I think one of the main contributing factors to this is through the lack of support teachers receive from the system, authorities, and the community. In the book Confessions of a Bad Teacher by John Owens, there are many examples of how this real life teacher was failed by those around him, specifically by his principal. When describing his principal's approach to telling the teachers what needs to be done, he says, “Implementing these great ideas is simply a matter of telling your people to implement them. The results will follow. If the results don’t follow, it is because the people were not good at implementing, not because they didn’t have any direction or support to do so” (Owens, 34). Throughout his first year teaching, Owens was constantly expected to achieve very dramatic goals with absolutely no support. In contrast to Owens' bad experiences with his principal, in the documentary Teach, one of the teachers named Shelby receives valuable support from her principal. Her principal worked with her on how to implement new math practices in her classroom and even video taped her to help show her areas she could work on in her teaching. By the end of the year, Shelby's math class was above the district in their test scores. This goes to show just how important it is that teachers receive support, not only from their principals but also other teachers and administrative members in the school. In another journal by an American teacher titled Educating Esmé, Esmé Codell writes about the countless times she is harassed by her principal and how she does not get any support from the other teachers in her school. When the principal goes as far as to make sexual references towards Esmé, it is no wonder she struggled with being able to teach her students in that environment. In the TED Talks mentioned above, Robinson mentions the Finnish school system and says Finland "attribute(s) a very high status to the teaching profession". As seen through the success of the Finnish school system, when teachers are treated as smart and capable professionals, the success of the students, teachers, and schools rises immensely.
Another factor that I believe is leading to the de-professionalism of teachers in America today is the fact that many teachers are judged based solely on their students standardized test scores. This approach to assessing teachers is causing many teachers to teach to the test. This, in turn, is causing schools to eliminate the arts and humanities from the curriculum and turns teachers into test givers instead of mentors and facilitators of learning. I do believe that standardized testing has its place, especially when it comes to diagnosing students' current knowledge, but having student testing determining if a teacher gets fired or not is not really the smartest idea in the world. There are so many other factors that contribute to the students' success, or lack of, in standardized testing. Teachers should not be the only ones held accountable for test scores.
To go along with the factors occurring in the classrooms and schools themselves, there are also factors within the media that give people the idea that teachers lack the capability to teach. For example,
What do you see while looking at this Time cover? An apple (that does not look rotten, but it must be, given the article is about those "rotten apples" and it is about to get smashed by a gavel). You may also notice that the descriptions of teachers is in black while the tech millionaires are in the white. Now, the article itself is a whole other story, but what do you think the general public thinks when they view this cover? To me, I think this cover makes it look as if the majority of teachers out there are just plain rotten, and it is time (ha, like that pun there?) to fire them…or smash them. No wonder so many Americans point the finger of blame on teachers with little to no thought. The fact that teachers are being portrayed as "rotten apples" paints a picture in the public's mind that teachers are not professionals.
And of course, we have millionaires, like Bill Gates, who are defining what makes a good teacher or a bad teacher. This video shows just how ignorant many people are being when it comes to figuring out how to "make" a good teacher. For starters, Bill Gates defines good students, the top 20 percent, as those who go on to be involved in "biotechnology" and keep our economy running. What about the arts and humanities, the students who go on to be musicians and artists, actors and cooks? Bill Gates also goes on to say that good teachers, determined BY TEST SCORES…and that's it, that is the only way, according to Bill Gates, that we can determine how well a teacher is doing. Not by going into classrooms and observing their teaching or looking at how much a student advanced throughout the year, even if they are still considered behind grade level. The final thing that really bugs me in this video (and it's only part one!) is the fact that he points out that, after three years of teaching, teachers no longer advance in their skills. Why? Has anybody ever even stopped to wonder why? It is so important for teachers to continue on in their own education. Many third year teachers may not be advancing because they are no longer being given the tools needed to advance. Yet not once does Bill Gates consider the fact that there may be other factors to this other than the idea that he has placed in so many American's heads that it is just the teachers fault…they are just bad teachers.
This is an issue that needs to be addressed immediately,
not just for the sake of the teachers, but for students as well. In order for
the American education to change, America needs to re-evaluate their beliefs
and treatment of teachers. In order for teachers to succeed in creating an
environment that encourages student learning, they need to continue their own
education through workshops, classes, and, most importantly, through the
support given by experienced teachers, principals, administrators and the
community. Teachers also need to be
viewed and treated as professionals who are educated and capable of doing their
job successfully. Lastly, the American education system needs to come up with
more ways to evaluate a teacher’s job, not just through the test scores of
their students. As John Owens so keenly points out,
“Some of what a teacher achieves
probably can be displayed on an Excel spreadsheet as data. But so much of it
can’t. For that, peer, student, and principal review of performance can be
useful…It [the goal] should be ensuring that our teachers receive the training
and support they need to offer our kids the best education possible” (Owens
225-226).
When the American education system stops de-professionalizing
their teachers, they can begin to address other downfalls in the system and
re-create a learning environment that supports student learning, creativity,
and curiosity and allows students to succeed in their lives.
Interested in the books mentioned in this post?
Codell, Esmé
Raji. Educating Esmé. North Caroline:
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2009. Print.
Owens, John. Confessions of a Bad Teacher. Illinois:
Sourcebooks, 2013. Print.
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