The Government Hates Teachers

Harsh title? I don't think so. Sure, politicians love talking about teachers and education, but only in the same way that it makes a good photo opportunity to kiss babies. Voters care about their kids' education, but the politicians really don't.

Just try to follow the money if you don't believe me. How many programs are mandated by federal or state government? How many are fully funded? Of the funds that schools do receive, are they adequate to do the job according to what we know from years of research to be best practices? Are the funds safe when government squanders revenues, gives away lavish tax cuts to businesses, and is "forced" to make cuts in education spending down the line as a result? Can anything be counted on from a government that will break its own laws intentionally?*

The truth is simple: the people we elect care most about being elected again. Whereas that appears to be progress on the outside, it is often nothing more than political game-playing to win the hearts of the voters. But when the going gets rough, policy makers are quick to say that schools waste money and are inefficient. In reality, it is frequently the government-mandated programs using up resources and time. It makes sense: when you don't have what you need to do a job well, but you are required to do A and B, where do you spend your time? Not on C and D. In this simple scenario, C and D could be technology, staff development, teacher pay or benefits, programs, clubs, maintenance, or whatever. Schools are set up to fail from the beginning; being given far too much to do without the means to do it. Is it any surprise that someone would stand up and say, "This isn't working!"?

Rather than protect teachers, or work to improve compensation that more closely matches the prestige of the job they do, politicians are on the attack. They are cutting their collective bargaining rights, cutting pay, cutting jobs, cutting programs, and the list goes on and on. To justify beating up on heroes while they are already lying bleeding in the street, they blame teachers for things research has shown to be due to systemic flaws.

Politicians like to talk about how schools are one of the biggest ticket items on budgets, so that the uninformed believe it makes sense to go after them. Just one question: shouldn't educating our youth to lead our future be one of our top priorities, if not THE top priority? Isn't it worth the money to ensure that our kids can compete with the rest of the world? Isn't it worth any price to ensure our success and survival in the future?

Politicians need to wake up; quick fixes or things that look good in the short term for reelection are not going to solve our long-term economic woes. It isn't fair to today's youth, who didn't cause this mess, to be cheated of an adequate education. Doing so just might jeopardize politicians of the future...when there isn't a country left to lead.

*In Kansas, legislation was passed mandating funding for public education. Instead, payments from the state to school districts were frequently late, and the state did not live up to court mandated funding requirements.

Who has time?

Whenever I ask teachers what they need most, they all tell me the same thing. Resoundingly, they echo each other in saying that what they really need most is time.

I haven't been out of the classroom too long to remember that I scarcely had time to breathe. It seems like there are new things to try, new initiatives, new tests, new somethings every year, but nothing ever goes away. Things are added but they are never (are hardly ever) taken away. It is easy to understand the sentiment, then, of the teacher who throws their hands up whenever they have to invest more time to learn something new. They don't know if their time will be worth it. The initiative may not last, the idea may not produce results, or there may not be enough support to fully implement whatever it is they are doing in the first place. When it comes to technology, it is inherent that whatever it is will change. This is one of the frustrations of those who try to stay current with technology trends; they are always going to have to learn, unlearn, and relearn the latest tech tools.

When I was teaching, if there was something to learn that was important, I would have to take the time, or often make the time, to learn it. It is our job, our duty, as educators to always be on the top of our games collectively and individually. We owe that to the students we serve. No matter where I've been, there has always been the attitude that we do whatever it takes to do the best job we possibly can for our students.

Lately I've been frustrated with what appears to be an unwillingness on the part of teachers to do this. Let me explain.

I know that time is the number one factor that teachers say they need in order to learn about new technologies. They need time to learn about it, time to try it, time to make mistakes with it, and time to be able to ask questions about it and how it can be utilized in their classrooms. What I am finding, however, is a growing number of teachers who won't put in the time necessary to learn these new tools. This is in spite of the fact that they are the same people who say that they believe they NEED to learn, and WANT to learn how to utilize 21st Century tools in their classrooms. Something doesn't fit.

As an example, I did a survey at the beginning of this school year asking what the most pressing needs were for teachers. Also in the survey, I asked about their preferences for when and how this learning should take place. The two biggest answers in these two categories were learning about Promethean software after school. Yet, when I have open sessions to learn more about Promethean software after school, hardly anyone comes. I spread the meeting locations around so that it is convenient for participants to attend, and there are usually only one or two people who come besides the person whose room we are using.

Am I wrong to assume that teachers aren't willing to put in the time they said they wanted to spend?

Another survey, taken by all but two teachers district-wide, found that the number one priority as seen by teachers in my district is 21st Century Teaching and Learning. This just adds more to my confusion. Here is evidence to support the idea that learning about technology is rather high on the list of many teachers' priorities, yet when time is provided for this to take place, they aren't taking advantage.

Do they not mean what they say? Is it just an excuse, saying that time is needed when really they have no intention of learning new things? Is it a resistance to learning new things in general, or just technology? Is it me?

I tend to think that what they really mean is that they need more time in the day to do everything they are being asked to do-a 25th, 26th, and 27th hour added to the day. The amount of things on a teacher's workload is quite frankly ridiculous. I think that, for whatever reason, technology is just not important enough (in their minds) to bother with it when there are so many other things that HAVE to get done daily. There just isn't time left at the end of the day for anything else.

Teachers-I really need you to weigh in on this one. What prevents you from spending time learning new technologies for use in your classroom?

Now What?

As I listened to a keynote by Kevin Honeycutt, something he said struck me over the head like an anvil. I'm paraphrasing (badly), but in essence, he said that we hear all the time about how we NEED to change, but then the motivational speaker leaves and we're left scratching our heads asking ourselves how to get to the mountaintop. In the last couple of years, I've paid a lot of attention to the dialogue on school reform. I know lots of reasons to change, and I know a lot of the things that need to change, but the fundamental piece that is missing is how.

One of the things that keeps me up thinking at night is that even if we had a set of steps that one school took to make the changes to become everyone's shining example of 21st century teaching awesomeness, the steps would only be applicable to a few other schools in the country. We all do things differently in our little spaces of the world. We all want to know how to do it in our rooms, with these students.

I'm convinced of three things:

1. Education as we know it must change drastically-and fast-in order for the United States to remain relevant in the global marketplace, and

2. No one knows how to change the American public education system.

3. Teachers will make or break any reform efforts.

I don't have any answers. I have more questions. All I can do is start a list and begin plugging away in my own little corner of the world. Maybe that's all any of us can do. Maybe the big changes won't come to the system until the people within the system break it.

Here are just a few of the things we know need to change, and some of the challenges with changing them:

-Teacher Centered classrooms

How are teachers supposed to run a completely student-centered classroom when all they've ever known is the didactic, teacher-led model?

-21st Century Skills

It's pretty difficult to teach 21st Century tools when most districts limit teachers' and students' access to those same tools with filters and firewalls.

-Differentiation

I have never met a teacher who wouldn't like to provide individualized instruction for every student. I have also never met one who was able to do it. Class sizes, lack of resources, even a basic lack of plan time make it extremely difficult for teachers to provide true differentiation.

-Authentic tasks

It's about time we start answering the age-old question for students: "Why do I need to know this?" The problem is that we are often teaching things that students don't really need to know. Sure, there are reasons for learning everything, but often there is a hug disconnect between what we teach students and what they will ever need in their lifetime.

-Higher-Order Thinking Skills

I'm going to loosely lump problem solving into this category as well. This is nothing new. There is no good reason why we still have a deficit when it comes to good questions. I'll blame the standardized tests for the culture that has us always seeking the one right answer rather than the divergent thinking needed to solve complex problems.

-Highly qualified teachers in every room

I love teachers and have the utmost respect for the profession, but like surgeons, there isn't any room in this job for those who can't hack it. We need a better way to get good ones in, pay them well for the job they do, give them support they need to continue to grow, and to help others who can't handle the rigors find other lines of employment.

-Unions

I don't buy into the "unions are the devil" scenario portrayed in the media more and more these days, but I don't think they are the saviors of education, either. They are somewhere in the middle, and there is no doubt they complicate things when it comes to making personnel changes. Kids ultimately lose in this system. Kids are too important for us to continue in a system that alienates their needs and puts adults' comfort above student achievement.

This is a short list. There are tons more, and there are even more factors contributing to each one being difficult, or next to impossible, to change on a large scale with any haste.

The more I think about it, the more I think that the only way to make changes this big; this important; is to make it a grass-roots effort at every school. The change has to start from the bottom up. If the students are at the bottom, teachers are next. The students have already changed. Teachers need to begin doing anything they can-NOW.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. What can we do this week?