My mother and sister are both elementary school teachers, and are truly inspiring women. They love children and really want to see each and every one of them advance to his/her fullest potential, and to have fun learning along the way. As we all know, learning doesn't stop when you graduate from high school or college. These remarkable women find a way to make learning exciting so that kids want to stay engaged in the classroom.
Unfortunately, school is not always as fun and interesting as we would like. I'm sure everyone has at least one story to tell of an indifferent teacher or maybe one who was just plain mean - I know I do! Why is it that these teachers are allowed to stay in the classroom year after year, draining kids oft their enthusiasm for learning? According to the film Waiting for Superman, directed by Davis Guggenheim, the answer lies with unions and all of the political nonsense that teachers and administrators are forced to wade through in order to do their jobs.
Teachers are often coerced into joining the union, and in return are promised protection in the event of a lawsuit which could ultimately result in the loss of their job. However, according to the film-makers, these unions also create an environment where it is next to impossible to fire a teacher for not doing their job. This is bad news for the students forced to endure long, boring hours of school with poor teaching practices.
Unions were originally designed to protect female teachers who were paid much less than their male counterparts and were often taken advantage of by the system due to rampant sexism. Unions protected these vulnerable public employees and guaranteed them at least a fight for decent wages. Life has changed quite a bit since the teaching unions came to be (and school systems in general).
Rather than keeping up with the times, more schools were created to deal with increasing population numbers, and this has ultimately lead to the stagnation of the entire system. Students are not held to the achievement level they should be striving for, often due to labelling which says that one student is less capable than another. Teachers are not held accountable for the success of the students in their classrooms, and are encouraged in Massachusetts to "teach to the test" so that students pass the MCAS and make the school and state look better according to arbitrary numbers.
So what can we do to change the system? Here are a few ideas to help us get back on the right path:
1. Encourage better quality teaching: more accountability; perhaps more pay for better teaching
2. Create better student to teacher ratios: less students per classroom
3. Lengthen school days and create a longer school year: get more done at a less frantic pace
4. Emphasize on creativity and independent/critical thinking in the classroom
5. Encourage good communication with parents: know what was learned that day and how to continue learning at home
6. Demand more unstructured time during school hours (like recess) for students to unwind and absorb what they've just learned
7. Demand healthier, affordable school lunches: check out http://www.slowfoodusa.org/
These are just a few ideas to get things moving. After all, change cannot happen overnight, and a total overhaul of the public school system - though greatly needed - would be impossible to accomplish in one jump. What we need to keep in mind is that public schools are facing a huge dilemma: how to properly educate a growing number of children using the limited resources provided by the state and federal government. This is a monumental undertaking! I don't blame government for choosing the easy way out by ignoring the problem, but the time has definitely come for change. We need to demand it, or else there will be future generations of kids that stand to be affected.
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." —Albert Einstein
Einstein had it right...it would be insane to continue turning a blind eye to this growing problem and think that students will be able to compete in an increasingly globalised world.
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