Public Education In To Kill A Mockingbird

Scout, the main character of To Kill A Mockingbird, is new to school and its atmosphere, as is Caroline Fisher, Scout’s first grade teacher. Ms. Caroline, however is not only new to school, but Maycomb County entirely. Ms. Caroline hails from Winston County which is widely known to be a place of different values and traditions that many in Maycomb hardly understand. When Ms. Caroline was in college she was taught a new way of teaching which she seeks to implement in public education. However this new way of teaching requires a fresh and new mind, something Scout no longer possesses, leading to their first confrontation.

Ms. Caroline discovers Scout can read early on during the first day of school. She asks Scout to inform Atticus to no longer