The Business of Educating

The block teeters and falls. With furrowed brow and determination, the architect’s tiny hands maneuver the toys, attempting a new scheme. As the block is gently placed down, a broad smile errupts. Success! She kicks her feet with joy from her accomplishment.

I sit and watch my six month old daughter with awe and wonder. How start of contrast this moment is from the hundreds of moments I experience each day in the classroom: pouting faces, frustration, anger, boredom, apathy… All of which are absent as Lillian attempts to stack her toys, one on top of the other, with passion and vigor. A question begins to form in my mind: When does the love of learning die? What happens? Where does it take place? Who is the culprit? With the assumption that most of my students start off remotely similar to my baby girl, what happens that causes learning to shift from being new, exciting and mesmerizing to being the bane of their young existence?

Albert Einstein said, “It is amazing that any creativity survives school.” Is it the school system that is to blame, with its shrinking lack of intellectual freedom and stressful testing? Is it the lack of purpose that overwhelms the young student’s life as they sit in their desk filling out worksheets that do not resemble anything that they see in real life? Or is there another villain… maybe the neurologically-altering video games and the constant media bombardment of consumerism? Maybe it is the parents? Maybe it’s…

What I do know is that the more important question is what can be done to right the ship and renew their seemingly innate sense of wonder.

My daughter’s attentions are now fully fixed on solving a new mystery: what did I do to make that noise and how do I replicate it? As she pursues this new quest with fresh zeal, I sit and watch with more questions than answers… hoping beyond all hope that she never loses it.

There is a whole lot of discussion taking place about teacher tenure. Should teacher tenure be apart of the education system? Should “bad” teachers get legal protection? Should teachers have protection against “heartless” budget minded politicians or a vindictive administrator?

Cyberbullying is a rapidly growing problem (more on this in a future blogpost). While the bullying happens at home, the effects of it spill over into the school setting. This leads to a serious question:

What is a schools role in preventing/stoping cyberbullying? 

Should the schools provide counseling/information to prevent it?  Is a school responsible for investigating and prosecuting the offenders? Is it a “home” issue that the school cannot and should not get involved in? Or…?

What are your thoughts?

In our fast paced, tech savy, entertainment filled, sports ladened society, there have been many questions arising about the purpose and relevance of homework. Why do teachers give homework? Why can’t all of the information and work be completed within the 7 hours that the kids are at school? Why does it consume so much time? Is it necessary?

Good questions.

I turn them around to you and ask: Should there be homework? What should be the rules governing it? In what situation should homework be given and in what situations should it be avoided?

Will Richards from Weblogg-ed.com said the following:

“By the time they leave high school, students should be ‘Googleable,’ associating their full names with their best work for a global audience to see.”

Should this be a goal to strive for in education? What are the pros and cons to such a pursuit?

Everyone in America can come close to almost sort of agreeing on one thing: Good teachers make a difference.

So this puts forward an important question for us to answer… What do we need to have or to do to create good teachers?

Please post your thoughts… now.

What do you feel is the purpose of public education? What goals should education be trying to achieve? Below is a list of goals that education could focus on. Choose your top 3 goals. Tell why these are the most important for education to focus on and what could be done to make these a priority.

Mastery of Basic Skills or Functional Processes.In our technological civilization, an individual’s ability to participate in the activities of society depends on mastery of these fundamental processes.

Career of Vocational Education. An individual’s satisfaction in life will be significantly related to satisfaction with his or her job. Intelligent career decisions will require knowledge of personal aptitudes and interests in relation to career possibilities.

Intellectual Development. As civilization has become more complex, people have had to rely more heavily on their rational abilities. Full intellectual development of each member of society is necessary.

Enculturation. Studies that illuminate our relationship wiht the past yield insights into our society and its values; further, these strengthen an individual’s sense of belonging, identity, and direction for his or her own life.

Interpersonal Relationships. School should hel every child understand, appreciate, and value persons belonging to social, cultural, and ethnic groups different from his or her own.

 Autonomy. Unless schools produce self-directed citizens, they have failed both society and the individual. As society becomes more complex, demands on individuals multiply. Schools help prepare children for a world of rapid change by developing in them the capacity to assume responsibility for their own needs.

 Citizenship. To counteract the present human ability to destroy humanity and the environment requires citizen involvement in the political and social life of this country. A democracy can survive only through the participation of its members. 

Creativity and Aesthetic Perception. Abilities for creating new and meaningful things and appreciating the creations of other human beings are essential both for personal self-realization and for the benefit of society.

Self-Concept. The self-concept of an individual serves as a reference point and feedback mechanism for personal goals and aspirations. Facilitating factors for a healthy self-concept can be provided in the school environment.

Emotional and Physical Well-being. Emotional stability and physical fitness are perceived as necessary conditions for attaining the other goals, but they are also worthy ends in themselves.

Moral and Ethical Character. Individuals need to develop judgement that allows us to evaluate behavior as right or wrong. Schools can foster the growth of such judgment as well as a commitment to truth, moral integrity, and moral conduct.

Self-Realization. Efforts to develop a better self contribute to the development of a better society.

Source: Adapted form Goodlad, John I. (1979). What Are Schools For? Bloomington, Ind,: Phi Delta Kappa. pp 44-52.

We are heading into the darkest, dreariest days of the school year in my opinion. Winter break is behind us, spring break is a distant thought ahead of us. The kids are tired of school and are acting like it. Plus, it has a tendency to be blah outside, which doesn’t help. We are also starting to a time period of great change in education. Reform is on everyone’s lips. Imaginations are running wild as to what those changes can be, along with the future those changes will create.

With all of that said, now is the perfect time to reflect on this topic:

• Why did you become a teacher? What brought you into the classroom?
• How long have you been teaching? 
• What has kept you in the classroom?
• Has teaching been what you thought it would be?

In dark and uncertain times, it is always good to look back to where you started and refocus on your purpose… and to be rejuvenated by the purpose (and challenge) filled responses of others.

My Answers

My journey as a teacher started in October, 2005. I had gone to Ohio University to be a international business major. I had to take the class BA 100A: Intro to the Business School. Once a week we showed up and a person from one of the majors would come in and make their best presentation to get you to choose their major. On Week 8, the last person presented about their major. Here is a shortened version of my internal response to the presentations: No, No, No, HECK No, No, No, and No. What was I doing there?

Fortunately, that same day the gentleman from career services was there to speak. I followed him out of the classroom door over to his office. A month later, I had come to the conclusion I needed a profession that is with people, about people and for people. I wanted a career that was “horizontal.” No ladder climbing. No back stabbing for promotions. No fighting to get somewhere. A job where everyone was, for the most part, on an equal playing field. I also greatly enjoyed my Western Civ History class in High School as well as in my Fall Quarter… Thus, I ended up as a 7-12 Social Studies teacher.

I have now been teaching for 4 years, as of January 22nd. The staff, the subject matter, coaching, and the students who care (or have learned to care) have kept me coming back. I have met some of the most amazing people through teaching, who are dynamic and creative individuals, having a passion for life. Subject matter… where else in the world can you get paid to talk about history? Exactly.

Coaching has given me the level of power and influence with the kids that I thought I would get as a teacher. While I love the sport of track & field, it gives me access to kids lives that I do not get otherwise. Students who normally blow me off suddenly hang on every word I say when they hear that I am a coach. The same shtick I had given them about grades the year before “as their teacher” suddenly sinks in and effects change when they find out that they need the grades to make the team. All because of 5 letter and a plastic whistle.

Finally, the students who care keep me coming back. Sure there are goofballs who disturb your class… However, the kids who care make the job worthwhile. The ones who keep trying and trying until they get it right. The ones who dive into the discussions with both feet, engaging their mind and exploring all the possibilities. The ones who suddenly decide to apply and pull their F to a B. The ones who started off with a limp hand shake and distant gaze, that finish the year standing tall, giving a firm grip and looking you square in the eyes. Those are the students that bring me back to the classroom.

Education has been a mixed bag. In some respects, it is what I thought it would be with lesson plans and grades, kids, etc. However, the micromanaging required by NCLB, the rudeness and self entitlement of the students, the lack of support by a large number of parents, the things that kids do NOT know entering middle school (it is really scary), the lack of technological advancement, the meetings and paperwork that can take up more of your time then teaching… Those things I was not expecting.

Here is the reality: Cell Phones are everywhere. Everyone and their little brother have one. The reasons for having one vary, from emergency use for latch key kids to social status symbols… but that does not change the fact that a vast majority of our students have one and they are not going away. 

Up until this point, school districts have taken the “If I see it or hear it or sense it I take it, and your parents have to come pick it up” policy. Yet, kids still have them with them all the time. Parents even text their kids during class time and pitch a fit if they are taken (even though they sign an agreement at the beginning of the year to support the schools rules & procedures). So what should schools do about this? Should they try to tighten down or loosen up? 

Loosening Up: Pros

• If you can’t beat them, join them. Tightening down on cell phones is like trying to grab water with your bare hand. You may get a little in your hand, but most of it goes through your fingers. Embracing cell phones as a part of life would give teachers and staff one less thing to monitor & patrol. Cell phone disturbances in class can then be treated like any other disturbance.
• It stops the punishment of those latch-key kids who really should have a cell phone after school. In our district, some kids ride the bus for 45 min + before they get home. Once they are home, there may not be a parent at the house for another hour or two.
• If cell phone coverage is available in the school, phones could be used creatively as a way of enhancing a lesson and promoting learning. Go 21st Century Learning!
• It may help students to feel more “at home” at school. They are no longer punished for the things they truly enjoy. It makes school less of a war zone.

Loosening Up: Cons

• Phones are a disruption in class. Kids are texting each other (or their parents) and it distracts them from their learning. No cell phones = one less distraction from learning.
• Cell Phone theft runs rampant, at least at our school. Cell phones disappear left and right. More cell phones = more chances for theft.
• Kids have been using cell phones to take pictures/videos of teachers and other students, and then posting them online. Not only is this against the law, but this shows that a loosened policy could lead to an increase in…
• Cyber bullying. It is already happening outside of school and is growing at a rampant pace. Phones inside of school, especially smart phones, can open the door to it happening more at school.

What are your thoughts? How does your school handle this issue? How should schools tackle this issue?