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Some of the posts I've written may look critical in the way I've addressed the teaching profession. What I am critical of is a nationalized governmental mechanism to oversee education- net because it's necessarily evil in and of itself, but because it's the least effective way to educate children. Teachers are like anyone else... there are good ones and bad ones- just like there are good doctors, bad doctors, good mechanics, bad...
Having said that, teachers themselves have my ultimate respect and sympathy (especially the latter)- over the years the job has become more and more complicated fro a myriad of reasons. It has evolved into a nearly sisyphean task and I wanted to look at a few of the issues that make it that way. In my last post I addressed the issue of a centralized bureaucratic mechanism from an institutional standpoint. here I want to address some of the demographic, cultural and technological issues.
Teaching back in the "old days" when the educational system was locally controlled made the job much simpler... not necessarily easier by any stretch of the imagination, but not nearly as complex in terms of job requirements. Simply put- teachers taught.
America has been a nation of immigrants since its inception, making the demographics perpetually dynamic. For teachers this translates into occupational complexity- an everchanging classroom... much more profoundly now than it was a few decades ago. Historically, immigrants learned English, the dominant language, as part of the assimilation process- this isn't necessarily so anymore, making bilinguality an added dimension to the teaching experience in many communities
Another change in demographics is the makeup of the family itself. Decades ago the nuclear family was the norm... "Dad" went to work, "Mom" stayed home and was there after school. Several decades ago this changed and even the nuclear family dynamic is different also. The economy is such now that "Mom" is aslo required to work just to make ends meet. This puts another burden on educators... Not only must they teach but "babysit" as well. Lamentably, some parents seem to have almost completely abrogated their responsibility as parents, placing it squarely on the shoulders of teachers.
Another issue that bears mention is the rapidly changing world of technology, where teachers are expected to keep up with the latest developments. Given the frequency of these advancements, it would be almost impossible even if it was the only thing they had to do. But, it isn't... teachers must teach, babysit, solve complex social problems (another family issue frequently thrust at teachers) acting as social workers for all intents and purposes, and keep up with the latest technological advancements.
Like I said, teachers have my utmost respect and particualrly my sympathy. It's a thankless task considering what they're paid. Day after day, teachers are met with a never-ending stream of unrealistic expectations in which it is always they who are to blame when Jr. can't pass a standardized test. It's a job I certainly wouldn't want!
Note: @giantbear suggested I write a children's story... the wisdom of asking that of a writer of horror/political conspiracy stories- who never had a childhood himself, may be questionable... But like anything else- I'll give it a try once!
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Teachers are our second parents, they can make or break us based on what they have to offer.
True... and it's getting harder for them to offer much these days- the job just keeps getting bigger and more complex
Prior to running my wellness/spa business and puppy mill rescue, I was a teacher. I taught theater and poetry at one of the local Job Corps. Many of the students come from rough backgrounds and a lot of the teachers treated them horribly. My thoughts were if they already went through a lot at home why must it continue here? By being respectful toward them they returned the respect to me, by opening their creativity they bloomed. And to this day I still keep in touch with many of them and I am glad to say they are all doing well :)
Funny how that works... I've lived in rough neighborhoods most of my life (it's all I could afford) People are pretty much the same- they act toward you the way you act toward them!
Thank you for bringing that up.
That is something actual in my life. I have a boy, visiting 7h grade. Teachers & parents are sitting in the same boat. Unfortunately mostly they don't see that. It often is a game of blame. Instead of cooperating with each other the blame is given back and forth if something doesn't work in the classroom as it is expected.
I don't know how it is in the States but here in Germany, we have it written in the law of education: the school has a state educational mission. It doesn't only involve the matter of faculties and the content of what has to be taught, it has the assignment to fulfil the pedagogical mandate.
The school's official mission is to educate children to become decent citizens, not only the educational mission but also the rules of cohabitation and the consequences of violations. Anyone who is opposed to the psychological or pedagogical means used can have their own opinion. However, this is of little importance when there is a conflict between parents, pupils and teachers.
One of the things I experienced was that my son's teacher complained about him in such a way that he would get on his nerves. This repeated accentuation of how difficult my son is, after all, made me very angry because it was not a matter of professional qualification, but of the teacher complaining a little too much. If I am very picky and take the task of state education seriously, then I could invoke the fact that this is legislation and that our state-appointed teachers have exactly this mission.
One cannot, on the one hand, use legitimacy as an argument when there are disagreements with parents and pupils and, on the other hand, raise one's hands and say:"I am not responsible for those matters".
What happens in the classroom is relationship. If someone can't do well with my child, it'll be dark for the child. If this cannot be solved from the teacher he can ask help from parents. I tried to give advice in how to deal best with my son. But there has to be a recepient to that. I cannot "fix" my son to make him behave well, when I am not in the classroom. I finally said to the teacher: "Look, I do like you, you do a really good job. And I do love my son. But here and now I will not stay as an agony box for the two of you. I gave you advice and my perspective. Please look now for solutions, the two of you, for the very best."
A somewhat cynical remark comes from a Danish family therapist "Jesper Juul", who once said:"If things are going well in the classroom, everyone is doing well, then the teacher is patting himself on the shoulder. But if it is difficult and the children are unruly, they are to blame for the situation."
I have every sympathy for the fact that teachers also kneel down from the complex task of their work. And it's not their fault. As always, there are the basic conditions and too many pupils.
Nevertheless, there are teachers who do a great job. They have my full respect and appreciation.
The teachers are really not the problem... it's the State. Teachers actually have very little say about even their own classroom behavior. In the states, the teacher's union controls the dept of education. They are all Cultural Marxists bent on indoctrinating children, not teaching them. Teachers are generally not equipped to handle children. I had the same problem you did- the teacher told me my son couldn't come back to class unless I medicated him... I homeschooled them all after that!
This is a very insightful post. As a teacher, I see first hand many of the flaws of which you wrote. The system is in need of a complete overhaul... and I certainly don't think our Federal government is equipped to do it. I wish I had an answer as to how to fix education "on the fly". Sadly I don't. So I guess I need to just keep trying to push that boulder up the mountain the best I can. There are real live kids trying to learn and better themselves. Flawed system or not, those kids all deserve an education. For now, educators need to keep helping kids and trying to fix their own schools while chipping away at the much bigger issues. It's not easy to fix a car while it is doing 100 MPH on the highway.
Your comment about a writer of horror stories taking a swing at a children story got me thinking. You inspired me to write a post I have been thinking about for quite some time. I will definitely link back to this post as my motivation.
Thank you! I wrote a post a couple of days ago about the failure of bureaucratic institutions to "fix" education. My suggestion is to take a huge step backward. Locally run schools seem to work fine, especially in smaller communities where people know one another.
I like your analogy to fixing a car going 100 MPH... I don't think the federal government has any interest in fixing education- they seem to depend on uneducated voters. My solution, personally, was to homeschool my children. Having a masters degree was an advantage, clearly not everyone is equipped to do it. One thing I've noticed in my 72 years is that top-down solutions rarely produce any desirable results.
My children's story... I don't know! I think I need to stick with what I know. I haven't checked my blog page since I posted my latest chapter of the Night Gods- maybe I did ok???
After parents, it is the teacher which shape our life and become an important part of our life. Although they do not live forever with us but their teachings always guide us.
I have a friend that teaches at St. Boniface, the Catholic school and she says that half of the parents seem to expect her to raise their kids for them.
Yes very true, Teachers are the first copy of parents.
teachers themselves have my ultimate respect and sympathy .... This are great words in life.
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People say that there are good cops, trying to distinguish between good cops and bad cops. But, a good cop writes tickets. Extorting people. Further, they may not arrest people on made up charges, but the still enforce bad laws destroying people's lives who have not harmed anyone.
So, a good cop is doing very very bad things.
Similarly, you may say there are good teachers and bad teachers.
John Taylor Gatto, one of the best teachers, had to quit after he realized how bad what he was forced to teach was.
If we were in a post apocalypse world, where we were once again in small communities, I would not let any previous teachers near the children. Their indoctrination is such that they are unfit to teach. Some of the best, I might spend the time to deindoctrinate before allowing them to teach children.
My stance on govern-cement schools:
What I am critical of is a nationalized governmental mechanism to oversee education- not because it's necessarily evil in and of itself,
it is that
but because it's the least effective way to educate children
that too
Yeah, I know... This one of those softball posts! It actually epitomizes the Cultural Marxist agenda!!!
Another thing teachers have to deal with is the lack of common courtesy, where once the teacers word was almost as much lthe aw as the fathers word, now, both are ignored, and chaos will rule the world.
You said the US is becoming bilingual, what is the second language?