could possibly have."

How did he do? Said Chris Johnson, 12: "He really told it to us." Kathy Elliott, who normally teaches the seventh-grade class at the Caddo school, commented, "I didn't think he would be that good, but he really impressed me. He was down-to-earth and had a fantastic sense of humor." Principal Lel McCullough liked the way Bennett kept his students' attention from wandering. Said she: "I'd hire him."