No, They Are Not OK.

Everywhere I look right now there are stories of teacher and sub shortages. Teachers who have quit mid-year or mid-day. Educators who are breaking down, and no, they are not ok.

I do realize we are all living through a pandemic. These last two years have been the hardest on education that I’ve seen in my school and teaching career. And it’s partially because the students are not ok either. But let’s be clear on this…IT’S NOT BECAUSE OF ACADEMIC LEARNING LOSS. The students are not ok because they took a hit to their social system…and even more detrimental, the pandemic cost them a part of their grit. I know that word is controversial, but in talking to my educator friends we are seeing more and more kids who struggle to…struggle. Throughout all the changing learning models, I fully believe kids took a step back in persistence skills. Teachers are having to work harder to motivate them and be independent.

But I think the even bigger reason teachers are struggling is that the American education system blew it. There were a lot of renegade educators out there that became a bit….excited actually, when the pandemic first shut us down. We were excited that it might mean a reset. An optimistic chance to stop and slowly rebuild the toxic and outdated tenets of our country’s school system.

In March and April of 2020, I joined several webinars and zoom calls about changing the face of education as we know it. ‘Let’s pause on standardized tests and reformat our instruction to include more project-based and experiential learning!’, they shouted. And I felt a buzz of hope that all the rebel teachers had been longing for.

But the American education system did the opposite. The message was sent that we ‘need to recoup lost learning’. Schools were told they needed to double-down on state standards and tests. Schools across the country are being pressured to cut out play, recess, and field trips all in the name of catching kids up academically. But to those teachers in the trenches right now, be honest,…Is their plan working?

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people complain without offering a solution. So I’ve gathered thoughts from my own experience and some of the educators I have come to dearly respect, by asking; What do educators REALLY need?

• More than Starbucks cards. The community is trying, really. I’ve seen those “Let’s support our teachers!” campaigns by giving them coffee and gift cards. Let’s tell them to really take care of themselves! I get it. People want to do something. (And yes, A Chestnut Praline Latte might be a game-changer some days) All I’m saying is… let’s not stop there.
• Change is slow- start simple. Right now the current model in education around the country is for schools to be structured with; teachers, support teachers, administrators and educational coaches. Now, I know some amazing human beings who are educational coaches in schools. This opinion is not saying that they are doing a bad job coaching, but that might not be what our school structures need right now. We need more teachers. Co-teachers, para-educators, and well, just more teachers so our class sizes are manageable enough for them to care for the kids the way they so badly want to. Parents, I urge you to ask hard questions at your school. If your child’s class size is huge, but there is more than one educational coach at the school… how does that make sense? And I understand this model came out of supporting teachers with professional development… but I could recommend a few books that could do the same thing. 😉
• Reallocation of the billion dollar testing industry. According to The Element by Ken Robinson, “Standardized testing has become a booming industry. Using the GAO ( Government Accountability Office) figures, these testing industries may generate considerably more than $100 billion in business over seven years.” And if it wasn’t scary enough, that sentence was written in 2009! Think how much it’s grown. And I get the providing jobs thing, I really do. We can’t cancel a $100 billion dollar industry tomorrow. But what if we slowly defunded standardized tests and replaced them with jobs to support high quality educator training? Companies that worked with schools to determine needs, and then helped support them.

And as much as I have grumbled in this post, I do have hope (Enneagram 7 personality here…the enthusiast/optimist!!!). I have hope because there are enough of us out there to get us through. Like…

Parents who will fight for play, recess, inquiry, creativity, and project-based learning in our schools.

Teachers who will white-knuckle the handlebars and dig in because we love them. We do.

Administrators who will pause and push back against the toxic pressure from the system and do what’s best for those kids.

*** I have delayed reading this book in entirety for six months because I get fired up when I read it. (Case in point above). We need to put our stock, our trust, in teachers. Bottom line. They are not just a cog in the system. They are the system. A fantastic read from the Finnish gurus; Pasi Sahlberg and Timothy Walker. In Teachers We Trust.