National Teacher Week
According to the National Education Association, this week is National Teacher Appreciation Week. [Correction: The NEA designated 5/3 as National Teaacher Day: The National PTA designated this week as National Teacher AppreciationWeek-- thanks to The Education Wonks for the catch!]
Fair enough.
I've had some wonderful teachers over my K-12, college, & law school educational journey. Mrs. Benewitz (4th grade); Miss Hawks (7th Grade English); Mr. Mencher (9th Grade Social Studies); Dr. Ryle & Dr. Rilling at the University of Richmond; Dean Simons and Professor Davidian in law school.
Can I honestly say I had any one teacher who made a drastic difference in my life? Sorry, but no. Not really.
I think the higher I went in my educational career, the more frequent was my exposure to better teachers. Especially in college and law school, where we were paying and, ultimately, had the ability to leave, I found the system to be much more student-oriented.
Do I appreciate my excellent teachers? You bet I do. I remember them with admiration and fondness.
But, truth be told, I had many more bad ones than goods ones. Teachers and professors who just mailed it in, or bored me to tears, or who were, for no particular reason, simply cynical SOB's who were unhappy with their lives.
I think my daughters have had a higher percentage of good ones than I did.
Still, the problem with the "profession" is that it's an 19th century socialist model trying to survive in a 21st century free enterprise economy, and it is failing. Teachers want to be considered professionals, yet they refuse to let go of Teamster-style work rules and face one of the defining features of true professions: risk.
Attorneys, doctors, accountants--the traditional professions, (with few governmental exceptions) all labor under the following truism: if you do not stay current in your knowledge, if you do not produce, if you do not achieve favorable results, if you do not treat your client or patient with dignity, you will lose. You will lose the client or patient; you may eventually lose your job or practice. Pride and fear drive the true professions.
Unfortunately, although teachers demand respect, and call themselves professionals, they fall short, and thus our educational system falls short, because they seek the benefits without the risk, the rights without the responsibilities.
We need many things: better teacher training; continuing training (which attorneys, doctors, accountants, insurance salespeople, etc. are required to undertake, but from which most teachers are exempt); the abolition of tenure; the abolition of factory-style seniority rules; and an expansion of technology to supplement and, in some instances supplant live classroom teachers.
We need a system that reacts to changes in society much faster than the monolithic tanker we now have floating in our educational bathtub.
We need vouchers.
When parents, and to a certain extent students, are free to choose who will be providing education; when teachers accept the risk of professionalism along with the rewards, then the appreciation level of those teachers will soar.
Give us vouchers and every week will be Teacher Appreciation Week.
Fair enough.
I've had some wonderful teachers over my K-12, college, & law school educational journey. Mrs. Benewitz (4th grade); Miss Hawks (7th Grade English); Mr. Mencher (9th Grade Social Studies); Dr. Ryle & Dr. Rilling at the University of Richmond; Dean Simons and Professor Davidian in law school.
Can I honestly say I had any one teacher who made a drastic difference in my life? Sorry, but no. Not really.
I think the higher I went in my educational career, the more frequent was my exposure to better teachers. Especially in college and law school, where we were paying and, ultimately, had the ability to leave, I found the system to be much more student-oriented.
Do I appreciate my excellent teachers? You bet I do. I remember them with admiration and fondness.
But, truth be told, I had many more bad ones than goods ones. Teachers and professors who just mailed it in, or bored me to tears, or who were, for no particular reason, simply cynical SOB's who were unhappy with their lives.
I think my daughters have had a higher percentage of good ones than I did.
Still, the problem with the "profession" is that it's an 19th century socialist model trying to survive in a 21st century free enterprise economy, and it is failing. Teachers want to be considered professionals, yet they refuse to let go of Teamster-style work rules and face one of the defining features of true professions: risk.
Attorneys, doctors, accountants--the traditional professions, (with few governmental exceptions) all labor under the following truism: if you do not stay current in your knowledge, if you do not produce, if you do not achieve favorable results, if you do not treat your client or patient with dignity, you will lose. You will lose the client or patient; you may eventually lose your job or practice. Pride and fear drive the true professions.
Unfortunately, although teachers demand respect, and call themselves professionals, they fall short, and thus our educational system falls short, because they seek the benefits without the risk, the rights without the responsibilities.
We need many things: better teacher training; continuing training (which attorneys, doctors, accountants, insurance salespeople, etc. are required to undertake, but from which most teachers are exempt); the abolition of tenure; the abolition of factory-style seniority rules; and an expansion of technology to supplement and, in some instances supplant live classroom teachers.
We need a system that reacts to changes in society much faster than the monolithic tanker we now have floating in our educational bathtub.
We need vouchers.
When parents, and to a certain extent students, are free to choose who will be providing education; when teachers accept the risk of professionalism along with the rewards, then the appreciation level of those teachers will soar.
Give us vouchers and every week will be Teacher Appreciation Week.
This is my submission to the Carnival of Education Week #13-- plenty of interesting, provocative & informative posts-- check it out!
posted by A Red Mind in a Blue State at 12:01 AM
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