Over the past year I have had the opportunity to do a great deal
of speaking, presenting and collaborating with educators all over the country.
In talking with educators from every state in the US as well as numerous of the
US Territories, I have gained a unique perspective of the state of education in
our country. Now, I am not going to pretend to be an expert but want to share
some of the things I have seen, heard and experienced. Despite what the title
suggests, I will go a bit out of order in my observations.
The Bad:
There are bad teachers teaching in our schools. I have seen them.
I have talked to them and listened to them talk. I have heard more stories from
other educators about these bad teachers than I would ever have time to share. They
are out there in our schools teaching students every single day.
To be clear, I am not talking about the teachers whose students’
standardized test scores are low. Nor am I talking about the teachers who are
labeled bad by some subjective administrator evaluation. I am talking about
those teachers who are demeaning to children. The ones that teach the same way
in year one as they do in year thirty one. Their lesson planner rolls over and
the copyright dates in their packets are before the students were even born. Some
are even engaging in inappropriate relationships with students or are abusive. These
are the teachers that as parents we never want our children to have. They are
out there and nearly every teacher or administrator I talked to could point out
at least one in their building or district.
While this sounds bad, the reality is that these teachers are by
far in the minority. They are few and far between but unfortunately they get
all the press. These teachers end up on the 5 o-clock news for their antics and
often embarrass our entire profession.
The Ugly:
As I have travelled and spoken to media, education lobbyists in
Washington and even a handful of politicians and policy makers, I see lots of
ugly. That is not a knock on these people’s personal grooming but more on the
actions of the individuals within our government and our major media outlets.
Despite what people want to believe, real change in our country’s educational
system will only happen with a concentrated and real effort on the part of at
least one of the two major influencers, media or government.
The national media
has more power to change public perception and put pressure on politicians than
any teacher’s union or grassroots movement in schools or on social media. Yet,
they choose to report on the negative and continue to perpetuate the
stereotypes that prohibit educators in our country from achieving a level of
professional respect that many other professions are afforded. It is literally
ugly at times to watch the education stories that show up on the news and in
the papers. Media outlets are letting the few bad teachers tell the story for an
entire profession.
Government is such an easy target these days in an election year
where everyone is pointing fingers and casting stones. However, the reality is
our state and national governments are doing little to help the state of
education in our country. We have politicians around the country speaking of
the importance of special programs and extracurricular activities in our
student’s schools. Yet, when it comes down to voting and allocating resources,
those are the first to get cut. There are policy makers that claim they don’t
want teachers teaching to tests. Yet, they create systems of accountability
that not only necessitate teaching to the tests but also set up a system built
to encourage cheating
and not collaboration. It is ugly to see the amount of pontificating that
happens with little actual action to support those words. As the old saying
goes, “actions speak louder than words.”
In addition, fake political campaigns in an election year to
artificially show respect
for teachers will not create any lasting change. Our politicians spend more
time trying to get reelected and further polarizing the
people of our country that any improvement or this so called “system” may be an
unachievable dream.
The Good:
Of course I saved the best for last which is the good I have seen.
Despite the bad teachers, disinterested media and incompetent policy makers,
there is good abounding in education and it is everywhere. I could write for
days about the stories I have heard from educators across the country and
beyond. One such story is of Chad Miller, a teacher from Hawaii, who shared
with me his school’s mission of promoting peace and a philosophical approach to
learning. Then I was blown away when I learned that the Dalai Lama
himself visited Chad’s school to talk about his mission and the work of the
teachers and students. The work that he and colleagues are doing along with
their students is inspirational to say the least.
I am constantly amazed by the sheer number of teachers that share
their very best work and that of their students through social media. They have
no obligation to do so but still choose to share in an effort to better
learning for all students. Spend an hour following a hashtag or a discussion
thread and you will see powerful work happening in 140 characters every minute
of every day.
In my heart I believe an overwhelming majority of educators are
doing good work. They are working day in and day out to the very best of their
abilities. They spend countless hours perfecting their craft and making the
learning experiences in their classrooms the best they can be despite the lack
of funding and professional respect.
The Verdict:
What does this all mean? What have I taken away from this? Well, it
is actually quite simple to me. Celebrate the good, fight the bad, and
acknowledge the ugly.
We must bring each other up in a genuine manner and celebrate the
good around us. Send a note to a peer who is doing something positive or trying
something new. Encourage the positive work that is happening in your schools in
big and small ways. We cannot settle for mediocrity
nor should we tolerate it and need to fight against all forms of “bad” in our
schools. We need to provide opportunities to support and improve teachers but
also know when enough is enough. Cut our losses on those teachers who refuse to
improve and focus on those that have a chance to be better. Acknowledge the
ugly media campaigns and political circus but don’t spend our time focusing on
things we really don’t have control over. Recognize and be informed but remain focused on what
is important…the students. At the end of the day we must remember that above
the tides of ugly and bad that can easily discourage our work as educators,
there is far more good that we must recognize and appreciate.