Why Are Teachers Blamed For Bad Schools?

[Dayton3]

Teachers are the lowest rank in the school system. They are the foot soldiers in education. The infantry.

Your use of war metaphors here is leaving me frambazzled. All I can think about now is musketballs being shot into children's heads, and bombs that don't have "Death from Above" written on the side of them, but "AP Chemistry" instead. It's kind of delightful.

Well, military history is my thing.

I've read that fewer and fewer colleges are offering military history programs.

 

[Captain Intrepid]

Teachers are the lowest rank in the school system. They are the foot soldiers in education. The infantry.

Your use of war metaphors here is leaving me frambazzled. All I can think about now is musketballs being shot into children's heads, and bombs that don't have "Death from Above" written on the side of them, but "AP Chemistry" instead. It's kind of delightful.

Well, military history is my thing.

I've read that fewer and fewer colleges are offering military history programs.

Cause it's a more conservative subject, and conservatives are on an anti intellectual jaunt at the moment in your fair country?

 

[spoonunseptium]

Teachers a re pretty much the ones who insure that an excellant education is presented to the child/teenager.

Yea, a lot of performance is a result of the student's own efforts, but when you have an awesome teacher it makes a huge difference.


I've had teachers who don't care a lick about their students, they just want to go home at the end of the day. When teachers don't care, it gets reciprocated by the students.


Basically- teachers don't deserve all the blame, but they certaintly deserve some of it. They are the direct links between the system and the child.


I think the US(don't know about other 1st world countries) should take a look at how Finland does stuff -- highest ranking education system in the world.


Although- I did read an article on education that claimed the US may not have the top math scores, but it produces more creative people than most ruler-slapping countries do.

If you consider how disorganized the education system is, you could also propose that it might be a good thing. To be better in America, you have to work harder, be more diligent, know the avenues of opportunity better than the next guy. Some people get a better chance at this- like rich people- but even the poorest and least educated can rget good enough to get in Harvard.

 

[nx1701g]

I have to agree that it is unfair to blame the teachers when its the School directors who are doing the most damage - at least where the assigned topics of study are concerned. I was told this morning by a retired principal and former math teacher at the school I graduated from that they had dropped ALL of their math courses and now teach specifically to the Pennsylvania State School Assessment tests. I asked my cousin about this (she teaches at the school) and she said that ot was true and that when they protested it they were overidden by the school board due to funding issues (the school scores high in reading on the exams, but the math scores were always low).

I do agree that there are some teachers who are just in it for the money (my school is one of the top ten highest paid in my state), but there are those who really do care. My cousin is one of the good ones I believe. She teaches every day and helps the students who don't understand. She schedules field trips, brings gifts for her students every Christmas and baskets for Easter, and if there is something that a student needs she makes sure that they get it (even if she has to pay for it from her own pocket). A former coworker of mine's daughter (who has a Masters in Education) is the polar opposite. She's a good teacher when she wants to be, but her motto seems to be "What's in it for me?" more than anything.

 

[Marc]

Maybe because there are times when the teachers are to blame for it being a bad school.

TNZ are aware of the hypocrisy in this thread.

 

[nx1701g]

Teachers are the lowest rank in the school system. They are the foot soldiers in education. The infantry.

Your use of war metaphors here is leaving me frambazzled. All I can think about now is musketballs being shot into children's heads, and bombs that don't have "Death from Above" written on the side of them, but "AP Chemistry" instead. It's kind of delightful.

Well, military history is my thing.

I've read that fewer and fewer colleges are offering military history programs.

To take military history at my university you have to join the ROTC program.

 

[RedFenix]

As I teacher, I echo your frustrations. It sucks to be overworked, underpaid, underappreciated, and then blamed for everything that goes wrong in schools. However, that's the nature of the beast. Society points fingers at teachers for the same reason they point fingers at the president of the United States -- we're easy scapegoats. Now, Bush has heaped his fair share of misery upon the world, whereas teachers (generally) don't, but the analogy is still fair. Teachers are the figureheads of the classrooms they teach in. When students fail tests, fail to stand up to international competition, and reinforce the stereotype of a dumbed-down generation, who do people want to blame? Duh. It's easier to do that than to accept the fact that there are many reasons why America's students can't hold a candle to the competition. Teachers are only one head on the hydra of failed education.

But you know what? Oh well! So people don't appreciate teachers anymore. So what? We're not working for the recognition or the money. As long as they leave me enough alone to do what I do best, without fear of losing my job, they can stick their unfounded complaints on someone who cares. I know better. Out of the 120 students I see each day, if just one appreciates something I've said or done, it's proof that administration, government, and society are dead fucking WRONG. We're not there for them. We're there for our kids.

That may sound like the blissful naivete of a first-year teacher, but there's truth in it. Teaching is damn hard work. If one can't learn to find appreciation in the small things, then this is the absolute worst profession to be in.

 

[TheBrew]

Your use of war metaphors here is leaving me frambazzled. All I can think about now is musketballs being shot into children's heads, and bombs that don't have "Death from Above" written on the side of them, but "AP Chemistry" instead. It's kind of delightful.

Well, military history is my thing.

I've read that fewer and fewer colleges are offering military history programs.

To take military history at my university you have to join the ROTC program.

I took a class studying military history and theories of war this semester at the ultimate "liberal" school, UC Berkeley. Who says that we don't love war in hippie-land?

 

[TGTheodore]

Teachers are pretty much the ones who insure that an excellant education is presented to the child/teenager.

Yikes! Guess we can blame a teacher for those two major spelling errors.

(Well ... one usage and one spelling, depending on the individual school district's definitions.)

--Ted

 

[Danoz]

I have strong feelings about this.

We take human beings, put them into desks, and tell them sit quietly all day-- then we wonder why we have explosions of ADHD diagnoses. 50% of a child's day should include physical activity, work in hand-eye coordination and creative learning. Things like NCLB have forced the teachers to drill their students with standardized material. In the poorer schools, many of the students can hardly read or speak English.

The system is completely gone to hell. It doesn't need more money. It doesn't need more education majors. It needs complete reform. We need to reexamine how we approach education, and we need to let go of the message that "everyone should go to college." We should be encouraging trade school and specialization at a younger age so that these kids get real jobs and don't become college drop-out freeloaders-- a drain on their parents and the economy.

 

[RoJoHen]

I have strong feelings about this.

We take human beings, put them into desks, and tell them sit quietly all day-- then we wonder why we have explosions of ADHD diagnoses. 50% of a child's day should include physical activity, work in hand-eye coordination and creative learning. Things like NCLB have forced the teachers to drill their students with standardized material. In the poorer schools, many of the students can hardly read or speak English.

The system is completely gone to hell. It doesn't need more money. It doesn't need more education majors. It needs complete reform. We need to reexamine how we approach education, and we need to let go of the message that "everyone should go to college." We should be encouraging trade school and specialization at a younger age so that these kids get real jobs and don't become college drop-out freeloaders-- a drain on their parents and the economy.

I just felt the need to quote this whole thing.

 

[ancientone51]

21 1/2 years in High School classrooms here.

There are good and bad teachers just as there are good and bad xxx at ALL levels of the education process, including parents.

But in my experience, teachers used to have a certain respect in the classroom from the kids JUST because they were the teacher. Sort of like W, may not respect him, but by god, he is the president and you stand up if he walks into the room.

Now I tell a kid to quiet down and I get, "I'm talking, you ain't my momma and you can't tell me what to do. Even my momma don't tell me to be quiet." Or, "This ssi a private conversation, it ani't none o you budiness. " And I am quoting directly from conversations held yesterday.

When I mentioned to my VPrincipal that I was a bit tired of it, the younger than me advised me to learn to let it roll off my back.

Somehow I do not think that will help solve the problem.

 

[stoneroses]

Well most of them got into teaching like this:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KwDknTtkVdc&feature=related
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BC6EGeEc0F0&feature=related
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RUKOICt6BRY&feature=related

 

[Holdfast]

And these...

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=OhgQaH1_iqM
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4slqDJaU6VU

 

[Trippy]

^

I wasn't drunk when I decided to become a teacher, but I've needed a drink ever since!

 

[sidious618]

Wow, all this talk is really making me happy that I'm studying to be a teacher.

 

[Dayton3]

Wow, all this talk is really making me happy that I'm studying to be a teacher.

There are moments that it can be very rewarding. When you have a student not only finally "get it" but asks questions or brings up points that shows he/she is thinking beyond the subject matter and starting to learn things on their own.

Or when you have a parent come up to you at the end of the year and thank you for working with their child (that happened to me once).

But arguably, one thing that keeps teachers going is the friendships and fellowship with other teachers. Much like soldiers fighting in a war, many teachers see themselves besieged from both "above" (administration) and "below" (students/parents) so they tend to band together for mutual support with like minded teachers.

 

[Sephiroth]

we need to cut the fat, fire 1/3rd of school administrators randomly, use that money to extend educators training, you'd be suprised at the effect you will get

 

[shivkala]

Of course, I'm still baffled by the whole No Child Left Behind act (most nonsensical I've ever heard of).

"If your students do poorly, we'll cut your funding so you have no hope for improvement!"

NCLB, the basketball edition (which has made its way around the 'net and was forwarded to me last year by a friend):

1. All teams must make the state playoffs and all MUST win the championship. If a team does not win the championship, they will be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held accountable. If after two years they have not won the championship their basketballs and equipment will be taken away UNTIL they do win the championship.
2. All kids will be expected to have the same basketball skills at the same time, even if they do not have the same conditions or opportunities to practice on their own. NO exceptions will be made for lack of interest in basketball, a desire to perform athletically, or genetic abilities or disabilities of themselves or their parents. ALL KIDS WILL PLAY BASKETBALL AT A PROFICIENT LEVEL!
3. Talented players will be asked to workout on their own, without instruction. This is because the coaches will be using all their instructional time with the athletes who aren’t interested in basketball, have limited athletic ability or whose parents don’t like basketball!
4. Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in the 4th, 8th, and 11th games. This will create a New Age of Sports where every school is expected to have the same level of talent and all teams will reach the same minimum goals. If no child gets ahead, then no child gets left behind. If parents do not like this new law, they are encouraged to vote for vouchers and support private schools that can screen out the non-athletes and prevent their children from having to go to school with bad basketball players.

As to why we get so much of the blame, it's because, as others say, it seems few people truly understand what our job entails: Some parents view us as babysitters, others as drill sargents, and the public who pay taxes (especially those who do not have children in the school system) see us as ineffective government employees who are overpaid.

Such is life.

 

[RoJoHen]

^That's a depressingly accurate analogy.