- Increasingly teachers are speaking out against school reforms that they believe are demeaning their profession, and some are simply quitting because they have had enough.
Here is one resignation letter from a veteran teacher, Gerald J. Conti, a social studies teacher at Westhill High School in Syracuse, N.Y.:
In my general experience, this is terribly, terribly true. I also think that students are conditioned to be molly-coddled and thus walk around as entitled as the day is long. Most institutions do nothing to change the attitude that teacher and student must have an adversarial relationship, with the teacher standing in the way of true learning and exploring of interests. And why would they change it? The institutions are generally responsible for it, even if it's due to pressure from government agencies. The best most primary and secondary school teachers can do is sneak in some teaching moments where they can and leave trails of breadcrumbs they hope students will follow, though most of the time the students either miss the breadcrumbs or complain that they don't want breadcrumbs, they want cheeseburgers.
I love your analogy to finish that comment. It's not a matter of allowing students to truly learn anymore, and can you really blame the teachers? Once you get below a certain class average of percentage of students passing you're likely to face Administrative Action, at some point you have to watch out for your own livelihood. It's a combination of Teacher's Unions not always looking out for the students, parents of the students not caring enough to make a difference, and probably largely on the administration of school districts.
I want to shake you and say wake up dammit! Let me share with you a simple, true, analogous story: I was dating a girl a few years back who loved farming- loved growing her own food, had worked on a farm for about 6 months and really enjoyed it. She was going to college at the time. A friend and classmate of hers was also a wild promoter of organic farming and good farming practices in general- moving away from industrial farming, big agriculture, etc and towards an approach focused on the health and well-being of the individual. This friend was always getting down on her because she wanted to become a farmer- she really had the chance to make a difference by going around and teaching farmers how to correctly switch to a healthier, greener style of farming. Instead of just having one organic farm she could promote hundreds and have a much more important effect on the world and really do some good. She hated this mindset, and I suppose as a result of that so do I. There's definitely a need for people to campaign for organic farming- but far far greater than that need is the need for the actual farmers. The policy and the lobbying is predicated on the idea that this system is in place- without the subject of the policy, the campaigning and lobbying are worse than useless. This: -But never for a second believe the the policy makers are more important than the people they make policy for. Just because someone can tell you how to do something doesn't mean that they're more important than you are. If all of the managers left my Engineering department there would definitely be some confusion for a while and it would take a bit to make right- if all of the engineers left, there would be no website within a week. Do not mistake influence for necessity!Go into educational policy if you must, or better yet become a scientist, marry a scientist, and homeschool your children.
Is bass-ackwards. If your friends are going into teaching fucking great. Maybe your friends aren't going into it for the reasons you would- namely to change an entire system or make sure that their children are educated. Maybe your friends fucking want to teach people. That doesn't mean it's their responsibility to make the change in American education policy happen- that means that it's their responsibility to teach and to understand these policies as a teacher. They will, of a matter of course, have passionate opinions about the policies and some may in time come to think that it would be a better use of their time to help other teachers by becoming an education policy maker.
Well. a) you're making a lot of assumptions about my friends. Most of them are going into teaching (Teach for America, in fact) out of, for want of a better word, ignorance. Teach for America's issues have been done to death, and I won't go into them. But I find that for most of them it's what grad school is to many liberal arts majors -- buying time. b) I want to shake my friends (though, I don't; it's not my business) because I care about their futures, not about education in America's. So I think you missed my meaning there. I think they should use their various talents on something that will reward them commensurately, end of story. Else I'd be a teacher, I guess. I think you worked yourself up into an argument against yourself, or something. Not sure where you're going with this, or where you got it. Educational policy is an alternative because it looks at the root problems of our education system, satisfies whatever latent needs my friends have to help children, and will make them considerably more well off. Period. I'm certainly not listing ed pol as an otherwise viable career choice. You don't need to major in political science to go into politics; in fact it's probably better not to. I could turn your argument around and make it seem just as bad -- "keep throwing your time and energy into a broken system instead of fixing it" doesn't seem that smart when phrased my way, does it? But like I said, that's not my argument, or the point of my statement. The point of my statement is I don't want my friends to end up poor and disillusioned, and they're exponentially more likely to do so as teachers.But never for a second believe the the policy makers are more important than the people they make policy for. Just because someone can tell you how to do something doesn't mean that they're more important than you are.
My mother is fond of saying that everyone should teach for five years because it's a valuable life experience that you can't get any other way. Of course, she taught for 20. A couple friends did Teach for America. I think you're right - it's a holding pattern for people who aren't interested in the Peace Corps. Nothing wrong with that - your finances are flat and you're gaining experience you won't get any other way. Neither one of them became teachers. One's a geologist and the other is a nurse. Don't shake 'em. Be patient with 'em. Even if they become teachers, remember that they're doing what they love.
It's still an admirable thing to want to get into teaching. But you're completely right, change needs to happen at the top (policy level).
If done for the right reasons. I have never admired anyone more than the special ed workers at my elementary school (we were a magnet for disabled kids, I think because of easier navigation). They dealt with utter shit, and I'm pretty sure a lot of them were straight up volunteers/unpaid interns.