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Why I Left the Classroom
Teaching changed, so I changed my life.
One in five teachers leaves the profession within the first five years of teaching. Or is it one in thirteen, as the Ontario government claims? Whatever the stats, they don't reveal how many vanishing teachers were young and restless, old and exhausted, or, like myself, somewhere in between.
Based on what I've overheard in the public school staff rooms of British Columbia, about 98 per cent of teachers say they seriously consider getting out about once a day. The other two per cent are, of course, either Buddhists or medicated. I am one of these. Gone, that is, not medicated.
My own stand-up performance lasted 15 years, thus outlasting by ten years all those who leap from the ship within the first five years. It's not so much that I'm a slow learner, but rather that this is how long it took me to achieve the spectacular kind of burn-out which hasn't been seen since one of my Junior High math teachers declared in the middle of class, "This doesn't add up", left the room, and was never seen again.
Teaching was my identity and I miss it. So the answer to why I left isn't simple. The answer, "to look after my children" brings sighs, nods of knowing commiseration, and the occasional hug from young mothers who barely know me. But in truth, I have a kind of laundry list of items which, taken together, may or may not constitute the dirt on why I and so many teachers leave the best profession on earth.
Numbers that add up
Those who believe that the 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. school bells constitute the parameters of teachers' working hours subscribe to one or more illusions. One of these is perhaps based on recollections of the kind of schooling that depended primarily on textbooks, workbooks and on matching words to pictures. A second might be the vision of a teacher standing before a group of "average students" who are all able to learn at roughly the same rate and in roughly the same way.
Teachers now stand before a group of individuals. Each of their learning styles, their needs, their contexts, abilities and disabilities needs identification, respect, modification and thought. In one split class of 29 students, I was faced with 19 different "labels," nine of which required completely individualized education plans. After countless meetings and forms, at June's end that particular year, I waved good-bye to a group who seemed not to be significantly hampered by my inability to meet their needs. I, on the other hand, was mute with both exhaustion and a sense of personal failure.
Given the expectation of individualization, textbooks (where updated versions exist in sufficient numbers) have become only semi-useful tools of instruction. Many teachers run, by necessity, a "resource-based classroom." This involves locating, evaluating, modifying and adapting material wherever you can find it. When two parents asked for homework in advance so as to pack it along on a trip to Disneyland, I suggested that they would need to make room for me. "I'm the program," I said. "What time do we leave?"
Discussing this often inspires lectures from experts on education, most of whom work at jobs outside the field -- like my Uncle Bob, for example. He had 40 or 50 kids in his room and his teacher carried a stick and wasn't afraid to use it. He refers to these times as "the good old days," which is why no one wants Uncle Bob at Thanksgiving dinner.
Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll
When did I get so conservative that I wanted to skip the class debating session and work on negative integers instead? Well, the day I intervened to stop a vote on who was hotter, Hillary Duff or Britney Spears, that's when.
The voice in my head says, "I can't believe I'm talking about this with 30 twelve-year-olds and I REALLY can't believe that kid just asked that question in public. Is this something to discuss openly? In a classroom? Is my face red? Is this really in the curriculum?"
Yes, it is. Everything is: reading, writing, arithmetic, sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll.
The hat rack
Teacher training programs provide hats, which are trendy in style, to suit the basic tasks of daily organization, instruction and assessment. There are many of them, but they're quickly outdated. Then teachers add their own new hats in the day-to-day dealings with 30 students, which we wear proudly into staff rooms: "Hey! Check out my new counsellor cap!" Each new one makes us feel as though we have responded, made a difference in young lives.
We collect more hats in our service to school-based managers, formerly known as principals. The boards themselves, who often speak as though CEOs of a publicly traded company, remind our captains never to remove their "fiduciary duty" fedoras. Where budgets rule, the quality of leadership is determined by numbers.
By year three, my headgear had expanded from the day-wear of a classroom teacher into the evening-wear of other roles: Attender of Many Meetings (some of which are called to cancel the initiatives announced at the last), Neurologist, Pharmacist, Public Speaker, Filer of Documentation, Punching Bag, Conscientious Objector. . . .
As I sat at home one night ignoring my own kids while polishing my union helmet before another evening meeting, it finally hit me. "Hey! This is just another hat!"
Flip flopping
In theory, schooling is about "the basics," and in reality, at report card time at least, it returns to those roots. Between this tri-annual grounding, however, schooling has become very much about the societal ill du jour and about ideology. What's on the talk show tonight may well be in your classroom in the form of a draft document by the end of the week. Then cancelled shortly after. I recall gulping down supper before heading off to do an evening workshop on "How to read your Year 2000 report card." My fork froze halfway to my mouth when I heard Mike Harcourt announce on the TV news that the Year 2000 program was dead.
Though not funny at all really, it became a form of entertainment for my teacher wife and I. "Wait for it!" we would say, while listening to a talk or call-in show. Sure enough, someone would say, "Schools need to do more about this."
Of course, schools need to address the ills of a society. It's just that some of these ills are diagnosed awfully quickly and the prescription tends often to be a program apparently hashed out in the back of a cab on the way to a booksellers' convention.
If the governments used the same method to plan public health as they do for education, medical treatments would be determined by the callers to yesterday's phone-in show.
'Flexibility'
My son, at seven years of age, got mad at me for referring to my students as "my kids." "They're not your kids, Dad," he said. "I am."
I tried to keep that fact in front of me afterward when trying to manage how much of my life became occupied with the dilemmas of the troubled little souls I dealt with. It didn't work. "My students" came to inhabit my thoughts, my planning and my approach to what was needed as surely as my own kids did. Sometimes, in those cases where students were in serious trouble or seriously troubled by their own circumstances, where I was not getting through, they took up even more space in my head. What was I to do -- adopt them? No room in the house.
I took to phoning those radio talk shows instead. "Listen," I said. "If you're going to ask teachers to deal with all the complex issues and dynamics of the day (in between the regular public bashings, that is), you're going to need smaller classes. There's a reason that people don't have 30 kids when they decide to raise a family."
The answer to this demand, sadly, was a new 2002 contract that replaced class size limits with "flexibility."
Feeding the students
By at least one measure, B.C. tops the provinces with the highest rate of child poverty. Those who dispute the numbers might visit what now constitutes a typical classroom. Depending on the locale, you will find an alarming number of children coming to elementary school without proper wear on cold days, without nutritious -- or any -- lunch, without sleep, without acquaintance with books and quite likely, without the slightest conviction that their schooling might change anything about their contexts and choices. The children of poverty require you to work at the level of need for which a degree in social work might have been better preparation. And when you have a choice between finding a warm spot for a kid to eat the school-provided, clandestine lunch or finding a replacement bulb for the overhead projector you need for the afternoon lesson on addition, it's the math that goes by the wayside.
Until, that is, the quiet and loud demands for care become overwhelming and you realize you don't feel you are making the kind of difference that needs to be made. You can too easily relate to the prejudice promoted by conservative governments and think-tanks. You begin sounding like someone else, speaking resentfully of "all these needs."
Getting revenge
When I was a student, my own experience of schooling was mostly abysmal. Part of the rationale for becoming a teacher, I have always claimed, was "revenge." I thought the best way to overcome the bitterness I felt was to join the ranks and do the job better, make schools better. Ten years into the profession, I recognized in myself an exhaustion akin to that which my Grade 11 social studies teacher must have been feeling when he had us spend the year copying notes from a textbook while he sat reading the newspaper at his desk.
Though I spent very little time at my desk -- and no part of my day on "personal reading," I asked a friend for a favour when I saw the potential for burn-out coming on. "When you see me starting to fizzle, when you see that look that says, 'Please kill me' on my students' faces, tell me," I said. I didn't want to stick around and torture kids more than the general experience of life in school already burdens some of them.
Unfortunately, my friend left town too soon. It became my own responsibility to spot the signs and, sure enough, they accumulated. Meeting-by-meeting, form-by-form, minister-by-minister, and kid-by-kid. So I left.
I have great admiration for those who remain to fight with the kind of wide-ranging involvement energy, time and conviction required. As for me, I volunteer in my children's own schools now and I write thank-you notes to their teachers at the slightest provocation. Perhaps I'll give it another try someday, but only after practicing the mantra it seems to require: "It's just a job. It's just a job. It's just a job."
Related Tyee stories:
-
Boy Trouble?
We're cheating all students. Girls may just put up with it better. - Click-and-Drag Education
Dropping enrolment fuels BC Libs' push for online learning. - Child Poverty Is Down. No, it's Up
What the numbers don't say.
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Elliot
5 years ago
'Based on what I've
'Based on what I've overheard in the public school staff rooms of British Columbia, about 98 per cent of teachers say they seriously consider getting out about once a day.' i had intended to read this article but then stumbled across this little bit of total bullshite. pretty hard to take you seriously after such a ridiculous statement mr. cunningham, unless you want to amend it: '98% of BAD teachers say...' in any case, typical wah wah wah cry me a river teacher article. poor darlings.
alive
5 years ago
good story!
Wow!
Now, if anyone had a solution?
If governments and school boards could plan for more than a few months ahead perhaps?
If one government would keep programs going from the previous government instead of scrapping anything "they" started?
If school boards would forget local politics for a minute and concentrate on education over which sports team places?
If parents would begin to pay attention to their kids and teach them that going to school is not a punishment or babysitting?
If we perhaps could begin to realize that kids should learn before they mature? that once they think only about sex, it is too late to try to teach them anything?
That of course would mean more young people looking for jobs at an earlier age and worsen the unemployment records!
Chris H
5 years ago
Well done!
That is a great article which really sums up what many teachers feel. Too bad Elliot doesn't have the stamina to determine what is "tongue in cheek" in a piece of writing. Hopefully, when he's home schooling his own children, he'll teach them better.
murdock
5 years ago
more than a story...
alive wrote
yup, try reading:
http://johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/index.htm
not possible, we keep 'replacing them' with yet another election!
same reason as above, part of the price paid for the populist electoral system we revere.
what district are you in?
so far around here sports and music are in the dung heap and unless you have $$$ or parents that want these things all you will get is lots of Uncle Bob's "good ole' days".
ok first YOU PROVE THAT it (schooling) is not a punishment or babysitting.
better yet, while we have parents beginning to pay attention to their children (kids are baby goats) and teaching, then what do we need schools and teachers for?
interesting thought, perhaps this is what H.G. Wells was thinking of when he wrote the Eloi-Morlock parts of the Time Machine.
Something that 'governments' certainly would not like to see happen, maybe that is why they (the powers that were in the 1870's, then in the early 20th Century) wanted to extend the period of childhood, longer and longer...
G West
5 years ago
Some excellent points murdock
I assume you're also in favour of a fundamental change in the economic and tax regimes in the country so that the option of more parental involvement in childrens' education and training is a possibility and not a pipe dream for the vast majority of today's struggling parents - many of them doing it on their own and trying to pay the freight themsleves.
It's fine to have utopian ideas, but it is necessary to actually live in the real world.
G West
5 years ago
errata
should be 'children's' not childrens' and 'themselves' is spelled incorrectly.
Sorry
alive
5 years ago
good link
murdock:
thanks for the link, I put in on my favorites for reference! if I ever get time I plan to study it more.
yes, I realize that as we are going now, not much will change; but then again I see many changes coming in our society, no matter how much kicking and screaming the establishment does!
Quote:
ok first YOU PROVE THAT it (schooling) is not a punishment or babysitting.
unquote.
On that one we need to disagree; all too many kids see school as something forced on them instead of as a benefit we all bestow on them.
Also parent should pay attention to their kids, but perhaps that is too much to ask?
About keeping kids in school far too long: we all tend to protect them and want "better things" for them than what we had...to the point where we make them obese and spoiled.
BC Mary
5 years ago
" ... for my teacher wife and I ..." Oh dear.
I'd love to take a course -- any course -- from this teacher ... holy cats, he can even make teaching sound vital and dramatic.
His kids were very lucky to have him for 15 years.
Too bad about that little blooper. Take it apart, my old English teacher would say: "for me" and "for my teacher wife" then put it together again and you'll be correct: " ... for my teacher wife and me." (not "for I.")
That's a little gift from a darn good long-ago teacher. Interesting how you never forget the name of a good teacher, eh?
clean air
5 years ago
Shaun understands teaching
Great article. You hit upon the key reasons for teachers being frustrated in teaching. Unless a person is in the classroom I think it's difficult to understand that frustration.
For parents, imagine living with 30+ children, all roughly the same age, in a one room cabin for seven and half hours a day (kids like to come to school early, have their lunch in the class, and hang around for a bit of a chat at the end of the day). Or, imagine hosting a birthday party for 5 hours a day, day in and day out, with the same guests. Then have someone from above tell you what to do in your home or at the party having never met the guests.
For business people, imagine having the same 30+ clients/customers in front of you all day long expecting your one on one attention with a never ending list of concerns, problems, or questions about your services/products. Eighten of them are suffering from mental illness, learning disabilities, not living with their parents, can't speak your language, or haven't much money. And your supervisor wants accountability, sales, and optimal service to all of those customers!!
Eeh gads Shaun-how did you last as long as you did? I hope one day soon the BC government can recognize the need for class size and the ability to control the number of Special Needs students in the classroom.
I suspect this article was edited for length. I wish Tyee had allowed the whole article, my goodness, it isn't like they use paper!
NDN_Coach
5 years ago
Sounds like a lot of educators
I feel empathy for you Shaun. Unless you've actually worked with kids in some capacity, be it through teaching, coaching, or volunteering, it looks like an easy gig to those who view it from the outside.
Education is a tough gig. It is a tough gig because we as a society don't care about kids. We say we do in our little speeches to the press and whenever someone is looking, but our actions prove otherwise. People who work with kids are underpaid, they face so much scrutiny and public disdain, and 99% of the kids they work with never say thank you.
I am an educator and a dedicated coach. I get paid to educate and I have never received one thin dime for the countless hours I have coached. I don't have children of my own, and the only reason I do it, is because I got tired of adults bitching about kids when I was a teenager. I decided that I would never bitch about kids and that instead would put my energies into coaching them and making a difference that way.
Kids do all sorts of messed up things that give them a thrill. They take drugs, they drink, they smoke, they have sex, they have fight clubs, some deal drugs, and some rebel just because they can. When most people see those behaviours, they shake their heads, cluck their tongues and bitch about "kids today", and wish that our damn government would get tough on these little bastards.
My view has always been that maybe these kids never had the thrill of chasing a soccer ball on a field, never had the thrill of shooting a puck into the top corner of a net, never had the thrill of belonging on a team and being part of something. Belonging is such a strong human need in all of us. If you don't believe that ask yourself why gangs are so popular. Some kids never feel these thrills in something positive, so they turn to dope, drinking, smoking, etc. Meanwhile, some adults sit back and just bitch and complain unaware that just a couple hours a week out of their time, could really make a difference.
So to all of you who work with kids and never hear thank you from 99% of them, I just want to say to you today.
THANK YOU!
murdock
5 years ago
alive again!
benefit?
all?
whom benefits from keeping young people 'isolated' from the real world of adults and then further forcing them into age-graded cohorts where they associate more with each other than with the needed input from the adult world?
who is this 'all' that is bestowing anything?
teachers, in our modern system, are government agents, ONLY they are DEEMED capable of such things by their union and government spokespersons?
again, who is all?
no, they ~ the parents ~ were responsible for these children arriving (unless you are talking about baby goats again), so therefore they ~ these parents should be paying attention to all their duties as parents to all aspects of turning thier children into adults.
so then you are saying that school is for feeding and spoiling our youth?
if so I agree
shabbaranks
5 years ago
The Solution
I saw a statistic on Swedish teachers versus Japanese ones. The Swedes have about 13 students per class. In Japan its over 30.
The solution is money. More money. More teachers. Better education. the entire population of Sweden speaks AT LEAST two languages. Wonder why? Teachers have better ability to provide superior education.
Japan has created a massive PRIVATE industry of teaching second languages, so a lot of them are bilingual, but at a personal financial cost, meaning not everyone benefits.
Government is demanding more and more of teachers without increasing their resources to match. We, as taxpayers, have to be willing to support a good system. We're not, so we get what we've got.
murdock
5 years ago
clean air does not understand business
first off if those were really customers I'd be turning cartwheels, but then you go on with:
supposed 'customers' that cannot speak my language, either learn to communicate because they want my services, or they find a translator/helper.
no $$$ = no business!
any idiotic 'supervisor' that cannot understand that gets to have no further company to 'supervise' for!
accountability is to the client/customer = if it is the supervisor's responsibility to accomplish that then I back away and tell that supervisor what needs doing to achieve this, otherwise it is not my doing!
if they have no money, then you have no sales! = do not waste your time on selling here.
optimal service, is a concept that cannot apply to the mind ~ahem~ meat-grinder system called modern schooling.
alive
5 years ago
Been there, done that!
murdock: I said my piece!
you take it apart at your pleasure.OK?
murdock
5 years ago
no more $$$!
shabbaranks wrote:
NO WAY
more money does not equal more teachers!
why have the number of non-teacher positions within the 'system' been increasing at a nearly exponential rate since 1960?
answer:
to ensure that the 'system' keeps the children in their proper cohorts and keep a reign on the 'rogue' elements of the teachers in the classroom.
more money will not improve anything, in fact, given the current 'education boards' situation it may only improve the 'service' levels to the directorate of the boards.
Your notes from the Japan and Swedish models are also not taking into account the connectivity that Sweden has always had to a multi-lingual europe, nor of Japan's tradition of isolationism and cultural elitism (to the point of considering other asian peoples as 'sub-human' during the 1920's - 30's). Such omissions have major impact on the awareness of the youth of those societies regarding language extension.
murdock
5 years ago
Thank You
Good view NDN_Coach.
I think along similar lines when various Cadet organizations are brought to mind also...Army, Navy League, Sea and Air.
Now the trick to reach those whom will not wear 'colors' or 'uniform' yet still crave these 'thrills'. I am working on finding ways to do this.
I Thank You for your words.
James Burns
5 years ago
Murdock, Gatto lies
I've been taking a read of the the "Underground History of American Education" that murdock claims is an answer to the problems of modern schooling, and thus far it is a confused hash of selected bits of only partially correct history, wholly framed to support a particular libertarian ideology.
Gatto glorifies the mythology surrounding both ancient Athenian and early American democracies. He conveniently forgets just how dependent ancient Athens was on slavery and just how small the number of citizens who had a say actually were. Slavery seems to be a particular blind spot for Gatto, as he mentions neither that nor the genocide of the native populations of North America, which did much to support the prosperity of the American colonist elites. He highlights the careers of Americans born to prosperity, like Washingtion, forgetting to add that their unconventional educations were supported by the rather deep pockets and cohesive support of extended families.
Gatto also has a few streams of fairly traditional orientalism, which of course are largely negative in tone, in one chapter constructing an argument that blames Hinduism (incorrectly attributing India's caste system to the Hindu religion) for much of the structure of modern schooling, by way of so-called Hindu caste tenets being adopted by British colonizers and incorporated into factory education. Gatto of course adulates the so-called western tradition where:
Conveniently forgetting, at least at that point, the monarchical tradition of western society, and it's class divisions. While ignoring, likely due to ignorance, the rather broad swath of cultural variation in the "East" .
A rather considerable pant-load of contradiction thus far. As far as I can tell, admittedly only part of the way in, Gatto is merely issuing a ranting diatribe, with no real interest in accuracy or fairness. Not much of a surprise when coming from libertarian anti-intellectuals who value pulling up bootstraps over the actual provision of boots.
Now there certainly is some value in considering alternatives to standardized schooling, but doing it by creating support through lying or conveniently forgetting about an accurate representation of history, along with the glorification of American mythology, certainly isn't the way to start off on the right foot. Going that route is simply a means of manufacturing a history that forces the reader into accepting Gatto's conclusions. So far, it is a piece of lying rhetoric.
Murdock, if this is the kind of crap you are putting forward as any kind of a solution to the problems in education, then I'm afraid I have to be mightily suspicious of your judgment.
G West
5 years ago
James
He (murdock that is) isn't likely to respond. This is pretty old and well-trod terrain - he didn't like it much when some of the same arguments were put forward in the past - particularly as regards another of his hobby horses...a certain trope-ish text called, as I recall, the Sovereign Individual.
Gatto as an educator appears to have suffered many of the same frustrations the author of this piece, Shaun Cunningham did.
I think I prefer, to Gatto's somewhat didactic memoir/scold, a rather touching book called 'Teacher Man' by Frank McCourt another ‘educator’ who spent his working life teaching in the New York Public School system.
NDN_Coach
5 years ago
Thanks
Thanks Murdoch,
I had some good training in regards to working with kids. Chris Johnson taught me about coaching and my mom taught me about devoting time to others and trying to do something in this world other than bitch and complain.
My sister used to go to Sea Cadets and it did wonders for her self-esteem.
It is hard to get some kids to buy into activities, but there realy is something for just about every kid out there today.
The key is to treat them with respect and dignity like we like to be treated as adults.
anarcho
5 years ago
Murdock and Gatto are
Murdock and Gatto are largely right. I think it is necessary to point out that when public schools were formed in the Anglospere, the primary thing was not education - in the sense of producing cultured, knowledgeable people, but in creating a disciplined work force with some basic literacy as well as inculcating the system's propaganda. Culture and knowledge, in any real sense of the term, were reserved for the upper classes. Of course, a minority of teachers actually tried to inculcate knowledge and for these we are ever thankful. In the Latin countries it was different, the Church wished to keep people in cow-like ignorance so public schooling rose as a progressive opposition to clerical reaction. Teachers tended to be radicals and the schools really did try to raise the cultural and educational level of the masses.
spedteacher
5 years ago
After 19 years as a special
After 19 years as a special education teacher I know exactly how you feel, Shaun!! There are fleeting moments when I think about leaving this noble profession of ours too but then I have days like today. I have been home sick for the last 1.5 weeks with bronchitis but dragged myself to school today because of an important meeting. Just when I was wondering why I did such a silly thing, one of my autistic students approached me, touched my hand and said "Missed you". Who can leave the profession and miss moments like that? Certainly not me!
I identify myself as a parent and a teacher. I don't know what else I would do if I left teaching. Even my retirement plans involve teaching as I plan to open up my own practice to work with kids. Yes, the politics are frustrating (Bill 20 angers me with its move backwards to segregation and makes me very upset that I was too sick to go to school last week when Ms. Bond was visiting for her photo ops). Yes, I wanted to cry today when my Principal told me that it's been announced that we have to shave $2000/special needs student off our budget for next year. Yes, it's difficult to watch my students "act out" because they are frustrated due to lack of supports. But what am I going to do? Go back to cleaning fish at BC Packers where I worked summers to earn tuition? Nope, can't do that because the cannery doesn't even exist anymore! So I, like many of my fellow teachers keep plugging along hoping that there will come a time when the government of the day figures out how to emulate school systems like Finland as opposed to the US. I do my best to provide encouragement to some phenomenal teachers who are becoming burned out and want to leave the profession. (Elliot: it's not the bad teachers who think of leaving due to burnout, only the good ones.) And I have become more political (to the annoyance of one or two apolitical friends lol) because I see that as the only avenue towards positive change.
James Burns
5 years ago
Murdock and Gatto are largely wrong
The history of the development of public school has far more complex roots than simply a conspiracy of the wealthy to dumb down the unruly mob of the commons as Gatto suggests, whether we're talking about the anglosphere or any other cultural sphere.
Characterizing the efforts of all those involved in public education as being unwittingly involved in such a plot is also the height of misguided arrogance.
Cultural indoctrination has been a part of every educational system, whether it be formal or not. The notion that being free of public school will free a child from propaganda is laughably naive, especially in this day and age.
The biggest problems in public schooling, as in all education from antiquity, is the difference afforded by class. The wealthier a population is on average, the better its educational outcomes are, on average. Wealth has been, and always will be, the single greatest predictor of a given population's success (not to mention health).
In the US the quality of public education is a direct result of wealth, because public schools receive most of their funding through the property or similar direct taxes of the areas they serve. It is little wonder that Gatto had a negative experience in the American public school system, particularly if he worked in any of the poorer areas. The quality of the infrastructure to say nothing of much of the instruction, is simply a crime foisted on poor, usually minority children.
That said, yes, sitting behind a desk in a classroom is far from an ideal learning environment. The best way to learn is something akin to an apprenticeship, where the skills and knowledge are learned "on the job", where supervision and guidance is provided on a one-to-one basis by a master of whatever field or skill is being absorbed. How to incorporate such forms of learning, within a reasonable budget, is a worthwhile area to investigate.
But simple prescriptions and pronouncements, based on idealized notions of a mythologized past will only make matters far worse. The fantasy never matches the reality.
anarcho
5 years ago
Not What I Am Saying
I am not saying this at all. I am talking about the origins of the system of education in the Anglosphere. Most people involved with it are not aware of why public education was founded and how it was founded. Most education profesionals are sincere. I knew of this long before reading about Gatto. I took education at UBC in 1977. At this time a number of profs in the Ed Dept. were socialists and discussed the origin of the education system, as I told it above, I should add. Sincere teachers are trying to make do with a system that was not designed to educate and enculturate. The whole thing should be scrapped and a new system created that does raise studen's cultural and educational level.
anarcho
5 years ago
Some Thoughts On Why The System Sucks
The ability to reason is well developed by age 8 or 9. You could teach children philosophy and logic, yet we don't. You have to get to university for that. I think it is obvious why. If everyone understood basic logical principles no one would believe a single politician, advertisement or newspaper editorial.
We could teach history – real history, that of ordinary people, instead of the endless boring tripe about kings, wars and so forth. This would encourage people to be interested in history. But if you taught real history you would have to tell the truth about how our ancestors were brutalized and exploited and how they had to fight back with trade unions and populist movements. You would have to tell the truth about Aboriginal people, immigrants, slavery and empire. If everybody understood this history right wing haters would not get very far with their anti-worker, anti-FN, anti-immigrant propaganda.
We could get kids to enjoy poetry and literature. Not as happened in my day, as they tried to stuff us with canonical literature that made little sense to us and turned 90% of us off literature for life, but by having them write their own poems and then gradually see what other writers had to say. Of course, people who are into literature won't have any time for KKK ( Korporate Krap Kulture.)
There is a simple way to have some measure of success in school. Kids who are read to, kids who like books before they start school, do better than those who aren't that way. One would think there would be endless propaganda encouraging parents to do this, even providing free books where necessary. One would think the authorities would leave no stone unturned in their effort to encourage children to read. But this is not the case, for you would then end up with an entire population of readers which means no time for KKK, and worse, a people who might actually like learning and thinking.
James Burns
5 years ago
Accurate history
Anarcho, I definitely agree that an accurate rendering of history would be quite useful, particularly one that focused on the lives of the commons in the manner you suggest. Rarely a pretty or glamorous picture.
The lack of formal instruction in public schools of real critical thinking skills is in my opinion a crime, as is the lack of formal instruction in the methodologies of propaganda. In is the kind of knowledge that is vital always, but particularly in an "information age". People only learn about those things haphazardly, and usually adopt a simple tendency to dismiss that which doesn't relate to their worldview.
My largest objection to Gatto, and his acolytes, is that they appear to make use of mythologized propaganda to attack an institution they accuse of the very same tactic. It's outrageously dishonest. Yes, it is beyond all reasonable doubt that many aspects of public school education are designed to culturally indoctrinate children, but Gatto seems more interested in supporting his fantasies than actually attempting to be accurate.
As for canonical literature, much of it is spectacularly good, the problem students seem to experience with it has more to do with the language, especially where someone like Shakespeare is concerned (although taking them to see a good live performance on par with Bard on the Beach productions would likely cure that problem. It certainly did for a number of kids I know). But starting with something they can relate to, and want to read about, is usually the best bet, and there is a wealth of excellent literature, including children's literature, out there, particularly in novel form, that would fit the bill.
But yes it's finding something that fires that desire to read that can really help. Hell, I know someone who finally got initially unwilling illiterate prison inmates to read by bringing in copies of Penthouse Forum.
IAMC
5 years ago
respect teachers
I couldn't handle what teachers have to deal with daily.
Try to imagine having 30 of your pears herded into a small room, with you in charge of instructing them in something they have no natural interest in hearing about.
Yet these are children. It's like all your peers are drunk, like in a bar, and yet you have to keep control, deal with their personal problems, their weakness, their naivety, their ignorance, and all that human shortcomings.
I don't know how they do it.
It takes a certain type of personal dedication to deal with this.
Do all teachers have this? No. But we are all human, so we need to realize this, and give teachers a bit of slack, while still insisting that they give special attention to our kids.
It's an easy job. I commend them for their efforts.
I meant to say it's NOT an easy job.
IndyJones
5 years ago
I Left Too
Good article Shaun. In my mind, you have exposed the tip of the iceberg. After 21 years of teaching, I am on two years leave from a BC School District because of the pressures that you describe. I would like to see Elliot, the author of the first comment, take any of the classes that I had to deal with. Maybe that would change his myopic view of education and teachers. The system is dyfunctional because we've had so many "Elliots" as Ministers of Education (Socred, NDP, or the current lot) who simply do not understand the problems. Moreover, these ministers interface with a thick layer of administrators, many of whom are too far removed from the classroom to be effective. The system is a mess and it really ticks me off how often this mess is blamed on teachers. I love teaching with a passion, but the thought of returning to my job next year does not excite me.
murdock
5 years ago
finish the book before comment
James Burns wrote:
I did not say that this was the solution, only that it is one that 'anyone had' already done for alive's request.
I suspect, from your full text, that you have not finished GATTO's Underground, so rather than get into argument, as I also disagree with some of his 'views' regarding the schooling history and the supposed conspiracies seen therein, I do agree with his general premise: modern compulsion schooling is WRONG.
as far as solutions are concerned he gives some I shall summarize here (then let the interested reader go to the site and explore more about JTG's more detailed analysis).
Dismiss the army of reading and arithmetic specialists
Let no school exceed a few hundred in size
Make everybody teach.
Measure performance with individualized instruments.
Shut down district school boards. Families need control over the professionals in their lives. Decentralize schooling down to the neighborhood school building level, each school with its own citizen managing board. School corruption, like the national school milk price-rigging scandal of the 1990s, will cease when the temptations of bulk purchasing, job giveaways, and remote decision-making are ended.
Install permanent parent facilities in every school
Restore the primary experience base we stole from childhood by a slavish adherence to a utopian school diet of steady abstraction, or an equally slavish adherence to play as the exclusive obligation of children.
Recognize that total schooling is psychologically and procedurally unsound.
Admit there is no one right way to grow up successfully.
Teach children to think dialectically
Arrange much of schooling around complex themes instead of subjects.
Force the school structure to provide flex-time, flex-space, flex-sequencing, and flex-content
Break the teacher certification monopoly so anyone with something valuable to teach can teach it. Nothing is more important than this.
{bold emphasis mine}
http://johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/18t.htm
If these concepts are beyond where you think schooling can go or do, then we shall have to agree to disagree.
murdock
5 years ago
willing to be largely wrong
writes James Burns,
at least we have progressed to where parents have choices (though they are a financial hardship) and children are not marched off to skool at bayonette point!
and before you get the twisted idea that we never did that here, read up about the Doukhobors, or come to a better understanding of compulsion schooling by reading about the Native Boarding Schools.
The self-same mistakes were done here, in canada against so-called (now) hyphenated-canadians.
So I am willing to be largely wrong (in your view) so as to permit my children to actually mature in their own way ~ without government decrees of when and where they should do this or that.
Your naivety, James Burns, is showing in a classic acceptance of the 'status quo' and an unwillingness to question 'your betters'.
murdock
5 years ago
G West
I shall continue non-response to you and I continue to advocate that others do likewise.
To understand this position better, read-up on G West's past goings on here on the Tyee:
http://thetyee.ca/Views/Teacherdiaries/2007/02/27/BoyTrouble/
for you Garth West (if that really is your name):
go away, do not go away angry, just go away
G West
5 years ago
Surely not?
One man's notion of value does not always accord with everyone else's.
Generally, as I wrote months ago, I agree with much of what you and Gatto believe in; the problem, as always in mass collective society, is how to adapt a system which is always going to be a 'partial' and societal solution to the needs of a society where, in the vast majority of cases, the responsibility for a most teaching is going to be performed in a collective way in a manner that conforms to some agreed standards.
So much of going it alone or with no rules and qualifications amounts to a matter of herding cats.
BLONDE PITBULL
5 years ago
The trick to "herding" cats
The trick to "herding" cats is to make them want to follow you.
maestro
5 years ago
Hmm: herding cats ? Bloody well worth a try
Here Kitty Kitty...( but watch out for the Leftie parrots Skwaaaawk-sky )..here Kitty Kitty...
G West
5 years ago
good point Blonde Pitbull
Anyway, this has nothing to do with the subject of this story.
I have this vision of the Pied Piper. Not sure I want every Tom, Dick and Murdock teaching my kids just cause they think they have something of value to impart. And in the end, in an increasingly technical world there can be only so much choice.
Atomize society and blow it back to the middle of the 18th century - with all that goes with that circumstance - and maybe he has a point.
Given the mess we're in just now I think we need some other solutions. But change is certainly needed - and not just in the schools.
I must say that the vast majority of people of a certain age who went to University and became teachers at the same time I was there studying other things are not working as teachers any more. And none of them are retired.....I'm not THAT old.
How are you doing anyway? Did you hear Coyote's daughter died suddenly? I think Mary may have posted the news somewhere here but you may have missed it.
BLONDE PITBULL
5 years ago
GW -Coyote's Loss.
Yes, I read that from BCMary the other day. I'm so sorry for his loss I've been meaning to say so to him.
Yes, the pied piper image is good but I actually like the herding cats better - kids and cats are so alike. Kids and their interests and how to create an interest in kids ...takes indepth knowledge of the topics, indepth knowledge of the students and alot more skill than I'm willing to credit to most people. So while I'm with Murdock on a parents having more input in the education of their offspring I'm still for the public system as a whole.
As for me I've got a cold I can't seem to shake but other than that I can't complain. You?
BLONDE PITBULL
5 years ago
maestro
Here kitty kitty, here kitty kitty doesn't really work with most of the cats I've had and I've had lots. I have five now. Actually, technically, my daughter brought home three of them but I'm momma to all of them. Tone of voice works wonders and a gentle touch cinches the deal.
maestro
5 years ago
Condolences to Coyote:
My sincere condolences to Coyote on the loss of his daughter...very sad to here such news.
Take care Coyote.
G West
5 years ago
Thanks maestro and B Pitbull too
I'm sure someone will pass along both of your sentiments.
Parents weren't meant to bury their kids - it's supposed to be the other way around and, except in war time, it usually is.
Elliot
5 years ago
here's something for all you
here's something for all you left-wing social justice touting teacher-types:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YmQwMGVjNTU5YTQ5ZWU3MDE1NjBjNjkwZTQ0MmJhNWE=&w=MA==
G West
5 years ago
Hi Elliot
Now your providing ads for private schools are you?
Always a good idea to research anything you read at National Review Online a little bit, don't you know.
Hilltop Children's Centre, the place your friend at National Review Online is a PRIVATE SCHOOL. It's not part of the public system and it charges the parents who "Choose" to send their kids there (and who can afford it) some pretty stiff tuition:
In fact, in the "Rainbow Room" it can cost parents as much as $1185/month to get 1 1:5 teacher/ child ratio for their childrens' education.
You have a problem with private enterprise?
In the States I have a strong suspicion that the people offering parents an elite education (the ones who can afford it) aren't getting a lot of help from the government either.
Now, did you have a point relative to BC schools?
G West
5 years ago
errata
that's 'you're' not 'your' in para 1 - sorry
maestro
5 years ago
Gee G West
Given your obvious sophistication and (grudgingly) acknowledged intelligence, you must have gone to Private School...or maybe " Old School " Public School.(Ditto for Alci too).
Elliot
5 years ago
i doubt that very much
i doubt that very much maestro. he's too insincere and insecure. far too phoney as well.
G West
5 years ago
222 - nil
i doubt that very much maestro. he's too insincere and insecure. far too phoney as well.
This is getting ridiculous
maestro
5 years ago
Score is 222 - nil ?
Question :
In who's favour ? / Who is in the lead ?
If I don't like who's leading, can I demand a re - count ?
PS I don't trust the R*ssian judge.
Damn neo-con .
maestro
5 years ago
Blonde Pitbull: RE: Cat herding
I know your Birthday is coming up...so here is a present for ya.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SmgLtglIzw
See G West is under-rated, truly a product of a Private School....he knows of cat herding.
maestro
5 years ago
Blonde PitBull
If the link fails ,.....simply type in " Cat Herding " on the SEARCH option.......and choose "The EDS trilogy" option.
Enjoy .
BLONDE PITBULL
5 years ago
Maestro: cat herding
Maestro, went there and loved it. Thanks.
SharingIsGood
5 years ago
teacher burnout
Thanks for the article, Shaun.
One of the many things that this government has failed to do for the Ministries: Health, Education, Attorney General, Children and Family Development, and Social Services is fund the changes they have demanded. The Liberals claim to be business-savvy, yet they do not operate these organizations in a way that ensures they are building a quality product, nor protecting the assets of the shareholders (the people of BC).
In terms of change, it was the Socreds who implemented integration of special needs students and the Year 2000 program. The Year 2000 program was based upon research and sound pedagogical principles. The NDP pretty much kept it in tact while making a some practical changes to the graduation program by clarifying problems and fleshing out solutions necessitated by implementing a student-centered learning system.
The NDP government (like the government before it) recognized the need for input from all of the partner groups before implementing change. They also recognized the need to allow for and fund the collaboration of people from across the province and from key partner groups so that the direction that a “working group” gave was professional in breadth and depth. This was done very well with the Addressing Student Differences Document. The final recommendations of the working group went forward and the Ministry funded the changes as required. Teachers were expected to be more professional and they were given the time and tools to deal with the change - though it was not easy.
SharingIsGood
5 years ago
teacher burnout (cont)
Change is never easy, but the former two governments made it possible. With interministerial support (especially Ministry of Social services and Ministry for Children and Family Development), Education was able to provide quality integrated case-managed support for most "identified" students. Also, they had the resources/personnel to identify the majority of students needing help. Students flourished, and BC became recognized as a world leader in education. In came the Liberals...
Without consultation, the Liberals (under Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark, M.O.E.) made wholesale changes to the system. They did this without supporting those changes. The changes were most noticeable in the removal of guaranteed supports (funding categories) for the largest categories of special needs children. They cut funding and expected districts to find "efficiencies" through "opportunities" they could get through the removal of class-size and composition guarantees. Further, they instituted "accountability" provisions to a system that was already proving to be getting highly accountable. They mandated changes in the way things needed to be reported. The districts could do little but hire more administrators to handle the increased paperwork and lay-off teachers and support staff. The new provisions have done little but waste precious professional time and energy toward collecting useless data for unethical and unprofessional Fraser Institute reports. Finally, teachers and their school boards were given (mainstream) media coverage on top of impossible tasks demanded by the draconian Christy Clark and her dark lord. It burned-out many of the best of them. Current research in brain function supports what good teachers have always known: learning has as much to do with emotion as it does with cognitive processes. Good teachers invest caring/emotion into each and every child that comes their way. Teachers who are burnt out cannot do this.
SharingIsGood
5 years ago
teacher burnout (cont)
This government has seemed intent upon ruining the systems that were working within the government. I can surmise only three reasons: 1) to make it easier to break those systems up so that portions of them can be privatized, 2) the government is inept, and/or 3) to use the money saved to allow already rich people to get richer. Education, along with every other ministry that looks after the public good, has suffered under this government. On top of the give-away of public assets to large corporations that are often not based in BC, our children and grandchildren have suffered and will continue to suffer under this government.
SharingIsGood
5 years ago
correction and addition
"Finally, teachers and their school boards were given [negative] (mainstream) media coverage on top of impossible tasks demanded by the draconian Christy Clark and her dark lord. It burned-out many of the best of them."
It must also be stated that teachers went many years without getting reasonable raises in their salaries so that the Ministry would adequately fund the changes necessary so that BC could be the world standard in education. When the Liberals assumed power, they cut out the guarantees in class size and composition that teachers payed through lower wages. (Yes, they were legislated "settlements", but teachers generally agreed to them because they were proud of their accomplishments/successes with children). This stripping away of collective agreements led to insult on top of financial injury. More cause for teacher burnout.
clean air
5 years ago
How to Save Shauns
And after all is said and discussed here I believe BC still has one of the very best education systems in the world. The reason the system continues to be strong is due, in no small part, to the dedication of the teachers in the system, the students, and the parents who support the system.
I think it’s good to analyze what goes on in classrooms in BC but I think we should also celebrate the good in classrooms. I suspect a lot of wonderful learning went on in Shaun’s classroom and I doubt his students ever left his class without having gained new knowledge and insights into the world.
If we want to have a strong education system in BC we must focus on its strengths and figure out ways to eliminate what is burning out teachers. The following article may shed a bit of light upon the issue of stress and teachers. www.isma.org.uk/stressnw/teachstress1.htm
Let’s hope the system can figure out a way to not lose anymore Shauns.
Meribeth
5 years ago
one teacher's burnout pt. 1
I went over the word count, so this comes in 2 parts. Sorry to be so verbose.
I share Shaun's concerns, and I have no real right to do so. I teach in a small rural school, and have no more than 10 students per class. That's a cakewalk, right? Wrong! My first class goes like this: 3 gr. 7 social studies students, one of whom is autistic and reads and comprehends at a grade 2 level, one has Tourette's Syndrome, resulting in loud acting out behavior and frequent name calling and profanity (often aimed at the teacher) and one student whose homeschooling left him with near terminal spelling and writing deficits; 2 grade 8 social studies students, one who is "normal" (by which I mean grade appropriate placement and cooperative behavior) and one who reads at grade 4 level; and 4 grade 9 social studies students, 3 who are "normal" (although 2 of these have frequent absences) and 1 whose transition from his Korean homeland to Canada is proceeding better than his spoken or written English.
I do my best, but it's never good enough. When the TS kid has been sent to the office for using language that The Tyee won't allow in its forum, things settle down and I can spend time with the other students. I have this particular group twice a day.
Next I have Socials 4, 5, & 6, and I am grateful that these students are still young enough to enjoy school and are willing to take up what I offer. The remaining class is such a hodgepodge of graduation requirements (Social Studies 11, Planning 10, Portfolio 11 & 12, despite the fact that portfolios have fallen into an alternate universe) that I'm never certain what my goals should be.
I am a whiner if I express my very real stress and dismay. After all, I am paid well enough and the work is clean, indoors, and - when I see the unmistakable sparkle of intellectual achievement - rewarding. The kids are great people, and for the most part their difficult behaviors are a product of their age and predilection for running, jumping, dancing, and otherwise cavorting rather than sitting behind a desk. (Am I grateful I'm teaching foods and we cook many days? YES, a thousand times YES!)
The biggest difficulty is that most of these students really don't want to do the work. They are actively or passively resistant to learning and specifically through learning from text. Not one of my current students picks up a novel or even a magazine outside of the class).
Elliot
5 years ago
'It must also be stated that
'It must also be stated that teachers went many years without getting reasonable raises in their salaries' = under 10 years of ndp governance.
'Yes, they were legislated "settlements", but teachers generally agreed to them because they were proud of their accomplishments/successes with children'
bullshit. they agreed to them b/c the bctf cut 'sweet' deals with pinnocchio clark and friends.
Meribeth
5 years ago
one teacher's burnout pt. 2
The biggest difficulty is that most of these students really don't want to do the work. They are actively or passively resistant to learning and specifically through learning from text. Not one of my current students picks up a novel or even a magazine outside of the class).
We live in an evolving culture. Most parents work 40 hours a week, leaving little time for reading or sharing intellectual pursuits with their children. Other parents are underemployed and suffer the stress and depression of low incomes. They are hard-pressed to foster intellectual growth in their children. Television, video games and computers are changing our systems of communications, yet we are not yet changing our schools to keep pace. They watch TV, literally, before breakfast, after school, and after dinner. I took a survey, and I'm not making this up. Those are extrinsic factors.
Intrinsic motivation and self-discipline are lacking as many students don't understand the benefits of school in personal terms. Those students feel school is a place to see friends and socialize, but they don't find joy in exploring an ancient culture or the mystery of a cell or the near-magical system of mathematics that makes everything else comprehensible nor the mystical enchantment of the right word in the right place that makes a short story come alive. (run-on indended)
I whine about teaching because I know the joy of learning and feel frustrated by my personal inability to pass that on in the face of challenging student behaviors, student apathy, and my own inadequacies. I am one of Shaun's 98% who thinks of leaving the profession. But it's a sunny day, all things are possible, and Monday's bell is 38-1/2 hours away.
It's a new beginning, a fresh day, and hope springs eternal...
SharingIsGood
5 years ago
hearsay is not evidence
Elliot said:
After the deals were cut, teachers voted at their locals whether or not they would accept those deals. Most did for the reason I stated above. No amount of rudeness in a reply changes what happened. I never said that teachers jumped for joy at the idea, nor did I say all teachers accepted it. Perhaps I would have been more clear if I had said the majority of teachers accepted it. Although they didn't get reasonable raises, they were happy with the general direction of the province: children and their families were being looked after. There were some groups of teachers (particularly nn the Lower Mainland) who were not ever happy with the deals. Perhaps it was because housing costs were getting out of control. Perhaps Elliot knows those teachers.
G West
5 years ago
SIG
There's no point even trying to engage with Elliot. He has some serious socialization problems. And an enormous pool of resentment against Glen Clark and Jinny Sims that is simply bizarre.
I've been trying for a year to get him to drop the ad hominem nonsense and I've just decided it's hopeless. There was nothing wrong with what you wrote - sometimes I think it's the evident truth and justice of what someone else writes that sets him off.
Maybe the only approach is to ignore him. I have no doubt that, if he sees this, he’ll react in some equally irrational fashion toward me.
Elliot
5 years ago
'Although they didn't get
'Although they didn't get reasonable raises, they were happy with the general direction of the province: children and their families were being looked after'
more bullshit. teachers did what they were told to do, as usual. the union leaders sacrificed raises for their members for the ability to enlist even more members who could pay them dues, to of course be spent on their social engineering projects. most teachers aren't really aware of how the bctf spends their hard-earned dollars because they're too busy working with the kids in their classrooms. and i mean that sincerely. i have no problem with teachers, in fact i have a tremendous amount of respect for the good ones. the bad ones disgust me, and the union disgusts me b/c they protect them at the risk of negatively affecting our children. the bctf is an extremely political organization whose mandate has been commandeered by the david chudnovsky's and the jinny sims', and everyone knows where their real interests lie.
Elliot
5 years ago
by the way, thanks for
by the way, thanks for weighing in gwest/alcibiades/?/?/?. i'm sure that sharing will be thrilled about being supported by you and all your aliases.
maestro
5 years ago
Elliot: BCTF and members dues vs member salaries
Your previous comments are what my understanding is. It was reported waaaay back when the BCTF were holding our children hostage but of course in their best interests.
Put it this way, these people AIN'T STUPID.
The NDP has inherently has Labour support, at least in the guise of Labour Union leadership. Power is ultimately in NUMBERS...like any group. The BCTF will inherently link itself to the NDP...unlike other unions which appear to be less and less ideological and more and more realistic ie no choice.
When the NDP were in power for 2 terms, they had the ability to fund increases in Teachers salaries, did they not? So why didn't they , BCTF case not good enough? or BCTF had "other" ideas?
What happened was class size limits to placate BCTF threats..which inherently required more teachers = more BCTF members..hence more BCTF dues.
Simple example....our children had a continual nightmare during the first day of school under the NDP. Classes and final teachers for the year weren't settled till 2 -3 weeks into the school year.
A few kids over the projection created a huge domino effect in order to abide by the collective agreement of class size limits. Classes planned in June often were torn up and back to the drawing board and new ones formulated in September . This happened year after year after year. Ms Sims and BCTF crew can preach all they want about caring for the kids..its shallow transparent BS at the grassroots....ie to US Parents and Students.
Of course, the dirty secret was there were classes with enrollment below the class size maximum, these were left as is...and I know this from talking to other parents re: their own schools situation.
My own guess is that this featherbedding cost was at least adding approx. 2 teachers per year at our school , and hence approx. $100,000 more in cost, BUT if that same $100,000 was divided up as a pay raise amongst our approx. 25 staff, that would be approx. $4000 each...correct? This same $4000 ended up as the amount equivalent to the Teachers' signing bonus, not even including the 16% pay raise and all this was done under the Non- NDP ie the Provincial Liberals. NDP/BCTF in- bed- together crock.
This is not even including the support staff / Learning Assistants in each school that share the workload with the classroom teachers by helping "identifying IMperfect children's deficiencies" and wearing out the linoleum in travels for "extra help".
Conclusion: Cut the BS, its all about numbers and power given the aforementioned ...and the only other objective grudging respect is that the BCTF likley knew the enrollment declines in the vast majority of BC school districts and planned accordingly in the BCTF interests, and then its Members interests, (....and we humble parents and students often aren't even on their BCTF radar screen, just sheep to herd and geese to be plucked).
SharingIsGood
5 years ago
teachers are not sheep
Teachers are not sheep. Many teachers do not even go to union meetings. They do not follow a leader for the sake of following. As a matter of fact, a solid majority of teachers voted for the Liberal government the first time around. Teachers proved they aren't sheep and they will not be bullied by Campbell government threats and legislation declaring teachers did not have the same rights as other working people. Teachers are, by and large, decent, caring human beings. They know that it is best to lead by example. Teachers knew that when they were being bullied, they had to stand up to the bullies - as a group.
Yes, some classes have fewer than the maximum. How many split classes do you want teachers to teach? If you go to the Ministry of Education's website, you will see that there are different learning outcomes for each Grade level. A teacher cannot teach two sets of learning outcomes at once. To accomodate split classes, when one group is doing seatwork, another group is being taught. This gives little time for individual assistance. The group being taught must also be contained in a way that they are not interferring with children who are trying to do seatwork. Think of the logistics, and what it means to the students that get stuck in attempting seatwork in math or reading or writing! Add the complexities caused by an ADHD, autistic, bullisome and/or epileptic child in the mix and you can see that quality teaching is difficult to deliver at the best of times. It is not always wise to pack a classroom to the maximum. Further, it is not always wise to shut down schools to improve $ "efficiencies" at the cost of a child being hauled great distances away from his or her neighbourhood school.
Finally, the extra programs (student council, book club, basketball team, etc. etc.) often take a hit, when teachers become overburdened with teaching multiple curricula and special needs students. A reduction in staff at a school further adds to this problem. School becomes a place for curricula, school-based team meetings, staff meetings and little else. Schools become less alive with kids who are excited to be there. School becomes drudgery. Drudgery leads to disinterested and acting-out students - a vicious downward cycle.
Elliot
5 years ago
'They know that it is best
'They know that it is best to lead by example.' including blatantly breaking the law during the last illegal work stoppage. holding the kids they say they care so much about hostage to their political whims. disgusting.
maestro
5 years ago
SIG
Teachers, like the general public, are often caught in the middle.
I think the problem lies in who is repesentative of the given group, in this case teachers . Guilt by association. The BCTF leadership is a prime example. However, the teachers ultimately have the power to change this, if they acccept it, does the BCTF leaderships' actions not logically stick to the rank and file grassroots BCTF members ?
FTR: I have many family members who are Public School Teachers and also socialize with Administrators. Most of them are passionate about their jobs and do it well .
This phenomenon is not specific to BC, as throughout North America the Teacher union leadership flex their muscle, much like the old Temasters union..and we know what ultimately happened there...it got so corrupt and power hungry enough was enough.
We the grassroots, ultimately cut the cheques, we are the clientele, hence THE bosses, but somehow this has been usurped...True Teaching is often in name only and masks pissing matches involving radical ideologues who often end up in the union leadership roles and "whipped" politicians who often take the path of least resisitance...ie capitulate which ironically involves cutting cheques $$$ but often not to the students' benefit.
Sorry, but actively pre-determining and diagnosing children as crippled as some sort of priority in "some way" is not a good starting point,(...Hey are A-N-Y of us perfect or not some sort of handicap since day one?) it leads to excuses which compound the so -called diagnosed problem...and add to more featherbedding...enough is never enough..and the kids lose.
Sorry for the skepticism and cynicism, SIG, but these are tales from the front lines and a fair bit of research. Kids graduate small "s" smart...but often big "S" Stoopid.
The good teachers I respect, and there are a lot of them. They seem to have no voice. I know a National award winning Public School teacher personally,... we get along great...and there is a very simple basic reason they won. Too bad many of their peers can't take the cue from them.
SharingIsGood
5 years ago
award-winning teachers
Maestro: It has been my experience that the majority of teachers are like your award-winning friend. My experience comes from the front-lines and within the trenches.
The BCTF is not like the teamsters. The BCTF is a union of professionals. They have a code of ethics. Please do not paint good teachers with a single brush saying they have no voice. I am giving them a voice, and you deny my existence.
It often takes considerable effort to change a mind that has already decided upon something. Psychologists have proven this to be so with many studies dating back decades. Maestro, I am asking you to expend some effort toward making a paradigm shift in your thinking - to suspend your disbelief and to view most teachers as those good ones you talk about. The quality of teachers that the universities have been producing for the last 20 years is far superior to many of the teachers of the decades previous to that. For one thing, it takes at 5-6 years to get a teaching degree and sound science has been applied to what it takes to engage young minds (and bodies) and help them develop in strong and caring ways. Further, the older, more experienced teachers have been attending workshops and receiving in-service training for decades to help them improve their work as well. Teachers have been improving; but, there is only so much that can be done with reduced supports and increased wrong-headed top-down control.
Shaun Cunningham, the author of this article, writes of the difficulties faced by many good teachers every day in the classroom. Those "diagnoses" (you spoke about) and the subsequent Individual Education Plans are still mandated by the Ministry; though most are no longer funded. The work must still be done, and it must be written down, and there must be meetings and phone calls etc. Those are the provincial regulations, administrative law. There is only so much work in a person, and even the very best break down if pushed too hard to do too much.
maestro
5 years ago
SIG
I " volunteer teach ", have done it for years, in a specific venue...
The classic lessons and the methodology towards the goals and objectives are the same when I was in school years ago , when I started volunteer teaching years ago and to this day when I just got back from volunteer teaching 10 minutes ago.
My "pupils/students" tend to excel after all is said and done...and given none of them are perfect nor necessarily super -gifted,...I have a spectrum-like range of pupils and individual abilities .
Having a child ourselves with a so-called problem , the so-called experts haven't changed much...and it would be better off to spend the time integrating them in the class vs this featherbedding BS. Give us a voucher for a private professional, or don't waste our time.
ALSO: Rather tired of what seems to be every other parent saying " off to the Tutor...again..." which to me implies that the system is deficient not the child.... whereas the system does the converse...finding and diagnosing the alleged deficiency is like some sort of trophy hunt, then exhonerating itself.
Its the system that need to be taught and in need of remedial care. I think the system has had sufficient time to prove me wrong in our over decade long immersion in the new way public schools are run...not the least bit impressed at the elementary school level.
High school is a different conversation, of which I do see much hope.
Cunningham
5 years ago
Post Script
Thanks to all who have taken the time to add their voices and comments to the discussion here. Many were more articulate and well-researched than I was in the original article. I hope there is room for such voices in future installments of the "Teacher Diaries" series - especially for those who were able to balance what might seem a bleak description of the teaching profession with the other, more positive side of the coin.
Certainly, there is much to value about teaching. Among all life's stories, I still count those successful interactions between teacher, knowledge, and student among the most valuable. This is especially true of the cases where the breakthrough was hard-won, sort of like spedteacher's story of coming back after her extended absence to a greeting (and touch!) from an autistic student who missed her. I once taught a kid to read after several experts and agencies said he never would. I feel that this feat alone was not only worth my salary that year, it might still make a suitable epitath.
One thing not mentioned in the article, but which I know for sure: good teachers can change lives for the better. Besides the lousy teacher I remembered in the article, I also remember the good ones who made me feel like the best reader/writer/drawer/soccer player/whatever in the world. Kind of scary to realize that I'm still involved in whatever a teacher told me I was good at and checked out of the other stuff years ago. Which came first there, the ability or the encouragement to develop it?
Teachers are powerful in their influence. Thankfully, against bad (or at least tiring) odds, they use their power mostly for the good.
I hope the discussion here has contributed to a general urge to thank those who put their time, energy, heart, and soul into the profession rather than to dishearten those who work in the field. Please note that I never suggested in the article that I ran out of hope - just steam. By next year, the article may need to be retitled, "Why I Took a Year Off"....
Meanwhile, I salute those still slogging it out. I see teachers' efforts reflected in the fact that my three kids can't wait to go to school each day.
Oh wait.... maybe that's cause I'm at home.
SharingIsGood
5 years ago
thanks, Shaun
Thanks, again, Shaun,
Maestro,
Perhaps you have a bit of teacher in your blood. Perhaps you have missed your calling. Rather than volunteer teach on Sundays, perhaps you should get a teaching degree and do the real work. But until you do, you are just a Sunday school teacher. I have found that those kids who are made to (or are willing to attend) school on Sunday are among the most compliant and easy to work with. Whatever work you do, I will not badmouth the work you do (unless I witness it firsthand). Whatever your view of teachers, educational psychologists, and the BCTF, I believe it is myopic. If you think you can do better, or lead better, the system has room for you to join it. Volunteering, though noteworthy, does not count. It must be a paid vocation that you and your family count on for food and shelter.
maestro
5 years ago
SIG: Good educated guess, but incorrect.
Good attempt, but its not as you imply...The fact I taught on " Sunday " was a coincidence...its now more like 3 days a week this time of the year. It's not Sunday School, you made a rather off- target/no cigar "leap- of -faith" in guessing that. Careful now...LOL
I've taken the same principles in something I've "taught" for 14 years and cross applied it to something I am less familiar with. Coincidentally, I found the same methodology can be successfully applied and cross over to something that is not necessarily one's forte. Interesting mini- experiment.
One can take the methodology that one can see was applied to oneself when a student, see what worked, and why it worked. It appears from what I read that private Tutors tend to "fix what is broken" using the old -school style that got most of us through the first time without any extra Tutoring help.
Thanks for the invite to teach and join the BCTF, but I have been in a Union environment before...NO thanks. You earlier maintained the BCTF was not a Union... it is a professional group. Well,...OK,...its a professional group that has gone Union and all that goes with it.
When BC Teachers certified themselves as Union locals under the Labour Code in 1987, I didn't think it was a good move...the same " Union pattern " usually follows. It has...under the (i)walk,(ii) looks and (iii)talks like a duck ID analogy.
SIG , I appreciate your passion, which is good to see and refreshing. I am giving my views of the overall system...not necessarily the individuals who are part of it. I am sure there are many teachers who cringe at what their leadership does, and yet soldier on, and not only do their job , but do it well.
"Sharing" IS Good, and I am simply sharing my views ,experiences and comparing notes. When one has graduated from the system as a student, ...and then re-enters the same system as a parent...that's a natural auditing process to compare "old" school with "new" school.
PS I look forward to any more comments you are able to provide.
SharingIsGood
5 years ago
bctf
Actually, Maestro, I said:
Thanks for the leap of faith joke...it made me laugh. You set me up.
What do you teach, how old are your students, and how many do you teach at once?
No time to comment on the rest... there is work to be done...
maestro
5 years ago
SIG:
SIG:
FTR: Not trying to "set you up"...(it was self -inflicted was it not ? LOL ), I thought the connection to teaching on Sunday was not an illogical guess...but just to clarify.
I teach amateurs in an organized activity...suffice it to say the class size is much larger than normal this year ...one of the largest I have had in 14 years...and of course the entourage of parents as well and all the interpersonal politics that go with that. Also: Taught all ages, from Grade 2 up to High School.
However, that said, can't say I've looked more forward to this year than any previous year. Ironically last year was more difficult with a " smaller class size ".
It's a continual learning experience, if one wants to be a life -long student and yet concurrently mature as an adult. Call it combining an open mind yet also being well- grounded.
" Structure, Focus, Motivation and Encouragement...here's the benchmark...set it high yet attainable,...the rest is up to you ". Simple formula... tried and true,simply filter out the BS,...should be a classic formula for success. Don't re-invent the wheel nor dress it up with new hubcaps.
Off to class later today.....
Elliot
5 years ago
this is actually a good news
this is actually a good news story. teachers that can't stand the heat should get out of the kitchen.
G West
5 years ago
You're kidding, right?
We should create and foster a system that is so sick the dedicated and caring and imaginative members of the profession quit in disgust to be replaced by burnouts and time-servers?
Surely you jest.
Elliot
5 years ago
you take the author too
you take the author too literally. the system is by no means as messed up as he implies. too many teachers belong to a crybaby subculture. they'll always complain about the 'draconian' conditions. suck it up and do your job. or quit and go elsewhere.
Elliot
5 years ago
in fact, how much would you
in fact, how much would you like to wager that the next installment of 'teacher diaries' is from a whining teacher?
G West
5 years ago
That's not the story you're always telling El
You're actually very inconsistent.
One day the program is a mess and all teachers are useless slugs, the next day the system's just fine and the good teachers aren't leaving - just the feckless whiners.
It can’t be both things at the same time, in my view. As far as this teacher/author is concerned – and taking into consideration my own observations about the system and the folks who make it work despite the neglect and nominal hatred of this government – I’d say his change of profession is a real loss to his students.
The only thing I am sure of when it comes to your analysis my friend is that it will be "messed up".
But at least you've finally stopped shooting the puck into your own net. That's a start.
clean air
5 years ago
Is it whining or burnout??
Teacher burnout exists. It is not a myth.
Research In Review: Teacher Burnout www.rinr.fsu.edu/winter2006/features/coverstory.html
SharingIsGood
5 years ago
job related stress/burnout
This about.com article identifies reasons for burnout no matter where one works. When I couple Shaun Cunningham's, Sped Teacher's, and my words with this about.com article and clean air's linked article, it sounds exactly like what has been happening to teachers in BC. From the reading this article, Elliot can be identified as one of the stressors. Grandma always said, "You get more flies with honey than you do with salt. The same is true with people: they are much more likely to give you what you want if you give them what they want or need." Well, Elliot, do you want your teacvhers to do well or do you want to add to the litany of their problems?
http://stress.about.com/od/burnout/a/job_burnout.htm
zalm
5 years ago
Mmmmppphhh........
Maestro sez
Scientology! Ooooh, yeah, this 'splains a LOT of things!
GUFFAWWWWWWWWWWW! Say Hi to Ron for me when you're next "astral travelling"
Seriously, good for you for teaching, but you couldn't be any more secretive, and consequently, any less credible, if you tried. And you really are trying, I can tell....
Elliot
5 years ago
'despite the neglect and
'despite the neglect and nominal hatred of this government' yet more bullshit. this gov't has given teachers a 23.5% raise over 9 years and budgeted much more dollars than the ndp had projected to over that time period. that's some kind of hatred g. time to look at the facts rather than the lefty rhetoric my friend.
G West
5 years ago
Clarification
So it's really all about resentment and money?
Hmmm. I don't think 'nominal hatred' is too strong for this government’s relationships with professional teachers. There are ways other than money to show you respect the importance of the work professional do. One of them is fair dealing and Bill 27 was not fair dealing.
And the minister of advanced education seems to be more interested in providing opportunities for degree mills to set up in the province than anything else – but perhaps you didn’t notice that.
On your own part, I think it's jealousy and maybe knowing that teachers do a job you couldn't handle.
I don't think BCLiberals DO like teachers much because they're deathly afraid of citizens who can think for themselves.
Campbell’s survival depends upon an uneducated and ignorant electorate and the efforts of a bunch of professional spin doctors.
maestro
5 years ago
Zalm:
Dude...
It was a good " bad try ", but I saw it coming. Could hear the L_ _tie posse' giggling all the way over here.
I'll leave it at that.
PS say hi to Tom Cruise and John Travolta
I think the RON you want is L.Ron Hubbard
Try the 100 Mile Dianetic.
I have encoded your address as follows ( %$#@11-$4Q=4Qx4Q /4Q-1*&atz*+= Xc/- 4Q)so they can decode it and come and visit you.
See if Tom and John will give their autographs. Tell Tom MI -3 was the sh!tes.
BTW: "4Q" is code for "Peace bro' "...make sure you say it at least 10 times when they knock on the door.
Ciao(and 4Q)
maestro
5 years ago
Yesterday's class: Update
Yeah..
Yesterdays class didn't do all that well...not even the A students from last year. Actually the " C " and " C+ " students did better.
Question: What to do ....what to do.
No, it's actually going according to plan, totally expected at this juncture. Call it acknowledging the rust...and diagnosing where the resources should be focussed. If one is going to fail...do it at the start. As long as the graph shows an upward trend from start to finish, and teacher and student are on the same page, on the same team and each doing their jobs...shouldn't be a problem meeting the goals and objectives.
The final results are all proportional to the benchmark you set.
Elliot
5 years ago
no resentment g. i make
no resentment g. i make more than teachers do AND i work with kids as a soccer and baseball coach. i also get enough time off to be able to find myself every once in a while.
Elliot
5 years ago
no resentment g. i make
no resentment g. i make more than teachers do AND i work with kids as a soccer and baseball coach. i also get enough time off to be able to find myself every once in a while.
SharingIsGood
5 years ago
Quote:Elliot said, "i make
I'm curious, Elliot, if you make more money than teachers and teaching is proven to be a highly stressful profession that often leads to burnout, what is it about their getting raises to their salaries that have them earning less than you that bothers you? Is there anyone with whom you have empathy?
Elliot
5 years ago
once again you're
once again you're spin-doctoring sharing. let me clear this up for you and g: i stated several times that i have the highest regard for the teachers that are doing their job well, which i happen to believe is a majority of teachers. i don't think they make too much money and never said they did. my beef is with the bad teachers who are protected by the bctf for all the wrong reasons. our kids are too important to play politics with. it should not be so difficult to fire bad teachers, and if you think it isn't then you're really not being realistic. the process is long, difficult and cumbersome, to the point where most principals don't even bother.
not so complicated
5 years ago
quality
It really makes no sense that we are all coming to the point of collapse by doing too much, working too much, buying too much and no time for quality – a good dose of social restructuring is required. As with teaching; we need smaller classrooms and more teachers employed. I completely agree, the job of teaching is too much responsibility for one person to take on 30 kids – no one person should be expected to make a significant contribution to an individual child when having to wear too many hats.
Don’t the kids matter? The children are the future generation, and school can make or break a child’s enthusiasm for life. The social structure is “upside down!” – I mean, when screen actors are paid enormous amounts of money to produce violence for entertainment - we ought to be paying the teachers enormous $$$. Teachers dedicate their life beyond the 9 to 3, the ones who willingly take on the responsibility for moulding creative, beautiful, expressions of joy. You’re not the only teacher I’ve heard refer to their class as, "my children" – it’s personal, it’s coming from you heart and it’s not just a job. I hope social structure never drives our teachers to “it’s just a job” – but it has. Wouldn’t it feel good to know that the children who will shape our future to come, are feeling nurtured and inspired!
Overwork and stress turns us into robots. For example, (and this is in no way a judgement toward you Shaun), if you weren’t so over taxed when the class wanted to vote “who was hotter, Hillary Duff or Britney” it may have been an opportunity to turn the vote into an example of how math formulas are used in the world. Let’s face it, school can be boring and dry – opportunities for learning are everywhere.
It is in society’s best interest to reduce class size, reduce the amount of hours put into the joy by one person and increase the teachers pay - but it will need a social movement. We may have evolved from workhouses, but there is a ways to go in defining our social priorities. I for one prefer not to have medicated teachers, how about you!
G West
5 years ago
Getting down to brass tacks
That's a fairly extensive and damning charge. I'd say to have much force it needs a little more evidence.
So, where is it?
What percentage of teachers, as opposed to say nurses, doctors or lawyers are, as you put it "bad"?
I think your experience as a soccer or a basketball coach is admirable but as a benchmark for evaluating teachers and their performance, well, you must be joking. I’ve coached soccer for decades and taken teams to Europe to play and I know I couldn’t teach those same kids well in a school environment for all the tea in China.
I think, for all the opprobrium you've heaped on teachers in the year or so I've been reading your posts that you must have something a little more concrete than that to accuse them of.
As to your own value for money, you say you make 'more' than teachers do. What assurance do we have, as your honest interlocutors, that you're worth what you take home in your pay packet every two weeks?
Such subjective criteria aren't much use in this kind of discussion. Who can ever judge such things?
So, unless you can prove that there are more teachers who are useless slugs, pro rata, relative to the incidence of sluggishness in the general population of folks with similar education and responsibility, I'd say this discussion is pretty well over and that your long ad hominem campaign against teachers can finally come to a restful conclusion.
maestro
5 years ago
Teacher Burn out?
What is interesting is the transition I see as one generation of Teachers approaches retirement and another one tends to take over, this time at the High School level.
I am noticing that the older teachers,....ie in their late 40's / early 50's who are all gung -ho about extra- curriculars are doing a disproportionate amount of the coaching and volunteering etc.
However, the newer younger teachers ie late 20's early 30's seem to be disinterested or boycotting such extra curricular activity. I see this pattern at other Public schools . This puts more stress on the older teachers, some of whom coach several teams in different sports in a school year. With just ONE team that can entail approx. 5-6 hours per week on games,practices, travel time, etc. When they retire,if not burn out first , then what?
Add to that the requirements for "Teachers -need -to- be -sponsors" for many extra-curriculars, and not outside volunteers, the kids often lose out. This year, Grade 12 students had to be arm-twisted to coach some teams. There are many other volunteers that would love to coach,etc. but can't, but why isn't this policy changed, so the BCTF can further hold kids hostages?
RE Class sizes...and class sizes of 30....thats a MAXIMUM size...that should be made clear. I seem to recall Gov't stats that show many classes do NOT have the maximum class size number. Even under the NDP when class size limits were in effect, I was made aware by parents at other schools of some classes of 17-19 students in the Intermediate grades.
What classroom size number are they actually happy with ?
Let's not forget the Resource Staff and Learning Assistants than most schools have, which share in the classroom teacher's 30 student MAXIMUM workload.
Lets just work together and teach the kids...forget the subtle subliminal political messages and other types of indoctrination that is often evident in the system and more apparent now. I think the younger teachers I mentioned earlier are becoming the fruits of that modern education system with a "work -to -rule" mentality. This contributes to the burn-out, and doesn't help alleviate it.
Very unfortunate, and society at large loses out, not just the students.
zalm
5 years ago
Teaching is...
...a strange profession. Where else do you make from 55%-90% of full salary for the duration of your "apprenticeship" - 11 years? Trades don't require a degree or two to start making 50% and complete in 3-5 years. In the bank, I got paid the same as the 30-year audit clerk. In computer sales, my commission was the same as everyone else's. Not even doctors reduce their pay, and their mistakes are a lot harder to overcome.
Dad (35-year teacher in secondary schools, mostly with "remedial" as they called them at the time) had a lot to say about administration. It started "Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach, become administrators. Those with the brownest noses become principals." I heard that so many times I could have been rich if paid a penny for every word. You can tell how much dad was favoured by administration. But his kids never dropped out, at least while he was around. They all finished at least to Grade 10, and he even got others who did drop out to come back to school for another try.
So I think my dad would say that perhaps the problem with administrators being unwilling to take the steps to properly fire teachers who are genuinely unfit, (as opposed to politically unpopular) has to do with the amount of effort an essentially lazy and inept administration must put in to do to others who are exactly like they themselves.
I would go further - the provisions of the School Act and the interference by senior levels of government have a lot to do with what administration wastes their time on.
SharingIsGood
5 years ago
lots of good posts
Well, Shaun,
It seems your article has provided much good grist for the blog mill. I believe that your submission has helped some oft' read submitters move from "at all costs, teacher-bashing" to only bashing some of them a bit. You know as well as I do that the teachers' voice within the education system is quite small relative to all of the regulations/guidelines/curricula handed down from on high. Thanks for giving good teachers a voice here in the Tyee - prior practise has shown it won't be CTV or Global that antes-up the truth. Kudos.
GW, Thanks for holding people accountable to their words.
Maestro, the young teachers often don't coach etc. because the demands of the job are too great. I see a good number of the younger teachers being ill a good deal of the time. Older teachers with whom I have spoken say that twice as much of their time is structured (by Ministry guidelines and inclusion) as it was 25 years ago. Many seasoned professionals say they don't have as much time for running clubs and teams. It is not the BCTF that protects these volunteer activities. Often, the boards have fears of being sued, so they need people who have first aid training as well as Physical Education training, etc.