Wednesday, February 19, 2014

What Education is REALLY About!

So I said blogging just wasn't my thing...but I find it's a great way to share stories and experiences as I'm about to do below:

It's late February and my roommate still hasn't paid his rent for this month.  He plops down on the couch and announces that he'll pay February and March together at the end of the month...then he plans on moving out before April.  "Where are you going?" I say "and what are you going to do?"

His response..."anywhere but here...and join the 'Teach for America' program."  "But," he says, "the only problem with 'Teach for America' is that you end up in poor performing schools and I would rather be in an affluent school.

For those of you who have heard me talk about my roommate, you probably already have an idea of how this is going to turn out.  I think it was actually an interesting conversation.  I've paraphrased some things and omitted some offensive language, but the rest of the conversation basically went something like this:

Me: Why? 
Him: Kids are better. 
Me: Maybe, but you need to worry more about the parents. 
Him: I can handle the parents.  If Johnny has a "D" then I just show the parents his grade, and show them everyone elses grade and explain that if I'm a [crappy] teacher 'why are most students doing well?' and they (the parents) should have a conversation with their student instead of me.  
Me: What if they question your instructional objectives, the assignment itself, your grading methods, etc?  What about SPED students and those with 504 accomodations?   
Him: It's not that complicated.  Numbers don't lie, the grades speak for themselves.  Plus, it's science.  Science and Math are black and white.  You read the text, learn the vocabulary and take the test.  You either know the material or you don't.  At the end of the year, you either pass the SOL or you don't.   
Me: Things are changing, many schools don't teach like that anymore.  What if you end up in a school that's adopted a problem-based learning model or a STEM school?   
Him: That's stupid.  You can do that with subjects like english and social studies because they're not real subjects.  You wouldn't teach a science and math class like that.  Students read, come to class, listen to the lecture, pay attention to the PowerPoints and do the homework.  Newtonian physics hasn't changed in the last several hundred years and neither has most math.  Its been taught the same way for the last hundred years.  It's not that hard.   
Me: Things are changing.
Him: No they're not.  All you've ever taught is technology.  I've been a substitute teacher, I know what I'm talking about.   
Me: Actually I've never been a K12 teacher.   
Him: Well then you definitely don't know what you're talking about.  Teaching at the college level is different than K12.   
Me: I've never taught at the collegiate level either.  I'm in a Masters of Education program (meaning I'm taking classes, not teaching them), and I'm pretty sure that my classmates (many of whom have 10+ years of K12 classroom experience) believe that science and math can (and should) be taught in new innovative ways.   
Him: You don't have a clue about the real world.  I feel like you're arguing just for the sake of arguing.  You're just trying to make me feel like I would be an awful teacher.  That's rude and inconsiderate...

His tirade went on for a while.  Needless to say I was actually angry for days after this conversation, though I find it laughable now (I'm pretty sure he is still angry).  I could not believe his ignorance.  He went on to say that he wanted to teach because the money is good, science is black and white, he thought it would be easy and he was sure he was good at it (after all he was a substitute teacher).

I love working in poorly performing schools - I attended one and have worked in several after that.  I have seen the amazing things teachers do in their classrooms to reach their students.  Teaching is anything but easy, it takes drive and passion, especially since compensation leaves something to be desired.  All of the fantastic teachers that I've had or have worked with are not in it for the money - they're teaching because they feel a commitment towards the students and a passion for shaping the next generations.  This is what being an educator is all about.

I wish him well in his endeavors and hope that when he realizes he has a very naive view on the world, he reflects on how much he has learned.  I hope that IF he gets a job teaching, he has a fantastic mentor in a STEM school or a school that has adopted problem-based learning models and he is open-minded enough to LEARN from them.  :-)

But, all this started me thinking, how does a school handle a teacher like him?  Will they even hire someone with a "philosophy" like his?  What can he do to make students more engaged in an earth-space course?  What do science and math teachers do in their classrooms?  What are the possibilities?  What are the benefits of teaching in a low socio-economic school?  What are the benefits of teaching in an affluent school?  How do parents challenge teachers?  What justifications do they ask for?  How do you handle parents in these situations?

Is this blog part rant, absolutely.  However, I also am curious to see what others thoughts are...especially in relation to the questions I've asked...especially since I'm not a K12 classroom teacher.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I love your rant ... isn't it lovely to me in a state of unconscious innocence (Brown and Moffett, 1999)!

I just know that I am not teaching math the way it was taught to me. After all I learned it BC (before calculators) and all that technology stuff. I am trying to do "Priscilla Stuff" - authentic problem-solving and real-world applications.

Wish me luck!